12G 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 9, 1894. 
W. A. Eichaedsok. 
This Rose does not invariably do well in Scotland. With myself it 
has succeeded well in one position only, but there it has been so wonder¬ 
fully beautiful that it was worth taking any amount of trouble to secure 
a result so satisfactory ; and yet no great preparation was made. It 
would appear that a very warm position is essential to success, for 
although I have tried it for years on a warm wall, strong free flowering 
growths have never been made. Some three years ago I observed this 
Rose in Kent, and what I saw of it there excited a desire to succeed 
with a Rose so surpassingly beautiful. A front wall of a low pit kept 
continually at a high temperature was bare, and this I determined to 
cover with this Rose. I got them planted out a year past spring, the 
plants being rather small but with plenty of roots. A sufScient number 
of pits large enough to hold each a good barrowload of compost was 
dug out of the pathway which this pit borders on one side. The 
material used to All these was good, and with the advent of fine 
weather strong shoots began to grow. By degrees the original plant 
was in each case cut away, and these young strong shoots tacked to the 
brickwork. 
In the spring of the present year we scraped away the overlying 
gravel and provided a rich surface dressing to each plant, at the same 
time every portion ot weakly growth was cut away and the strong shoots 
alone nailed to cover the wall. The plants commenced to flower even 
earlier than Gloire de Dijon. We have cut hundreds of buds, and 
numbers of strong shoots have been produced which have begun to 
flower as profusely as the year-old shoots. A number of the flowered 
shoots have been removed in order to give the latter full advantage of 
the wall, and there is an appearance that we shall have buds for many 
weeks still. This variety has the peculiarity of yielding, along with richly 
coloured deep orange flowers, others in all intermediate shades to white. 
Some of the flowers are partly orange and partly white ; these are very 
pretty, but of course nothing like so beautiful as those which are full 
deep orange seifs.— R. P. Bbothekston. 
Events of the Week.— But few events of horticultural interest 
will take place during the ensuing week. The Committees of the Royal 
Horticultural Society meet at the Drill Hall, James Street, West¬ 
minster, S.W.,on Tuesday, 14th inst., and a few provincial shows will 
be held, the Cardiff exhibition opening on the 15th inst. 
- The Weather in London. —Since publishing our last issue 
the weather has been of a variable character in the metropolis. Saturday 
was for the most part dull, and rain fell during the evening. Sunday 
was fine, but it rained heavily at night, also on Monday morning. 
Tuesday proved cloudy, but no rain fell, and Wednesday opened fine. 
- Royal Horticultural Society.— The next meeting of the 
Society will be held in the Drill Hall, James Street, Victoria Street, 
Westminster, on Tuesday, August 14th. The Committees will assemble, 
as usual, at twelve o’clock, and at 3 p.m. Mons. Chas. Baltet, of Troyes, 
will deliver a lecture on “ Fruit Culture in France.” 
- Science Examinations.— We are pleased to hear that Mr. 
G. A. Bishop, The Gardens, Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton, has 
secured first-class honours in practical inorganic chemistry at the 
examination held by the Science and Art Department, South Kensington, 
at the first time of sitting. Mr. Bishop’s well known assiduity in 
acquiring knowledge is worthy of high commendation, and we con- 
.gratulate him on his success in this instance. 
- Ripened Wood. —I am surprised. I expected to see “A 
Sceptic ” (page 81) fall in the last number under an astonishing volley 
of replies. As he seems likely to escape, let me, as a first shot, ask him 
where he has spent the spring and summer of 1894, of which he says 
^‘that never in living memory has every crop, whether of fruit or 
flowers, been so completely disappointing as this year.” I can only say 
that my experience as to flowers is exactly the opposite on all trees. 
Surely he understands that ripened wood has done its share when it has 
produced the flower buds, and is not responsible for those blossoms open¬ 
ing, still less for their producing fruit. It may possibly be news to him 
that a disastrous frost occurred late in May, and that notwithstanding 
this there are heavy fruit crops in many places. At all events, with me', 
forest trees, such as Beeches, as well as cultivated fruit trees, such as 
Apples, are in serious danger of breaking from the weight of their 
fruits.—W. R. Eaillem. 
-National Amateur Gardeners’ Association. — The 
monthly meeting of this Association was held at the Memorial Hall, 
Farringdon Street, E.C., on the 7th inst., Mr. B, G. Sinclair presiding. 
