November 2, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
181 
QUESTIONS 
Addressed to Mr. S. Ryder, the 
Managing Partner of Ryder & 
Son, Sale, Manchester, intended to 
convey an idea ot the style and 
advantage of onr Rose business, &c. 
Do you sell many Hose trees?— We sell an 
immense number every year. I don’t think any firm 
distributes their Koses more widely than we do. 
Do you send any abroad ?—Most certainly; to 
all parts. Last spring, for instance, we sent a great 
case to H.U.H. Prince Bijet, in Siam. 
"Whom do you eater for in England ?—For 
private buyers. We lay ourselves out to serve amateurs 
and gardeners well, especially such as need flowers for 
exhibition. 
Do you succeed in pleasing your Customers ? 
—We sell more Roses every year. That is a sufficient 
answer, is it not ? 
"What special feature is there about your 
EOSeS ?—They are grown to do well when the customer 
gets them. All the culture tends to make them 
healthy, hardy, and full of vitality. They are not fed 
with liquid manure, &e., to produce show flowers for 
us this year and no flowers at all next year for the 
customer. 
"Will your Hoses do well—will they grow? 
—They will. I am not surprised at this question, for 
I am afraid many Roses do badly. I am confident in 
saying (so careful are we) that if Roses will do at all 
ours will. Buy my little book, 7 d. post free. 
"What is the special feature of your Col¬ 
lection ?—We don’t catalogue a long and bewildering 
list of sorts. We just select the best only—the cream. 
An amateur, therefore, can’t go wrong. He knows 
every Rose is a good one, and every good one is 
included. 
Do you offer many new Hoses?— We offer 
just a few. The number of bad kinds sent out as new 
and good kinds every year is one of the scandals of the 
trade. There are now between 400 and 500 different 
kinds of Roses said to be new, and offered to the public 
as new. Not a dozen of these are really good ; all the 
rest will in a few years be heard of no more. I always 
have spoken against the present system, and only offer 
those I know to be good. 
Hew do you dooids which is a good new 
Hose?— Let me see it excelling the old sorts at the 
shows. It must do this before it gets into our List. 
Do you tahe much trouble with your Hose 
Catalogue ?—I do, indeed. It is the result of almost 
incalculable labour. At the shows, &c., I carefully 
look over all the kinds to find out which are doing 
well. My record of the winning kinds is simply in¬ 
valuable to exhibitors. It is published always in onr 
Rose Catalogue. 
"What other features of interest has your 
Collection ?—We have a very choice lot of old 
favourites—Roses one seldom meets with ; old-fashioned 
favourites that should not be lost. Our Catalogue is 
said to be very interesting. We sell a great number 
of pot Roses. 
You have a Booh on Hoses ?—Yes; and it 
has done well. I am sure it has had the widest cir¬ 
culation of all popular Rose books ; 7cl. post free. 
RYDER <b SON assure the readers of The Gar¬ 
dening World that their exeeedinc/ly useful Catalogue 
will he sent 'post free with the greatest pleasure to all 
who apply for it. Besides Roses, it contains offers of 
Fruit, Bulbs, etc., etc. Those who do not care to ask 
for the larger hook may have a Catalogue of Roses alone, 
post free, with pleasure. 
Prices of Dwarf Roses from 5s. 6d. 
per dozen, carriage paid. 
RYDER & SON, 
Seed Merchants, &c., 
SALE, MANCHESTER. 
B IL L ELS 
EVERY BtWSfW WARRANTED. 
ROBERT SYDENHAM, 
NEW TENBY ST., BIRMINGHAM, 
THE LARGEST AMATEUR IMPORTER OF BULBS in the 
country, begs to thank the large number of friends in all parts 
of the United Kingdom for their kind orders and recommendation 
this season. 
I regret that many orders have not been sent off so promptly 
as usual during the latter part of October. This is caused by so 
many delaying to order till October, instead of ordering in 
September. Many seem to wait till the last moment; then all 
seem to send at once. This makes it impossible to despatch the 
orders until three or four days after they are received. 
