February  18,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
141 
grown  in  this  garden,  and  which  are  not  commonly  met  with,  and  I  will 
add  a  few  passing  remarks.  In  chapter  xvi.  of  his  “  Notes  in  a 
Gloucestershire  Garden,”  Canon  Ellacombe  has  given  us  a  very  interest¬ 
ing  account  of  Roses. 
The  first  that  I  would  mention  is  Rosa  berberidifolia,  otherwise  called 
R.  simplicifolia.  It  is  a  native  of  Northern  Persia,  and  the  desert  of 
Songari  in  Chinese  Tartary,  and  has  baffled  the  attentions  of  many  a 
gardener  until  now.  I  should  think  that  Dr.  Lindley  must  almost  have 
lost  his  temper  over  it,  and  it  must  have  been  like  a  good  riddance  of 
bad  rubbish  in  his  eyes  when  it  ceased  to  try  him  so  much.  As  a  last 
resort  he  prescribes  a  saline  draught  for  it,  much  in  the  way  that  a 
black  draught  may  be  prescribed  for  a  very  recalcitrant  patient,  partly 
to  puniBh  him,  and  partly  to  do  him  good.  All,  however,  that  I  have  to 
say  about  the  matter  is  this — and  I  consider  it  to  be  greatly  to  the  credit 
of  the  climate  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  that  it  is  so.  Rosa  berberidifolia 
has  not  caused  me  the  slightest  anxiety  since  it  came  into  my  hands. 
It  was  most  kindly  given  to  me  at  Kew  some  five  or  six  years  ago,  and  it 
took  to  this  place  at  once  without  the  least  intention  of  leaving  it.  I 
know  that  at  Salisbury  the  same  Rose  covered  itself  with  blossom,  and 
then  it  was  so  surprised  with  its  effort  that  it  expired  upon  the  spot ; 
but  mine  has  nob  had  an  experience  of  that  sort  at  all.  My  Rose  has 
grown  to  a  large  size,  and  if  it  were  left  quite  alone  it  would  be  advanc¬ 
ing  all  over  the  bed  where  it  is  situated,  but  it  has  not  made  any  great 
advertisement  of  itself.  It  has  blossomed  in  a  restrained  and  gentle 
way,  and  I  think  modesty  will  meet  with  its  proper  reward  ;  but  if  it 
should  ever  be  otherwise,  and  self-assertion  should  get  the  better  of  the 
plant,  I  believe  I  shall  then  be  safe,  for  my  Rose  has  laid  its  foundations 
deep,  not  only  in  one  spot  but  in  several,  by  sending  out  suckers  on 
every  side.  But  I  know  that  I  can  only  rejoice  with  trembling  about 
this  matter,  although  I  give  what  has  occurred  up  to  date. 
The  winter,  however,  of  1894-5  was  surely  a  pretty  good  test,  and  a 
very  simple  glass  cover  about  the  size  of  a  dog  kennel  was  even  then 
protection  enough.  The  flowers  of  Rosa  berberidifolia  are  solitary,  cup¬ 
shaped,  and  the  petals  are  of  a  deep  yellow  with  a  crimson  spot  at  their 
base.  The  leaves  are  sessile,  erect,  narrow,  obovate,  &c.  Altogether  it 
looks  more  like  a  Cistus  than  anything  else  at  a  little  distance,  and  Dr. 
Lindley  is  abundantly  justified  when  he  speaks  of  it  as  a  “  lovely  plant.” 
The  next  Rose  I  would  mention  is  Rosa  gigantea,  and  here  I  can  only 
speak  of  a  very  qualified  success,  if,  indeed,  it  be  success  at  all.  Rosa 
gigantea  seemed  very  happy  against  a  wall  for  a  long  time,  but  what 
Burmese  flower  or  tree  could  have  stood  up  against  that  terrible  ordeal 
of  1894-5  ?  All  I  can  say  is  that  it  did  its  very  best  to  get  through  it. 
I  lovingly  covered  it,  tended  it,  helped  it  through  days  and  nights  of 
bitter  frost  and  cold,  and.  so  well  did  it  seem  to  me  to  be  getting  on 
that  when  the  great  frost  had  passed  by  I  quite  imagined  that  my  Rose 
was  safe,  and  the  bitterness  of  death  had  been  escaped  ;  but  it  was  not 
so  at  all,  for  it  had  been  somehow  fatally  smitten,  and  it  passed  away 
with  a  smile,  I  might  almost  say,  on  its  face  in  the  spring. 
But  that  experience  has,  I  quite  believe,  put  Rosa  gigantea  into  my 
hands,  it  made  such  a  good  fight  for  life  that  I  think  it  will  conquer 
next  time.  Let  us  hope  that  we  shall  never  have  such  a  long  frost  again 
as  that  of  1894-5,  and  I  have  found  a  rather  warmer  spot  for  the 
glorious  specimen  which  I  at  present  possess,  and  which  promises  great 
things.  Rosa  gigantea  was  discovered  in  Upper  Burmah  by  General 
Collett  in  1888.  It  is  a  pure  white  single  Rose,  and  6  inches  across  the 
petals.  I  am  vastly  indebted  to  the  Director  of  Kew  Gardens  for  so 
kindly  letting  me  have  a  second  chance  with  it. 
