February M, 1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
147 
ROSE-GROWING FOR BEGINNERS. 
(Continued from page 105.') 
VARIETIES TO GROW. 
I hardly know what to say here, many of my friends differing 
from me so much on this subject, but nothing I have heard yet has 
shaken me in the opinion I formed long ago, and to which I shall 
continue to adhere. That opinion is not to have too many varieties. 
“ Over a thousand varieties to select from,” says some nurseryman’s 
catalogue. “ Seven or eight hundred too many,” say I. What do 
you want, reader, is it a whole lot of jaw-breaking names ? I do 
wish Messieurs the French raisers would be content with one name 
for each Rose, or at least abbreviate some of them. What have we 
done that we should be crushed beneath the weight of such a col¬ 
lection of syllables as Louis Philippe d’Orleans, or Fian^ailles de la 
Princesse Stephanie, while such short and convenient names as 
John Smith, or Brown, or Jones, and hundreds of others go 
a-begging ? Is it a collection of names you wish for, half or three- 
quarters of the Roses corresponding to which will do no good, and 
are not worth the name labels expended on them ? Our catalogues 
are, to my thinking, very defective, and will be, until there is a 
mark inserted against each variety signifying about how many 
blooms may be expected in one season from one tree ; or rather, in 
many cases, how many years one would have to wait for a bloom. 
As it is, the catalogues are most misleading to a beginner. Take 
one instance—Pierre Notting is described by a leading nurseryman 
as, “blackish red shaded with violet, very large and full, form 
globular, one of the best dark Roses.” Perfectly true, and during 
the last ten years I daresay I may have seen in my garden, con¬ 
taining considerably over a dozen plants of this variety, at least 
two blooms, glorious ones, fully bearing out all that is said here in 
its praise, but “ as a useful Rose for cutting or market purposes ” 
it would be a dead failure, and there are many like it. My advice 
to those who require it is to find out those Roses which do well in 
their respective neighbourhoods, and have a lot of them, to the 
utter exclusion of these shy beauties, which are not worth the room 
they take up. Those who wish to study the beauties of each 
individual Rose may have one or two plants of each variety, and 
these people will cut now and again one or two superb blooms. 
But those who want Roses everywhere—in the house, and out of it, 
to keep and to give away by the hundred, must proceed differently. 
One plant of La France will give more flowers in one season than 
fifty plants of Pierre Notting. A good bed of Marquise de Castel- 
lane will bloom all through the summer. Boule de Neige, though 
not a show Rose, gives myriads of beautiful white Camellia-like 
flowers, preferred beyond any other Rose by many ladies for 
personal adornment, and there are many others equally free- 
blooming and desirable. 
I often hear people say, “ I have a plant of La France, but I 
should like to try one of Pierre Notting.” It is in vain to point 
out what I have already called the reader’s attention to—experience 
is the only cure. I do not pretend to be a bit wiser or more clever 
than anybody else, so I have not the slightest hesitation in saying 
that in my own case it was not until I was tired of looking at 
plants which rarely gave any satisfaction in the way of blooms, 
that I began to replace these with good free-flowering varieties. I 
once had a collection of about 250 varieties, more than half of 
these utterly worthless in this district, whatever they may be in 
other parts of the kingdom. Now with ten times as many plants 
I question if I could count half the sorts. On the other hand, the 
plants of the three sterling varieties, La France, Baroness Roth¬ 
schild, and her beautiful daughter, Merveille de Lyon, would, at the 
present time, in my garden, amount to something between twelve 
and fifteen hundred, and their numbers are still increasing. I 
become more and more in love with these good honest Roses, that 
year after year give me, in return for my care and attention, a rich, 
a certain, and a constant harvest of blooms. In thus concentrating 
my attention on the best varieties, and gradually discarding the 
inferior ones, or those that refuse to bloom, I may be peculiar, but 
I honestly believe that amateurs growing Roses in a large way, 
and who have had much experience, are mostly of my way of 
thinking. 
Another fact that assists my view of the matter is, that many 
of our free-blooming garden Roses are among our very best show 
Roses, so that by having a collection of these one can kill two 
birds with one stone—compete at the shows, and at the same time 
have lots of Roses for other purposes. 
It will be impossible for me here to enumerate all the Roses 
now in cultivation ; those who wish for such a list should procure 
a Rose catalogue from some first-class nurseryman. I shall content 
myself with giving what I believe to be the most suitable sorts for 
a beginner, and which, in my opinion, would form a splendid 
collection. Before I do so, let me point out to the reader that my 
experiences have been entirely on a very light soil, and in a very 
exposed situation, where I find the lighter Roses answer better than 
the darker, these latter never developing the depth of colour, or 
coming true to description on light poor soil like mine. 
