July 14 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
723 
KENT: THE GARDEN OF ENGLAND. 
EARLY STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
In Little Pots for Forcing; and Stout Runners. 
%, 
GEO. BUNYARD & Co., 
The Royal Nurseries, MAIDSTONE, 
BEG TO SAY THAT THEIR 
NEW DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE FOR 1900 
IS NOW READY, AND MAY BE HAD FREE ON APPLICATION. 
It contains the 50 Best Known Sorts, and the Newest Hybrid Autumnal Kinds, guaranteed true to 
name, and also Special Directions for Forcing, Open Ground, and Tub Cultivation. 
gw- NEW ROSE AND FRUIT CATALOGUE IN AUGUST. 
“Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man "— Bacon. 
4att4^ii|5 1M 
Edited by J- FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , JULY i\th , 1900. 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Tuesday, July 1711,.—R.H.S. in Drill Hall, James Street, 
Westminster; Carlisle Rose Show; Paris Exhibition 
(Temporary Show). 
Wednesday, July 18th.—Cardiff Horticultural Show (2 days). 
Thursday, July 19th—National Rose Society's Show, at 
Birmingham. 
Friday, July 20th.—Bicentenary Exhibition of Sweet Peas, at 
the Crystal Palice (2 days). 
Saturday, July 21st.—Rose Show at Newton Mearns. 
he 1900 Rose Show at the Crystal 
Palace. —For some time past there 
has been an impression amongst growers 
that the Roses would not be sufficiently 
advanced by the time of the annual 
exhibition of the National Rose Society at 
the Crystal Palace, to furnish the best 
blooms, and that the best show of the 
season would occur in some of the more 
northern towns. That remains to be seen, 
but the capabilities of the 1900 show at 
the Crystal Palace were realised on the 7th 
inst. Experts are generally agreed that the 
Roses were many points behind the average, 
including last year, in relation to size, 
quality and colour. To the north of Lon • 
don at least the hybrid perpetual Roses 
were not at their best, so that a much 
better display might have been presented a 
week later. All the same it was a good 
show, with plenty of Roses for the general 
public, which is not sufficiently expert to 
discriminate the points of a good Rose; and the 
attendance during the afternoon was surely 
sufficient to please all parties concerned. 
The tables were so crowded by unbroken 
lines of people that it was difficult to get 
a satisfying glance of the blooms on the 
stands. 
There were many fine blooms on the 
tab'es, and various theories might be 
advanced to explain why the general stand¬ 
ard was not higher. The season has been 
relatively sunless, unsettled, and con¬ 
sequently about ten days later than usual. 
There have been cloudy days, light showers 
and heavy thunderstorms, locally and 
generally ; yet growers maintain that these 
showers have not been sufficient to damp 
the soil to any great depth below the sur¬ 
face, and that the Roses are suffering the 
effects of drought at the roots while 
the cold and dashing showers overhead 
have not been to the advantage of the 
blooms. Certainly a great many of them 
showed injury to the outer petals which 
had a deteriorating effect upon the expanded 
blooms. Several also complained of the 
bad effects of late spring frosts which 
damaged the young flower beating shoots. 
Well, after all, the British horticulturist 
must enjoy the prerogative of the British 
agriculturist, of the right to grumble. 
Where hail has damaged and cut the petals, 
the right to grumble would be apparent, 
especially to those who have expended the 
labour of a year to get their favourites 
to perfection, and then had the'r blooms 
destroyej, it may have been, in on emauvais 
quart cV heure. 
Some of the Irish growers, particularly 
Messrs. A. Dickson & Sons, Newtownards, 
have taken a leading part, not only at the 
Crystal Palace, but at several other shows 
in the south of England this year, including 
Windsor, London, and Salisbury. Many 
of the blooms we understand were 
grown in England, namely at Didsbury, 
Lancashire, where they are earlier even than 
in the north of Ireland ; but there were 
first prize collections also from Mr. H. 
Dickson, Belfast. The Colchester Rose 
growers, including Messrs. R. Cant & Co., 
and Mr. B. R. Cant, sometimes one, some¬ 
times the other, came in second and third 
so that they were not far behind in point of 
merit. The lack of sushine, and the drier 
and colder climate of the east of England as 
compared with the west would probably 
explain the present position. In very 
warm, early summers the northern growers 
generally succeed in capturing many of the 
best prizes, but on this occasion they were 
conspicuous by their absence amongst the 
winning stands at least. All the same we 
have seen them take leading prizes with 
smaller Roses than those in the leading 
stands on the 7th inst. The Champion 
Trophy with the Gold Medal for seventy- 
two varieties, and the premier award for 
forty varieties in triplets went to the New¬ 
townards firm above mentioned ; while the 
leading prize for forty-eight went to the 
Belfast firm already mentioned. The second 
prize in the latter case went to Messrs. 
Burrell & Co., Cambridge. Mr. Will 
Tayler, Hampton, and Messrs. J. Towns¬ 
end & Co., Worcester, took the leading 
awards in the two classes for twenty-four 
varieties of Roses, so that the home counties 
did not stand high at this show. 
The Tea and Noisette Roses were quite 
equal to the hybrid perpetuals in average 
merit, but at the same time many of the 
