211 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  11,  1897. 
Coleuses  when  rooting.  Afterwards  give  them  something  a  little  richer. 
Loam  two  parts,  leaf  soil  one  part,  with  sand  aud  a  little  decayed  manure, 
the  latter  when  finally  potting.  Insert  stout  cuttings  singly  in  2\  or 
3-inch  pots,  and  weak  ones  round  the  edges.  Coleus  Verschaffelti,  the 
variety  used  for  bedding,  may  be  rooted  in  quantity  in  boxes  stood  on 
hot- water  pipes,  frequently  syringing  to  maintain  them  fresh. 
Petunias. 
Vigorous  young  plants  of  Petunias  may  soon  be  obtained  by  inserting 
sturdy  cuttings  obtained  from  the  base  of  old  plants  retained  for  this 
purpose  through  the  winter.  A  cumber  may  be  placed  together  in  pots 
of  convenient  size,  standing  on  a  moist  base  in  a  propagating  pit.  Extra 
vigorous  cuttings  might  each  have  a  separate  pot  from  which  they  can 
be  transferred  to  larger  without  damaging  the  roots.  Double  varieties 
are  the  most  useful  for  pots  under  glass.  Single  varieties  are  more 
floriferous  for  outdoor  culture. 
Other  useful  plants  for  bedding  and  pots  include  Heliotropes  and 
Carnations,  cuttings  of  which  may  be  inserted  now  in  a  brisk  bottom 
heat.  All  the  tender  bedding  plants,  such  as  Alternantheras,  Iresines, 
Mesembryanthemums,  Gazanias,  and  Marguerites  can  be  rooted 
thickly  in  shallow  boxes  where  they  could  stand  on  a  row  of  hot- water 
pipes  or  be  accommodated  in  a  propagating  pit  or  a  gentle  hotbed.  It 
is  an  easy  matter  to  give  them  more  room  when  rooted  in  other  boxes,  in 
which  they  can  remain  until  required  for  outdoor  planting. — E.  D.  S. 
WATER  LILIES. 
Keeping  Water  Lilies  through  the  winter  is  considered  by  many 
•more  difficult  than  growing  them  and  producing  first-rate  flowers,  but, 
as  with  many  other  plants,  the  more  experience  one  ha9  with  the 
different  varieties  and  their  peculiarities  the  more  simple  their  cultiva¬ 
tion  becomes.  Of  tropical  or  tender  Nymphaeas,  medium  to  Bmall 
tubers  are  the  best  to  carry  over  winter,  but  it  sometimes  happens  that 
it  is  desirable  to  retain  a  certain  plant  or  variety  that  has  made  extra 
large  growth  during  the  summer. 
I  had  several  such  last  season,  and  by  way  of  experiment  1  tried 
what  was  to  me  a  new  method  of  wintering.  After  the  frost  had  cut  off 
the  foliage  I  awaited  a  mild  spell,  and  then  with  a  spade  dug  around  the 
plant  ;  I  gave  it  a  root-pruning,  taking  care  to  keep  .outside  of  the 
tubers,  so  as  not  to  cut  them,  then  with  a  spade  on  each  side  lifted 
the  stool  intact.  This  was  again  planted  in  the  soil,  which  is  sandy, 
under  the  bench  in  the  greenhouse,  and  thoroughly  soaked  with 
water.  After  a  few  days  the  roots  were  much  decayed,  and  another 
soaking  of  water  was  given  to  settle  the  soil  around  the  old  crown  and 
attached  tubers.  Ia  this  condition  they  were  left,  and  on  examination 
at  this  date  (February  2nd)  the  tubers  were  in  excellent  condition,  and 
will  remain  so  for  a  long  time.  Even  the  hardy  varieties  treated  in  this 
way  are  keeping  better  than  I  had  expected. 
This  treatment  is  not  so  well  adapted  to  large  plants  of  the  stellata 
type,  as  they  do  not  form  side  shoots  and  tubers.  The  best  method  for 
carrying  these  over  winter  is  to  keep  them  growing.  These,  though  very 
large,  were  severely  root-pruned,  the  largest  leaves  taken  off,  and  potted 
into  as  small  a  pot  as  would  hold  them,  which  was  10  inches.  The 
plants  have  kept  growing  slowly,  and  are  now  fine  and  healthy  with 
flower  buds.  The  water  has  been  at  a  temperature  of  from  60°  to  65°, 
which  is  the  temperature  of  the  house. 