There was a good display of exhibits, and Mr. J. Douglas, Great Gearies, 
Ilford, read a paper on “ Carnations,” dealing with the history and 
general management of these popular flowers. Mr. D. B. Crane, High- 
gate, showed a distinct new Viola named Ethel Hancock, which he 
raised as a seedling from Sylvia, and a certificate was awarded for it. 
As mentioned elsewhere in this issue, Mr. Crane secured a first-class 
certificate for this variety at the Viola Conference held at Birmingham 
on the 3rd inst. Mr. Dipper won a silver medal offered by Messrs. 
J. Laing & Sons for blooms of tuberous Begonias. 
- Onions. —It seems good to read such a favourable report upon 
the Onion crop of this year as that recorded by “ A. D.” on page 74, even 
to one who has a failure. My Onions were doing remarkably well until 
a few weeks ago, when they showed signs of a disease which has 
increased so fast that the tops of some are quite dead. I thought at 
first it was the maggot, but I have failed to find it. It looks to me like a 
fungus of some kind. I enclose a specimen for your inspection. I have 
heard of two other cases of the same thing, and have seen one of them in 
a cottage garden close at hand where the Onions are gone, I think, 
worse than my own. I must differ with “ A. D.” about the scare he 
speaks of, and may have something to say about it in a future issue.— 
R. M., Somerset. [The Onions are attacked by the fungus Peronospora 
Schleideniana, for an account of which see “Answers to Correspon¬ 
dents.”] 
- Light fob Plants.—I n spite of a late spring and a short 
and by no means hot summer, vegetation, says a provincial contemporary, 
makes rapid strides in Norway and Sweden owing to the long days and 
short nights. The further north grain is grown so much the shorter is 
the term of its vegetation. Barley ripens twenty days earlier at Alten, 
in 70° of north latitude, than it does in some instances further south. 
On the average years at the former place the mean summer temperature 
is 60°, and yet the plants are as well developed in the one place as in 
the other. It is also singular that this power of ripening becomes 
hereditary in the course of some generations, so that if taken south they 
grow much quicker than seed which has been grown there previously. 
It is because of the abundant light that grain can be grown in countries 
where the ground is so nearly perpetually frozen that the soil never 
melts to a greater depth than 2 or 3 feet. 
- Tomatoes at Coombe Bank.—T here are in a greenhouse a 
number of strong Tomato plants fruiting very heavily that have very 
restricted root room. They are about 18 inches apart, and growing in a 
box 7 inches wide and 9 inches deep. Others in large pots, or where in 
boxes they have far greater root space, are far less prolific. The sort 
has no name, but is the product of a cross between Challenger and Ham 
Green Favourite, two very productive sorts. This is but another case 
which shows how common is the rule for Tomato growers to intercross, 
and how everyone has his own special favoured variety. The fact still 
further shows how practically impossible it is to regard any one variety 
as being so much inferior to another, when hundreds of so-called 
varieties are so alike, and all so good. The one at Coombe Bank has the 
merit of throwing out clusters of flowers close to the ground, and is 
wonderfully productive ; still, as much may be said of myriads of 
others.—A. D. 
- PEONIES.—A correspondent recently called attention to the 
value of Pmonies for the decoration of the herbaceous border. My 
experience is that the flowers are most valuable in a cut state; if taken 
from the plants in the morning, and before they are fully developed, it 
is surprising what a time they last and to what a size they reach in 
water. Not the least pleasing part about them is the delightful 
fragrance they emit, almost rivalling the Rose ; certainly the scent is 
very similar in most varieties. For use in towns Pmony blooms are 
valuable; they last as long as any flower in a cut state. When once 
established no plant that I know requires less attention ; indeed, it is 
unwise to be perpetually shifting them about the garden. Plant the 
roots in deeply dug and well manured soil, choosing rather a moist 
situation than the reverse. Mulch the surface soil with rough leaf soil* 
and give abundance of water the first year if the weather is hot and 
dry. Place a stake to each of the branches as a support at first to pre¬ 
vent them snapping off at the base ; afterwards a more simple method 
of supporting the stems can be adopted. My plants have stood in their 
present position eight years, and flower abundantly every season. AU 
the attention they receive now is an annual mulching of leaf mould 
—E. M. 