Rosa  Wichuriana,  I  believe,  comes  from  China.  I  am  told  that  it 
blossoms  abundantly.  It  has  deep  green  shining  evergreen  foliage,  and  is 
well  adapted  to  a  rockery,  as  it  falls  over  the  stones  in  a  graceful  manner. 
Rosa  minutifolia  is  the  latest  acquisition  of  all.  It  only  came  into  my 
hands  about  ten  days  ago.  Dr.  Engelmann  wrote  this  from  California 
about  it  to  Mr.  Thompson  of  Ipswich,  from  whom  I  bad  it  :  “  You  will 
see  that  this  Rose  will  make  a  sensation  in  Rose  circles  if  only  if  can  be 
gut  to  England  alive.  It  forms  bushy  plants,  with  very  slender  stems, 
thickly  set  with  minute  spines,  and  varying  in  length,  and  furnished 
with  delicate  foliage  and  two  pairs  of  pint aa,  and  a  terminal  odd  one, 
each  leaflet  being  a  quarter  to  one-third  of  an  inch  in  length,  broadly 
oval  and  sharply  toothed,  and  strongly  veined.”  I  give  this  description 
at  length,  because  it  is  a  new  plant.  At  present  it  is  in  my  greenhouse, 
and  it  is  an  (  pen  question  as  to  whether  I  shall  ever  dare  to  plant  it  in 
the  ground  at  all.  One  thing  may  be  predicated  about  it  for  certain. 
Ir  will  never  make  the  sensation  which  Dr.  Engelmann  looks  for  ;  it  is 
much  too  pretty  for  that.  A  few  names  must  end  this  short  notice  of 
Roses  which  are  under  my  care.  R.  bracteata,  R.  rubrifolia,  R.  rugosa, 
R.  lucida,  R.  indica,  R.  ferox,  and  others  too  are  all  doing  well  here. 
R.  viridiflora  is  one  of  the  few  flowers  that  must  be  called  positively  ugly. 
Lilies,  with  one  exception,  I  must  leave  severely  alone — for  I  have  to 
be  in  St.  John’s  Church  to-morrow  morning  at  eleven  o’clock.  Last  spring 
an  officer  in  Burmah  (Captain  Grant)  sent  me  a  box  full  of  bulbs,  of 
which  I  gave  away  some  and  potted  the  rest,  putting  them  in  cocoa 
fibre  under  a  north  wall,  &c.  As  soon  as  they  started  I  planted  them 
out  in  a  Rhododendron  bed  in  peaty  soil.  All  through  the  summer  they 
grew  in  a  languid  way,  if  they  grew  at  all.  I  thought  nothing  would 
come  of  them,  and  I  went  on  the  Continent  for  seven  or  eight  weeks. 
On  my  return  I  was  greeted  with  one  of  the  most  glorious  apparitions  I 
have  ever  beheld.  Several  large  heads  of  Lilium  Lowi  were  in  full  blossom 
towards  the  end  of  October.  The  blossoms  were  large,  funnel  shaped, 
yellow,  with  blotches  of  yellow  on  them,  and  altogether  among  the 
finest  flowers  of  the  year.  I  suppoee  the  sudden  deluge  of  rain  in 
September  suited  them,  after  the  great  heat  in  the  summer. 
(To  b  continued) 
National  Chrysanthemum  Society. 
On  Monday  evening  last  the  Committee  of  this  Society  held  a  meeting 
at  Anderton’s  Hotel,  Fleet  Street,  Mr.  B.  Wynne  occupying  the  chair. 
Proofs  of  the  photograph  of  the  medal  awarded  to  the  Society  for  its 
exhibit  at  the  Ghent  show  were  submitted  and  approved  of  preparatory 
to  the  same  being  presented  to  the  members  who  contributed  the  blooms. 
Some  discussion  arose  on  the  subject  of  the  new  regulation  that  the 
Floral  Committee  should  in  future  meet  at  three  o’clock  in  the  afternoon, 
and  that  resolution  was  upheld. 
A  great  part  of  the  evening  was  occupied  with  considering  the  draft 
report,  financial  statement,  and  new  elections  to  be  laid  before  the 
annual  meeting  on  Monday  next,  when  Mr.  R.  Ballantine  is  expected  to 
preside.  New  members  were  elected,  and  societies  at  Tonbridge, 
Warlingham,  and  Penzance  were  admitted  in  affiliation. 
Good  Keeping  Varieties. 
