68 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  28,  1898. 
achievements,  and  was  sent  out  in  1889.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to 
say  anything  about  Comtesse  de  Nadaillac,  especially  when  exhibited 
by  Mr.  Prince.  It  is  the  grandest,  I  think,  of  all  Tea  Roses,  and  it  is 
perhaps  a  pity  that  it  has  not  a  stronger  constitution,  though  in  some 
places  I  have  seen  grand  plants  of  it,  but  its  colour  and  form  are  so 
exquisite  that  when  one  hears  of  a  new  Tea  the  question  instinctively 
comes  to  one’s  lips,  “  Is  it  equal  to  Nadaillac  ?  ”  There  were  also 
some  grand  blooms  of  Maman  Cochet,  a  Rose  which  has  well 
maintained  Guillot’s  fame  as  a  raiser  of  Tea  Roses.  It  is  always 
pleasant  to  notice  old  Roses  coming  forward,  and  so  one  was  glad  to 
find  our  old  friend  John  Hopper  well  exhibited,  and  it  is  a  very  early 
Rose,  and  this  late  season  just  suited  it. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  contests  in  the  exhibition  was  that  for 
the  George  Prince  Memorial  prize  for  twelve  blooms  of  Tea  Roses. 
The  trustees  of  this  fund  determined  on  making  three  separate  classes, 
to  be  shown  in  successive  years,  the  first  for  eighteen,  the  second  for 
twelve,  and  the  third  for  six.  This  gave  all  Tea  growers  a  chance  of 
winning  it.  This  year  it  was  won  by  Mr.  Conway  Jones,  Hucclecole, 
Gloucester,  whose  box  contained  some  fine  blooms  of  the  following 
varieties: — Golden  Gate,  Marechal  Niel,  Souvenir  d’Elise  Vardon 
(very  good),  Cleopatra  (fine),  The  Bride,  Souvenir  d’un  Ami,  Souvenir 
de  S.  A.  Prince,  Niphetos  (good),  Marie  Van  Houtte  (very  fine),  Hon. 
Edith  Gifford,  Catherine  Mermet,  and  Madame  Hoste  (very  good). 
Mr.  George  Prince’s  own  stand  of  twenty-four  was,  I  think,  the  most 
striking  one  in  the  exhibition,  containing  grand  blooms  of  Comtesse  de 
Nadaillac,  Souvenir  de  S.  A.  Prince,  Madame  Cusin,  Princess  of  Wales 
(very  fine)  ;  in  fact,  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  imagine  a  finer  stand 
of  Tea  Roses  than  this. 
There  is  always  an  interest  attaching  to  the  medal  Roses.  It 
was  enhanced  this  year  by  the  fact  that  the  Committee  of  the 
N.R.S.  had  determined  on  separating  the  Hybrid  Tea  from  the 
Hybrid  Perpetual,  and  thus  three  silver  medals  for  the  best  blooms 
were  awarded  instead  of  two  as  heretofore.  In  the  amateurs’  division 
these  were  carried  off  by  Maman  Cochet,  Tea,  a  very  beautiful  bloom 
exhibited  by  Mr.  Alexander  Hill  Gray ;  to  Alphonse  Soupert  H.P., 
exhibited  by  Mr.  S.  P.  Budd;  and  to  Caroline  Testout  H.T.,  exhibited 
by  Rev.  J.  H.  Pemberton,  who  once  more  showed  his  pluck  and 
loyalty  in  coming  to  Bath,  although,  truly  speaking,  his  Roses  were 
not  in  flower.  In  the  nurseryman’s  division  the  medals  were 
awarded  to  Lady  Mary  Fitzwilliam,  H.T.,  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Burrell 
and  Co.,  which  was  for  many  years  regarded  as  an  H.P.,  hut  is  now 
classed  as  an  H.T. ;  to  Comtesse  de  Nadaillac,  T.,  a  magnificent  bloom 
of  fine  colour,  shown  by  Mr.  Prince,  of’Oxford,  as  only  he  can  show  it ; 
to  Tom  Wood,  H.P.,  shown  by  its  raisers,  Messrs.  Alex.  Dickson  &  Sons. 