From this date I put in extra Bulbs to make up for any in¬ 
feriority of size or quality. 
I will be pleased to send a liberal selection of assorted Bulbs 
for 10s., £1, £2, or £5 to clear out remainder of my stock. Any 
ordering a selection of this sort will please state if they prefer 
Hyacinths, Tulips or other bulbs. 
I have now arriving a fine stock of Lily of Valley crowns, 
Dutch, 3s. 6 cl. ; Berlin (much the best for early forcing), 5s. 0 d. 
per 100. Fine Lily of Valley clumps, 10s. and 12s. dozen. 
Spiraa japonica clumps. 3s. and 4s. dozen, according to size. 
Dielytra spectabilis, 3s. dozen. A grand lot of Liliums rubrum 
or roseum, 5s. 6 d. and 7s. dozen ; Lilium album, 10s. 6 cl. dozen ; 
album Kratzeri, Is 6<L each ; Lilium tigrinum, 2s. doz. ; double 
tigi'inum, 5s. 6 cl. doz. ; longiflorum, 4s. id. doz. ; umbellatum 
erectum, 3s. id. doz. ; chalcedonicum, Is. 3d. each ; Colchieum 
(Szovitzianum), Is. 6 d. each ; testaceum, Is. 6 d. each. All these 
should be bought and potted at once. Gladioli Brenchleyensis, 
fair flowering corms, 2s. 6 d 100 ; large size, 4s. 100 ; extra large, 
5s. id. 100. My stock of above is limited, and a great p.rt 
already sold. Early orders are solicited to avoid disappointment. 
About the end of November I shall have a special consignment 
of Lilium auratum, direct from Japan, at specially low pri 'es— 
viz., good flowering bulbs, id. ; large, id. ; extra large, Is. each ; 
or 5s., 7s. id., 10s. dozen. I do not advise buying from the 
earlier arrivals, as the bulbs are not properly ripened. 
American Pearl Tuberoses, good average size. Is. id. doz.; 
extra size. 2s. id. doz. 
Kelway’s choice Gandavensis Hybrid Gladioli, all colours, 
Is. Sd. doz.; 12s. 100; or best selected, 2s. id. doz. ; ISs. 100. 
Choice single mixed Begonias. 4s. 6d. dozen ; double, 12s. 
dozen, or in separate colours a little extra. 
All orders in this section, when ordered with oth r r bulbs, will 
be sent carriage paid directly they arrive. 
Best white Raffia Fibre, id. per pound. 
(Please Mention this Paper.) 
Letter Orders have same care as for my own planting. 
ROBERT SYDENHAM, 
HEW TENBY STREET, BIRMINGHAM. 
Next Week’s Engagements. 
Monday, November 4th.—Sales of Bulbs at Protheroe & Morris’s, 
and Stevens' Rooms. 
Tuesday, November 5th.—Chrysanthemum Show and Conference 
at Chiswick (2 days). Chrysanthemum Shows at Brighton 
(2 days), and Finchley (2 days). Sale of Lily Bulbs at 
Protheroe & Morris’s Rooms. Sale of Nursery Stock at 
Ware’s, Tottenham; and Waterer’s Nursery, Bagshot. 
Wednesday, November 6th.—Chrysanthemum Shows at Ealing, 
Blackheath (2 days), and Portsmouth (3 days). Sale of 
Greenhouse Plants. Bulbs, &c., at Protheroe & Morris’s 
Rooms. Sale of Bulbs at Stevens’ Rooms. 
Thursday, November 7th.—Chrysanthemum Shows at Ipswich 
(2 days), and Isle of Sheppey (2 days). 
Friday, November 7th.—Crystal Palace Chrysanthemum Show. 
Sale of Orchids at Protheroe & Moriis’s Rooms. 
Saturday, November Sth.—Sales of Bulbs at Protheroe & 
Morris's, and Stevens’ Rooms. 
“ Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man."—B acon. 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2 , 1889. 
CURRENT TOPICS. 