Through  force  of  circumstances  I  have  had  an  exceptional  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  testing  the  keeping  qualities  of  some  varieties  of  Chrysanthe¬ 
mums  this  season,  and  I  thought  a  note  on  the  subject  may  be  of  some 
interest  to  your  readers.  Through  a  delay  in  the  erection  of  a  green¬ 
house  I  was  compelled  to  keep  about  150  plants  that  had  been  treated 
on  the  cut-down  system  out  of  doors  under  the  protection  of  a  north¬ 
east  wall  until  the  end  of  October.  I  intended  keeping  what  I  could 
for  Christmas  decoration.  The  lean-to  house  in  which  they  were  sub¬ 
sequently  placed  faced  nearly  east,  with  front  and  back  ventilation,  and 
had  no  artificial  heat  whatever.  By  the  end  of  November  some  very 
fair  flowers  were  developing,  and  as  the  season  was  exceptionally  wet 
and  dull,  with  an  occasional  frost,  I  felt  the  chance  of  keeping  any 
under  the  circumstances  very  remote.  Still,  as  an  object  lesson  I  was 
determined  that  all  should  take  their  chance  without  any  extra 
precaution  whatever,  only  in  ventilation. 
By  about  the  first  week  in  December  I  found  Madame  Carnot  the 
first  to  go,  showing  the  susceptibility  to  injury  by  damp  and  cold.  Six 
plants  bearing  six  flowers  each,  only  about  three  parts  developed,  went 
evenly  spotted  all  over.  Viviand  Morel  and  Chas.  Davis  also  soon  went. 
Louise,  and  some  finely  developed  Rose  Wynne,  Col.  Chase,  Col.  W.  B. 
Smith,  H.  L.  Sunderbruck,  Mons.  Pankoucke,  and  Good  Gracious  was 
the  next  to  go  in  the  same  way — evenly  spotted  over  all  the  florets  at 
first,  then  a  gradual  rot  and  decay.  For  Christmas  I  was  able  to  use 
the  following  varieties  in  good  condition,  grown  in  the  same  house, 
and  under  the  same  conditions  as  the  foregoing. 
Souvenir  de  Petite  Amie.— This  was  solid,  clean,  and  good  ;  a  first- 
rate  keeper.  Directeur  Tisserand,  Niveus,  Mrs.  C.  E.  Shea,  this  I 
think  will  turn  out  a  capital  late  variety.  Mons.  Cha«.  Molin,  a  very 
eood  keeper.  President  Armand,  Phoebus,  M.  Chenon  de  Leche,  Golden 
Gate,  also  an  excellent  late  variety.  Incendrie  and  Richard  Dean, 
Emily  Silsbury,  and  Edith  Tabor  withstood  the  damping,  but  became 
tinged  earlier  than  the  foregoing;  Of  the  incurved  varieties  Chas. 
Curtis  kept  well,  also  James  Agate,  Robert  Petfield,  and  Baron  Hirsch 
were  the  only  other  varieties  of  a  small  collection  that  kept  fit  for  use. 
I  do  not  intend  to  convey  that  all  the  foregoing  are  naturally  late 
varieties,  but  they  are  good  keepers  when  grown  for  late  work.  Mons. 
Georges  Biron,  Golden  Gate,  Mrs.  C.  E.  Shea,  and  Duchess  of  York  are 
naturally  late  with  me.  I  regard  Mrs.  C.  E.  Shea  as  a  good  late  variety  to 
grow  for  market  purposes,  also  Souvenir  de  Petite  Amie,  and  Mons.  Chas. 
Molin,  are  exceptionally  good  keepars. — C.  Orchard,  Bembriage,  I.  TI . 
GREEN  AND  WHITE  CUCUMBERS. 
In  a  former  number  of  the  Journal  of  H  rticulture  (May  7th,  1896)- 
I  described  the  cultivation  of  plants  of  the  white  Cucumber,  and  the 
prcduction  by  one  of  them  of  green  fruit.  I  stated  further  that  the  seed 
of  the  green  Cucumber  should  be  cultivated.  This  has  been  done,  and 
the  result  I  now  communicate  to  you. 
Four  plants  obtained  from  the  seed  of  that  Cucumber  were  set  out 
for  observation.  They  grew  fairly  well,  though  the  season  was  unfavour¬ 
able,  and  they  bore  only  green  fruit.  The  result  seems  to  show  that  the 
white  variety  has  but  a  temporary  existence  in  comparison  with  the 
green  kind,  for  at  the  end  of  ten  years  one  of  the  seeds,  as  we  see,  reverts 
to  the  green  type,  and  probably  many  others  would  have  undergone  the 
same  change  if  all  the  seedB  of  a  whole  Cucumber  had  been  planted. 
It  also  seems  to  show  that  the  green  Cucumber  is  the  parent  form,  from 
which  the  white  springs  as  a  variety  or  Bport  of  nature. 
The  existence  of  the  white  fruit  is  very  rare  in  England,  being 
unknown  to  most  people  I  find,  but  in  France  it  is  by  no  means- 
uncommon.  I  have  been  informed  by  Mr.  Bunyard,  the  well-known 
horticulturist  of  Maidstone,  that  a  white  Cucumber  (albino)  occasion¬ 
ally  springs  from  seed  delivered  as  green  in  this  country  from  k  ranee,, 
and  that  the  French  seedsmen  offer  to  supply  you  with  mixed  white  and 
green  Cucumber  seeds,  or  with  seeds  of  the  white  sort  alone.  This 
difference  in  the  two  countries  is  very  remarkable.  The  common  sup¬ 
position  that  this  colour  change  is  due  to  the  crossing  of  the  one  kind 
