85B 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February' 3, 1894. 
CONCERNING GARDEN 
ROSES. 
The '■ Rosarians’ Year Book ” is to my mind one of 
the most interesting publications of the year. I 
presume that it is not de facto the organ of the 
National Rose Society, though it is edited by one 
of the secretaries, and those who contribute pages of 
matter which concerns the Rose, and nothing else, are 
leading members of the N.R.S. It is always printed 
on good paper in large type, there is almost 
invariably a portrait of some well-known cultivator ; 
the publication is in stiff covers, and its price places 
it within the reach of all. I should think the cata¬ 
logue of the N.R.S. is more especially the organ of 
the Society than the " Year Book," but both are very 
useful and highly welcome. 
One paper, which no doubt is being perused with 
mournful interest through the recent and compara¬ 
tively early death of the writer, Mr. Walter H. 
Williams, deals with the subject of garden Roses. 
We saw these shown on several occasions in London 
and in the provinces during 1893 almost in every 
case in the form of large and striking bunches of 
great beauty. By means of this display opportunity 
was afforded for making acquaintance with many 
old friends that came before the younger 
members of the present generation with freshness 
and novelty. I dare say there were many who had 
little idea such serviceable subjects could be had. 
But with the exception of a fe v types, such as the 
China, the Polyantha, and such of the Teas which, 
as in the case of William Allen Richardson, the 
Dijon Roses, and I’ldeal, are delightful varieties 
for garden decoration, very few are perpetual 
bloomers. But they atone for this, to some extent, 
by the prodigality of their bloom. June in particular 
—in the case of a garden where these types of Roses 
are grown—is the month when their flowers are 
abundant, and when we may be said to have the 
summer weather at its height. Garden Roses lend 
themselves to many designs in training—they form 
archways, festoons, hedges, cover rockwork, decorate 
the bare trunks of trees, and beautify the garden in 
many ways. They are characterised by freshness, 
freedom, variety, simplicity, and as Mr. Williams 
writes, “ often utterly ravishing.” 
He is enthusiastic over the " Glorified Eg'antines,” 
the new Sweet Briers raised by Lord Penzance, and 
he says of these that they are more persistent in 
their season of flowering than the parent Sweet 
Brier, many of these give a second crop of bloom in 
the autumn, and certain varieties have given a 
succession of bloom from early in May until late in 
September. This is no doubt owing to the Hybrid 
Perpetual having been employed as the pollen parent, 
and Lord Penzance has recorded the fact that when 
the Sweet Brier was made the pollen and the Hybrid 
Perpetual, the seed parent, the perfume in the.foliage 
was lost, the reverse preserved the fragrance of the 
leaves. Mr. Williams adds in reference to these 
new Sweet Briers—" neither are they behind even 
Rosa canina in freedom of growth, as most of the 
varieties are far more vigorous than any of the other 
Briers. The colours from the deepest crimson to 
whitest pink, or most delicate greenish-yellow, make 
a charming addition to the sirgle roses." 
Only the Polyantha multiflora type exceeds the 
Penzance Sweet Briers for luxuriance of growth. 
They bloom with marvellous freedom, and especially 
from August till the end of September. But 
Turner’s Crimson Rambler, beautiful and free as it 
is in July, lacks, I fear, the peculiarity of autumn 
blooming. 
The Austrian Roses, notwithstanding theh lack of 
perfume, are valuable for their " gorgeous wealth of 
bloom and striking colours. On poor lands they 
grow and flower magnificently.” ■■ Many people 
think that these, and numberless other garden kinds, 
are useless for cutting. I do not agree with them. 
Rise early and cut hard. Be brave enough to cut 
long sprays, right back into the hard wood. Set 
them up in tali vases, and a more effective and 
artistic display it is impossible to imagine. Such 
vigorous summer pruning will not injure the plants 
if not indulged in too extravagantly, it will simply 
induce more growth during the season for next 
year’s bloom. Ip a cool room these sprays, cut as 
suggested, will last for days, and as fast as the older 
blooms fail others will open. Particularly is this 
the case with the two best of the section—-the 
Copper and Yellow Austrians, both of them perfectly 
single. Perhaps they were never more covered 
with bloom than they were during the past dry 
summer, and they remained in flower for several 
weeks. So pleased were they with the appreciation 
they commanded that in September they again 
burst into full bloom and lasted quite a fortnight.” 