Such  winter-flowering  aquatics  as  Nymphaea  stellata,  N.  zanzi- 
barensis  and  N.  pulcherrima  have  been  in  bloom  all  the  winter.  The 
latter  variety  is  the  best  of  any  of  the  blue  forms.  The  flowers  open 
quite  early  in  the  morning,  and  remain  open  until  late  in  the  afternoon, 
whereas  those  of  N.  zanzibarensis  seldom,  if  ever,  open  until  noon  or 
shortly  before.  Little  can  be  expected  in  the  line  of  Water  Lily  flowers 
during  December  and  January,  but  N.  delicatissima  and  a  seedling  much 
like  N.  Smithiana  have  not  failed  to  produce  flowers  of  good  size  and 
substance.  N.  O’Marana  has  proved  a  disappointment.  It  was  hardly 
recognisable  as  the  plant  which  1  saw  in  such  good  form,  condition,  and 
colour  out  of  doors  last  summer.  N.  devoniensis  and  N.  rubra  are 
better. 
Aponogeton  distachyon  proves  a  first-rate  winter-floweTing  plant.  It 
enjoys  a  temperature  of  50°  to  60°,  and  blooms  freely  all  through  the 
dull  sunless  days.  The  flowers  are  sweet-scented,  resembling  Hawthorn, 
and  are  good  for  cutting. 
We  have  decided  to  raise  some  Water  Lilies  from  seed,  and  as  it 
takes  between  three  and  four  months  to  grow  a  flowering  plant  from 
seed,  the  sowing  must  be  done  at  once,  of  both  hardy  and  tender 
varieties  ;  4  or  5-inch  pots  should  be  used  for  the  purpose,  and  sandy 
loam.  If  the  latter  has  lain  some  time  and  had  manure  composted  with 
it  so  much  the  better,  and  fresh  manure  should  not  be  used.  The  seed 
should  be  covered  lightly  after  it  is  sown,  and  the  pots  stood  in  water 
until  the  seed  is  thoroughly  soaked.  The  pots  should  be  submerged 
so  that  the  tops  are  2  inches  below  the  water.  Attention  td  this 
particular  is  necessary,  or  the  seed  will  not  germinate.  The  temperature 
of  the  water  should  be  from  75°  to  80°.  Victoria  regia  seed  may  be 
sown  now,  but  the  temperature  of  the  water  must  be  85°  to  90°,  and 
from  twenty  to  thirty  days  is  required  for  germination.  The  young 
seedlings  should  be  transplanted  at  an  early  stage,  and  kept  steadily 
growing.  They  must  be  repotted  singly  before  they  are  weakened  by 
overcrowding  and  starving  conditions. —  W.  Thicker  (in  “  Garden  and 
Forest.”) 
A.  K.  Williams, 
In  my  article  on  page  188,  that  beautiful  variety  A.  K.  Williams  is 
by  mistake  described  as  “  the  least  faultless  in  form  of  the  Hybrid 
Perpetuals.”  I  regret  this  error,  for  it  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  most 
perfect  of  them  all.— David  R.  Williamson. 
Mrs.  R.  G.  Sharman  Crawford. 
Allow  me  to  fully  endorse  the  favourable  opinion  passed  upon  this 
Rose  by  Mr.  Williamson  on  page  188.  Having  grown  it  since  the  first 
year  of  introduction,  I  know  of  no  Rose  that  has  given  me  greater 
delight.  For  freedom  of  bloom,  form  of  petal,  and  charm  of  colour  it  is 
a  Rose  that  one  can  never  tire  of,  and  one  that  should  be  in  every 
collection  throughout  the  kingdom.  Though  coming  into  bloom  some¬ 
what  early  with  us,  it  is  again  one  of  our  best  autumn-flowering 
varieties,  and  last  year  we  cut  handsome  blooms  in  November.  There 
can  be  no  two  opinions  as  to  its  being  a  worthy  companion  to  Mrs. 
J.  Laing. — R.  P.  R. 
Hybrid  Tea  Roses, 
The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Editor  of 
the  Journal  from  one  of  Her  Majesty’s  Judges  at  Alexandria  : — Neither 
I  nor  any  of  my  neighbours  know  the  difference  between  a  Hybrid  Tea 
and  a  Hybrid  Perpetual,  or  again  between  a  Tea  and  a  Hybrid  Tea, 
except  that  the  Perpetual  flowers  more  often  than  the  others.  We  look 
up  the  names  in  a  nurseryman’s  catalogue,  and  then,  of  course,  we  hope 
we  are  right ;  but  there  must,  I  suppose,  be  some  classification  of  the 
different  Rose*,  and  there  must  be  something  in  the  thorns,  the  growth, 
and  the  stems  of  the  flowers  that  makes  an  expert  know  under  what 
category  they  ought  to  come.” 