Chrysanthemums. — With the November 
? shows close at hand, and to many ordinary 
exhibitors the coveted prizes almost within 
reach, it is indeed disappointing as well as 
distressing to learn of the damping of blooms, 
which for the past fortnight has been going 
on apace. The sharp frosts at the end of 
September so alarmed growers that they 
housed the plants with all possible speed. We 
have had no hard weather since to injure even 
tender plants, for Dahlias even now are bloom¬ 
ing profusely outdoors, and Chrysanthemums 
would, in view of the comparatively mild and 
sometimes very warm close weather which has 
since prevailed, have been better in the open 
a couple of weeks longer. 
However, no one can blame growers for 
taking ordinary precautions, hut the result of 
this unusually early housing, allied to a very 
mild October, has been the forcing of the 
plants into bloom unduly, so that shows almost 
everywhere might well have been a week 
earlier, whereas our leading metropolitan shows, 
the National to wit, actually fall later than 
usual. If the late wet, soft, muggy weather is 
to continue through the coming week a terrible 
collapse must ensue, so far as the finest and 
earliest blooms are concerned. Those w’ho are 
favoured with airy situations and lofty, roomy 
houses, may find the damping trouble mitigated, 
but in low-lying districts the evil is as bad as 
well can be. Did cold weather ensue even if 
damp, some of the moisture might he expelled 
by firing, hut artificial heat with a mild 
temperature outside only serves to drive on 
the blooms with exceeding rapidity. 
One grower writes that “ his are damping so 
terribly it is enough to make one vow never 
to attempt to grow big blooms again.” Probably 
that feeling this year is far from being singular. 
It is all the more disappointing that we had 
good reason to look for one of the finest bloom- 
producirg seasons known for many years. 
Doubtless we shall see plenty of grand flowers 
yet, but the decimation amongst the finest 
early blooms southwards has been most dis¬ 
heartening. 
c TTutumn Leafage.— The oft quoted metaphor, 
“thick as leaves in Vallambrosa,” has 
found plenty of analogies at home this autumn, 
and there has been ample evidence that leaves 
will lie thick enough where trees abound, 
and the gardener is not at hand with his 
broom to sweep them into oblivion. To the 
craft the fall of the leaf presents a season of 
annoyance and work. The clean swept lawns, 
footways, and roads of one hour are carpeted 
with the littery foliage again the next, and hut 
for the fact that a rich store of the useful 
leafage has been garnered, many of the 
sweepers are apt to think that labour has 
been spent in vain. 
However, such is not the case, for an end 
comes even to falling leaves, presently, and 
there is recompense found in the store which 
has been gathered, so useful for many purposes, 
so valuable in the production of manure or pot 
soil, after serving excellent purposes in other 
ways. Secondly, there is recompense in the 
neatness which prevails in any well-kept 
garden after the leaves have been cleared 
away. It may be that, as compared with the 
luxuriance of foliage and flower found in the 
summer months, winter shows a bald aspect, 
and j r et it is not at all an unpleasant aspect 
.when at its best. There is variety in the 
now nude trees, there is a charm in the 
beautiful tracery presented by the multitude of 
branch and spray seen with a background of 
blue sky ; there is even relief to the eye in the 
absence of rich hue and brilliant colouring for 
a time, especially as such tints in the open 
would he sadly out of accord with nature’s 
own surroundings. 
Wo have had a glorious autumn, and the 
leaf tints this year have been beautiful beyond 
description. A wealth of leafage, a wealth of 
colour, and prolonged beauty, have marked the 
dying days of the season. More brilliant hues 
have rarely been seen in Britain, and we have 
realised for once that even in the vast forests 
of America they have not all the rich reds, 
golds, and browns which nature can so freely 
lavish on autumn foliage, for our own share 
this year has been indeed such as to make the 
autumn of 1889 notable in arboricultural 
history. 
TThe Southampton Horticultural Society.— 
u A policy of boldness usually succeeds, 
hut then it must be a policy tempered by discre¬ 
tion. The Southampton Horticultural Society 
in its earlier years made good progress, held 
excellent shows, and generally was prosperous 