It  is  a  good  Rose,  bright  in  colour,  and  of  a  good  form  and  substance, 
this  bloom  came  from  their  Ledbury  nursery.  There  were  only  two 
Roses  exhibited  for  the  gold  medal  for  the  seedling  Rose,  one  of  these 
came  from  the  firm  of  Alexander  Dickson  &  Sons,  and  is  called  Bessie 
Brown,  a  large  creamy  white  flower,  with  a  deeper  tinge  in  the  centre, 
bearing  some  likeness  to  Lady  Mary  Fitzwilliam  in  form,  though  of  a 
different  colour,  and,  like  that  flower,  will  be  classed  as  a  Hybrid  Tea. 
There  was  another  Rose  exhibited  for  the  gold  medal — Purity,  by 
Messrs.  Cooling  &  Sons,  Bath.  It  is  a  remarkable  garden  Rose,  excel¬ 
lent  in  form  and  flowering  from  every  shoot,  most  constant,  and 
blooming  all  through  the  season.  Some  of  our  members  went  out  to 
see  it  in  Messrs.  Cooling’s  nursery,  and  were  struck  by  its  beauty  as 
a  very  early  free  blooming  garden  Rose.  There  was  some  hesitation 
about  awarding  it  a  gold  medal,  probably  arising  from  the  fact  that 
no  garden  Rose  has  as  yet  received  that  distinction,  so  it  was 
passed  by.  I  may,  however,  here  say  that  the  experienced  band  of 
judges  who  adjudicated  on  the  exhibits  for  seedling  Roses  at  the 
Metropolitan  Show  did  award  it  a  gold  medal. 
Garden  Roses,  as  usual,  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention,  and 
some  very  beautiful  stands  were  exhibited,  especiall  v  those  by  Messrs. 
Cooling  &  Sons  of  Bath  and  Messrs.  Paul  &  Son  of  Cheshunt.  These 
two  champions  in  this  class  ran  what  is  called  a  neck-and-neck  race. 
Of  course  Messrs.  Cooling  had  an  advantage  in  the  exhibition,  being 
close  to  their  own  grouuds,  and  they  carried  off  the  first  prize. 
Amongst  the  most  noticeable  blooms,  both  in  the  nurserymen  and 
amateur  divisions,  were  Gustave  Regis,  Paul’s  Carmine  Pillar,  Janet’s 
Pride,  Lady  Penzance,  Marquis  of  Salisbury,  Purity,  to  which  I  have 
alluded,  and  which  must  be  regarded  as  a  Bourbon;  Paul’s  Royal 
Scarlet,  the  finest  colour  of  all  the  singles,  and  indeed  one  might  say 
of  almost  any  Rose  ;  Marquis  Litta,  Yellow  Austrian  Briar,  Bardou 
Job,  Cooling’s  Yellow  Noisette,  a  pretty  and  useful  flower;  lucida 
plena,  rugosa  fimbriata,  a  very  pretty  form  of  this  useful  Rose ;  Paul’s 
Single  White,  macrantha,  Laurette  Messimy,  Homere,  Gloire  de 
Rosamene,  a  Rose  which  ought  to  be  more  frequently  shown,  for  there 
is  no  doubt  it  has  largely  entered  inlo  the  composition  of  many  of 
our  most  brilliant  H.P.’s ;  Madame  A.  Carriere,  a  very  useful  and  free- 
flowering  Rose ;  the  quaint  Crested  Moss,  and  a  brilliant  coloured  Ma 
Capucine,  one  of  the  most  taking  of  garden  Rose  ;  and  Hebe’s  Lip. 