What other Roses supplies such colour as the 
Austrian Copper? "It is an intensely brilliant 
metallic orange-scarlet, and its sister is surely the 
most gorgeously vivid yellow to be found in nature.” 
Rose-growers have frequently noticed the flowers of 
both forms upon one plant, leading to the inference 
that the copper is but a sport from the yellow. 
That perfect symmetry of form is helpful to the 
effect produced by garden Roses is true, but it is 
not essential as in the case of exhibition flowers. 
“ In some garden types the irregular arrangement of 
petals has an artistic beauty of its own,” which is 
as effective in its way as improved forms. “ Hence,’’ 
says Mr. Williams, “Harrisonii and the Persian 
Yellow, the two other varieties of Au.strian Roses, 
have charms quite distinct from the two first-named. 
A fair-sized bush of these with its masses of golden 
or paler yellow, if in a conspicuous position, attracts 
admiration at any spot from a foot to a mile.” But 
I shall refer again to this interesting paper in a sub¬ 
sequent number.— R. D. 
-- 
TOMATO CULTURE FOR 
MARKETS. 
What an immense amount of pleasure is always the 
result of a successful crop, whether the main object 
is profit or not; on the other hand, what a humbling 
experience one goes through when a more successful 
grower calls and finds one in a condition far from 
perfect. Thus, I think, it should be everyones aim 
to do things as well as possible, so that the result 
may be p’easing in every way to all parties. My 
purpose now is to say a few words on the amount of 
forethought and attention which Tomatos require to 
grow them well and make the crop pay. To begin 
at the root of matter, let me say that the variety 
which I prefer to all others is Horsford’s Prelude. 
It is a splendid cropper, beautiful in shape, setting 
ten to twelve fruits in a cluster, and of a quality that 
commands from 2d. to 3d. a pound more than any 
other variety we grow. I may say here that it will 
stand any amount of fire heat without being subject 
to disease, and will set fruit within a foot of the 
ground. 
Sow very thinly in pans or boxes, and whilst in a 
young state keep the seedlings as near to the glass 
as possible, and never allow them to become root 
bound, but either plant out or pot on again according 
to circumstances. Foriearly work to plant out in an 
open bed with unlimited root run is the way, to get 
no fruit at all till they have nearly run their course. 
Ours are planted out in brick pits, 30 ft. long by a 
yard wide, with two courses of bricks run right 
round and i in. of cement run on the top to hold 
them firmly in position, the bottom of the pit is clay, 
and the compost is renewed every year, a good free 
working loam being used. We plant two rows in 
each pit at angles, and instead of earthing soil in a 
mound up to the plant, we rather hollow it away 
from it so that whatever is given in the way of 
feeding goes direct through the ball of roots. 
Always plant firmly and not too thickly. I know it 
is very tempting to many when they have the plants 
on hand to put more in than what is wise, as the 
following case will show. I knew a man who had 
nineteen pots of Tomatos, size No. i, variety 
Horsford’s Prelude. In each pot he had two plants, 
the pots were stood a yard apart, and the total crop 
produced by the thirty-eight plants was 400 lbs. of 
market fruit, or nearly 12 lbs. per plant. The plants 
had very little foliage taken off them, and had liquid 
manure, after the first fruit was cut, three times a 
day without fail. These few plants had the sole 
attention that some would have paid to three or four 
hundred 
If anyone will adhere, to the following rules the 
pleasure and profit they will derive from Tomato 
culture will be considerably increased:—i. Get a 
good variety and stick to it till you get a better ; 
2, Confine the roots so as to decrease the amount of 
root run ; the result will be early fruit, shorter joints, 
and ample means of fully utilising what you give in 
the way of feeding material ; 3, Never plant so 
thickly as to have to resort to cutting off the leaves 
to let in light, a yard apart is quite close enough ; 
4, Give air without limit according to the conditions 
of the external atmosphere and the strength of your 
heating medium. A warm, dry, buoyant atmosphere 
is the object always to be kept in view.— J. G 
Pettinger. Strawberry Dale Nursery, Harrogate. 