White Roses. 
Merveille de Lyon (show) 
Helen Paul „ 
Violet Bouyer „ 
Boule de Neige (not a show Rose) 
Pink Roses. 
Baroness Rothschild (show) 
Marquise de Castellane „ 
La Prance „ 
Madame G. Luizet „ 
Pride of Waltham „ 
Captain Christy „ 
Madame E. Verdier „ 
Mdlle. E. Verdier „ 
Red, Light Red, and Scarlet 
Roses. 
Alfred Colomb (show) 
A. K. Williams „ 
Ulrich Brunner „ 
Beauty of Waltham ,, 
Duchess of Bedford „ 
*Duke of Edinburgh „ 
Dr. Andry „ 
E. Y. Teas „ 
EtieDne Levet „ 
Marie Baumann „ 
Madame Victor Verdier „ 
Dark Roses. 
Charles Lefebvre (show) 
Horace Vernet „ 
Fisher Holmes ,, 
Dark Roses ( continued ). 
Louis Van Houtte (show) 
Prince Camille de Rohan „ 
Xavier Oiibo „ 
Late Autumn Roses. 
Souvenir de la Malmaison (show) 
Madame Isaac Perrier „ 
Mrs. Jowitt „ 
Other good Show Roses 
Are— 
Countess of Oxford (show) 
Countess of Rosebery „ 
Henri Schultheis „ 
Lady Sheffield „ 
Marie Rady „ 
Marie Verdier „ 
Mdlb>. Therese Levet „ 
Marguerite de St. Amand „ 
Princess Beatrice „ 
Star of Waltham „ 
Old Favourites. 
General Jacqueminot 
John Hopper 
Madame Noman (a little gem) 
Mrs. Bosanquet „ „ 
Two Roses to Grow Every¬ 
where and Bloom pretty 
well Always. 
Gloire de Dijon 
Cheshunt Hybrid 
The Roses mentioned, with one or two exceptions, are all 
Hybrid Perpetuals. In my opinion, leaving out these exceptions 
and a few similar ones, it is a waste of time to grow many others, 
if this section can be got to do well. Where walls require to be 
covered quickly, recourse may be had to the more rampant-growing 
kinds, but for smaller climbers we can still use some of the Hybrid 
Perpetuals. 
I am not forgetting the Teas and Noisettes in making these, 
remarks. I shall have more to say about these later on.— 
D. Gilmour, jun. 
(To be continued.) 
PEACH CULTURE OUT OF DOORS. 
The decline in outdoor Peach culture has been attributed by many 
to a gradual change in our climate, and by some to the great amount of 
labour bestowed on modern decorative gardening. The latter theory 1 
believe to be nearer the truth. Of late years large flower gardens have 
monopolised a great portion of the gardener’s time, and large quantities 
of plants must be grown for indoor use. and a heavy demand for cut 
flowers must be supplied. Under these circumstances it is not surpris¬ 
ing to find that Peach walls are neglected. As a rule, men take to what 
is most popular at the time they are learning. During the last twenty 
years flower gardening and Grape-growing have certainly taken the 
lead, and have produced men accordingly. At present the most popular 
flow r ers are Orchids, which will, no doubt, result in a good supply of 
Orchid growers a few years hence. I do not intend to argue that our 
climate is exactly what it was twenty or thirty years ago, but whatever 
change there has been in that respect there has been a far greater change 
in our men. The fine crops of Peaches and Nectarines grown at Ditton 
Park and Singleton Abbey prove that our climate is still good enough 
to grow them well. Last season I gathered over 1000 fine Peaches and 
Nectarines from our wall, although we are within the reach of the 
London smoke. But to secure this result our trees received every care- 
and attention, being kept thoroughly clean, and the shoots properly 
regulated during the growing season. In the flowering period we use a 
covering of frigi domo at night, unless the weather is very mild, and 
we seldom fail to have a good set. I regard a clean, healthy, well 
cropped Peach tree as one of the finest sights in a garden.—E. B. 
[We can testify to our correspondent’s success, the trees under his 
charge indicate most satisfactorily the excellent treatment they receive.] 
DESTROYING ANTS. 
I CAN vouch for the efficacy of the following in the destruction of 
ants. Take a small quantity of cyanide of potassium, dissolve in a little 
water, in this solution saturate small flocks of cotton wool, then place 
them on the ant runs and round the nest. A few minutes’ observation 
will convince “ T. C. A.” or anyone else that this will only require to be 
repeated a few times to have the desired effect. Here, some time ago, 
* I never could bloom this Roue well; not suitable for light toils. 