Now  this  letter  is  “  nuts”  to  me,  because  it  is  an  indication  of  the 
confusion  that  I  was  sure  would  arise  when  the  attempt  was  made  to 
form  a  new  section  of  the  autumn-flowering  Roses — namely,  that  of 
Hybrid  Teas.  I  think  there  is  no  definition  which  would  be  explanatory. 
Were  there  one  I  should  remember  the  cautions  given  to  me  by  a  master 
of  logic  in  my  early  days  (Archbishop  Whateley) — "Avoid  definitions.” 
The  first  of  this  class  which  appeared  in  our  catalogues  was  Cheshunt 
Hybrid,  raised  by  Messrs.  Paul  &  Son  of  Cheshunt,  believed  to  be  a 
cross  between  Madame  de  Tartus  and  Prince  Camille  de  Rohan  ;  for 
years  it  stood  alone,  and  then  we  were  very  much  astonished  to  find 
that  that  beautiful  Rose  La  France,  which  had  been  sent  out  by  Guillot 
in  1867,  and  had  always  been  classed  with  and  exhibited  amongst 
Hybrid  Perpetuals,  was  suddenly  shifted  over  into  the  Hybrid  Tea  class. 
Hybrid  Perpetuals  is  a  misleading  name  ;  the  French  name  for  them, 
Hybrides  remontant s,  is  much  more  correct,  as  distinguishing  them 
from  the  early  summer-flowering  Roses,  which  make  their  wood  after 
flowering  without  any  buds,  whereas  the  so-called  Hybrid  Perpetuals 
give  a  second  bloom  from  the  young  wood  of  the  year.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  blood  of  various  classes  of  Roses  have  entered  into  their 
constitution,  but  at  the  same  time  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  give  any 
definition  of  them,  and  the  special  name  by  which  they  are  known  has 
only  reference  to  the  one  point  of  second  blooming.  The  wood  certainly 
gives  nothing  by  which  their  position  can  be  defined,  as  in  some  cases 
the  wood  is  perfectly  smooth  and  in  others  very  thorny. 
Teas  have  all  a  peculiar  foliage,  which,  though  it  may  not  be  easy  to 
describe,  is  yet  easily  recognised,  and  they  are  perhaps  the  most  truly 
“  remontante  ”  of  any  sections.  If  then,  as  I  have  said,  one  can  give  no 
defij.  ition  of  what  a  Hybrid  Perpetual  is  except  in  the  reference  to  one 
point,  I  think  it  is  equally  impossible  to  define  what  a  Hybrid  Tea  is  ; 
and  in  fact  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  position  of  some  of 
them.  Thus  the  late  Mr.  George  Prince  maintained  that  Kaiserin 
Augusta  Victoria  was  in  all  points  a  true  Tea.  It  will  thus  appear  that 
your  correspondent  is  not  likely  to  get  the  accurate  and  definite  explana¬ 
tion  that  he  wishes.  However,  the  N.R.8.  has  published  in  its  catalogue  a 
list  of  flowers  which  it  has  recognised  under  this  title,  and  I  shall  have 
much  pleasure  in  forwarding  him  a  copy,  which  may  perhaps  serve  his 
purpose. 
With  regard  to  that  list  I  may  add  a  few  words.  That  the  catalogue 
comprises  ten  exhibition  varieties  and  ten  garden  Roses,  while  in  the 
supplement  there  are  five  exhibition  and  four  garden  varieties.  Thus 
the  exhibitor  who  wishes  to  contend  in  the  special  class  for  Hybrid 
Teas  has  only  fifteen  to  choose  from,  and  it  is  curious  to  see  how  these 
are  made  up.  I  have  already  said  that  La  France  for  a  number  of  years 
was  counted  as  a  Hybrid  Perpetual ;  now  it,  Gustave  Guinoisseau, 
Danmark,  and  Duchess  of  Albany,  three  sports  from  it,  are  included  in 
the  ten  exhibition  varieties  in  the  Hybrid  Tea  class.  Then,  again, 
Captain  Christy,  ever  since  its  introduction,  until  the  last  year  or  two 
has  been  regarded  as  a  H.P.,  but  is  now  found  in  this  class. 
In  the  same  way  Lady  Mary  Fitzwilliam  and  Viscountess  Folkestone 
have  been  taken  out  of  the  Hybrid  Perpetual  class  and  placed  here, 
while  Caroline  Testout  has  been  regarded  by  some  as  another  sport  of 
La  France.  The  same  may  be  sail  of  Mrs.  W.  J.  Grant,  which  was  first 
exhibited  as  a  Hybrid  Perpetual,  and  I  confess  that  I  can  see  no  trace 