--j-- 
GARDENERS’ TESTIMONIALS. 
Most certainly if testimonials are given they should 
be in every way a truthful record, not of the feelings 
or the conscience of the writer—as this may in many 
instances lead us to say very uncharitable things 
in the way of paying off old scores—but one of the 
true capabilities of the person written or spoken 
about, and to do this an employer should, when 
giving an employe a character, not only examine 
himself as to the failings of his servant, but also as 
to his own shortcomings in his dealings with the 
person in question ; this would, I think, greatly tend 
to a giving of better testimonials than at present. 
In my opinion, testimonials are of very little value, 
and from some employers I should much prefer to 
take a man with a bad character than a good one. 
In a world such as ours it seems a pity, if not an 
injustice, that anyone should be at the mercy of the 
will and caprice of another to obtain an honest 
livelihood. Were such not the case, many who 
have made mistakes and errors in lite would be led 
by experience to do better, who are now’, by force 
of circumstances, obliged to do worse for the mere 
sake of existence. 
Testimonials to be of any value should be a life 
record from the school upwards, and should not 
only speak truthfully of the employed, but also of 
each of his employers, so that those who read might 
thoroughly understand, if any complaint did exist, 
the true nature of it. They should take the form 
somewhat of a soldier’s discharge with the addition 
of columns wherein a servant should be at liberty to 
write the true character and failings of his last 
employer; this would in all probability tend [to 
make better places as well as better servants, and 
the one is as much needed as the other. 
It has been my experience to find persons who are 
quite unsuitable for one place exactly suitable for 
another ; it is simply a case of tempers not blending. 
Many young people who are dull and seemingly 
incompetent only require a different and better mode 
of instruction than their employers are able to give; a 
little plain but quiet talking to with perhaps a large 
amount of humouring encouragement and the 
difficulty is overcome and a good servant made.— IV, 
Mackay. 
CYPRIPEDIUMS. 
In the accompanying illustration, the right hand 
figure represents Cypripedium Stonei, and that on 
the left C. S. platytaenium, a variety of which is 
remarkable in more ways than one. It has the 
honour of having realised the highest price yet given 
for an Orchid at a sale, and was originally a chance 
find amongst an importation of the ordinary form 
made by Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., in 1863, from 
Sarawak, in Borneo. The plants now in cultivation 
have all arisen from it, but are still so limited in 
number that the variety still remains rare and 
valuable. By a sport or freak in the collection of 
Baron Schroder some years ago it proved to be, as 
had been long surmised, merely a form of C. Stonei 
with greatly enlarged petals. It is brought into 
prominence by the appearance of two or more fine 
forms of C. Morganiae in different collections. The 
latter is a hybrid between C. Stonei and C. super- 
biens, and in all its most salient features approaches 
near to C. Stonei platytaenium. The hybrids of C. 
Morganiae referred to are beautiful in their broad 
petals and heavy markings, while C. M. langleyense 
is characterised by the clear yellow ground colour 
which serves to show’ off the spotting. It seems 
strange that C. Stonei platytaenium has not been 
used at least as a pollen parent in the raising of 
hybrids. Supposing it w’as crossed with C. super- 
biens, surely something very fine would be forth¬ 
coming. On the other hand it could be used as the 
pollen parent if too valuable to risk burdening it 
with the production of seed. 
-■ » - - - 
A QUEEN’S PRIZE FOR ROSES. 
It may interest your readers to know that Her 
Majesty the Queen has condescended to patronize 
the joint show to be held by the Windsor Society and 
the National Rose Society at Windsor on Wednesday 
June 27th. Her Majesty has presented a Silver Cup, 
which will be given as first prize in a class for twelve 
roses distinct, single trusses, open to all amateurs. 
It is hoped that this class, which has been arranged 
for only twelve varieties, may enable all rose growers 
to compete.— IV. Colin Romaine, Hon. Sec, 
