AUGUST. 
239 
so that we may well take a peculiar interest in it, and the more rejoice 
at its complete and unclouded success. 
Thus much for the general aspect of the show; and now for par¬ 
ticulars. We write for the lovers of the Rose—tor those especially 
who, not being there, may desire to have what we believe to be reliable 
information as to varieties new and old. No show could possibly give 
so fair an opportunity of judging of the flower as one which embraced 
nearly every portion of the kingdom; and one thing it most clearly 
established, the immense difference that soil, situation, and season make 
on the flower. Not to embarrass with examples, we will only take 
one, though the same refers to many others. No one, we verily believe, 
would ever have considered the Victor Trouillard of Messrs. Paul and 
Cranston to be the same Rose. In the latter it was a magnificent dark 
flower, of the most velvety crimson ; in the other it was very little 
higher in colour than many varieties now in growth. It was not the 
fault of the grower, but I presume solely to be accounted for by the 
above reasons, and there were very few who have ever grown Roses 
who could not see how much the present season had to do with the 
deficiency in colour that many manifested. Hybrid Perpetuals were 
evidently the favourites ; it was curious to observe how largely in 
every collection they predominated, and how some individual Roses 
inevitably took their place in every stand. Thus, amongst the forty 
general collections exhibited, we believe there were very few in which 
Prince Leon, General Jacqueminot, Jules Margottin, Lord Raglan, 
William Griffiths, or Auguste Mie were wanting ; while nearly equal to 
them in popularity were Louise Peyronny, Madame Domage, Gloire 
de Dijon, Baronne Prevost, and General Brea. Of these only one does not 
belong to the Hybrid Perpetual class. In the whole room the two 
flowers that attracted most attention were Prince Leon and Madame 
Vidot.; the former is the most exquisite Rose that can be imagined, 
and we believe it will be impossible ever to beat it in its particular 
shade of colour. The latter is a newer Rose, much in the style of 
Madame Rivers, but a decided beat upon it; a box of it exhibited 
from Sawbridgeworth was very beautiful. But the most attractive 
Rose, did you say ? What then of Miss Isabella Gray—where was 
she ? Alas ! Echo answers where ? Everybody’s question to every¬ 
body else was, “ Have you seen Isabella Gray ? ” “ No, nor will you,” 
was the reply of one very eminent Rose-grower. “ Why ? ” “ It’s 
a beautiful Rose when you can get it, but it is quite as difficult, if not 
more so-, than Cloth of Gold.” We could almost fancy the outer petal 
of the latter curled up when we asked about it. If this be so, it is 
really too bad, after all the puffing, verbal and pictorial, to find that in 
the very quality in which it was to excel that flower it is just as faulty, 
if not more so. At any rate there was not one flower of it exhibited, 
for we cannot think the poor looking thing marked as Miss Gray in 
Paul's collection was it. Altogether, as far as very new flowers are 
concerned, we do not consider that the exhibition showed very much 
advance. Of those we noticed the following are, we think, the most 
desirable. 