Thus,  in  the  varied  colours  which  are  found  in  our  cultivated 
Roses,  the  decorative  varieties  give  us  abundant  examples.  The 
encouragement  which  has  been  given  to  them  by  the  National  Rose 
Society  has  no  doubt  largely  contributed  to  this  result,  but  it  is  to  he 
hoped  that  this  new  taste  will  not  lead  to  the  unpopularity  of  our 
larger  and  more  beautiful  varieties.  We  do  not  want  to  see  such 
Roses'  as  Marie  Baumann,  Charles  Lefebvre,  Madame  Gabriel  Luizet, 
and  other  well-known  varieties,  go  out  of  cultivation.  We  may,  in 
truth,  say  there  is  room  for  both,  and  as  I  look  round  now  on  my 
small  Rose  garden,  with  its  dwarf  plants  of  Hybrid  Perpetuals  and 
Teas,  now  in  their  full  beauty,  I  do  not  think  that  the  same  amount 
ot  space  covered  by  single  and  other  decorative  Roses  would  have  half 
the  charm. — D.,  Deal. 
The  Three  Shows  of  the  N.R.S. 
That  the  Queen  of  Flowers  has  lost  none  of  its  hold  on  the 
affections  of  the  British  public  is  to  a  certain  extent  shown  by  the 
large  number  of  visitors  present  this  year  at  the  three  exhibitions 
held  by  the  National  Rose  Society.  On  the  day  of  the  Metropolitan 
Show,  which  took  place  at  the  Crystal  Palace  on  the  2nd  inst.,  no 
fewer  than  14,000  persons  passed  through  the  turnstiles,  while  as 
many  as  20,000  are  stated  to  have  visited  the  Halifax  Exhibition. 
There  was  also  an  unusually  large  and  fashionable  attendance  at  the 
Society’s  Southern  Show  held  at  Bath  on  June  23rd. 
It  may  be  said  that  many  of  the  visitors  we  see  at  Rose  shows 
are  to  a  great  extent  induced  to  come  to  them  by  the  other  attractions 
usually  provided  on  such  occasions,  and  this  is  no  doubt  true. 
However,  one  has  only  to  watch  the  eager,  yet  orderly,  crowd 
streaming  past  the  different  stands  in  a  Rose  tent  in  order  to  form 
some  idea  how  much  exhibitions  of  this  kind  are  appreciated  by 
visitors  of  all  classes. 
But  not  only  is  the  love  of  the  Rose  shown  by  this  exceptional 
record  of  visitors,  but  also  by  the  large  and  increasing  number  of 
exhibitors  at  these  shows.  It  is  not  at  all  necessary  for  every  Rose 
grower  to  be  an  exhibitor,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  that  it  is 
principally  owing  to  the  influence  and  example  of  exhibitors  generally 
that  the  standard  of  Rose  culture  is  gradually  being  raised  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  The  fact  is,  each  exhibitor’s 
garden  forms  a  centre  from  which  radiates  in  all  directions  an  interest 
more  or  less  strong  in  the  cultivation  of  our  national  flower. 
The  Bath,  or  Southern,  exhibition  was  the  smallest  of  the  kind 
yet  held  by  the  N.R.S.,  the  total  number  of  blooms  of  exhibition 
Roses  being  only  1180,  or  about  half  the  usual  quantity.  This  was, 
of  course,  due  to  the  lateness  of  the  season,  which  allowed  only 
growers  residing  in  the  warmer  parts  of  our  islands  to  brrng  blooms 
to  the  show  at  that  early  date,  June  23rd.  The  next  exhibition,  which 
was  held  at  the  Crystal  Palace  nine  days  later,  was  in  extent  an 
average  one  ;  but  even  then  only  exhibitors  residing  south  of  the  Trent 
were  enabled  to  compete,  the  most  northern  localities  represented,  at 
all  events  amongst  the  prizewinners,  being  King’s  Lynn  and  Leicester. 
The  northern  show,  which  took  place  at  Halifax  on  the  14th  inst., 
was,  with  one  exception  (that  at  Birmingham  in  1890),  the  largest 
northern  show  ever  held  by  the  Society ;  4100  blooms  wrere  staged  in 
the  classes  for  Hybrid  Perpetuals,  Hybrid  Teas,  and  Teas  and 
Noisettes,  or  sufficient  with  the  “  garden  ”  or  decorative  Roses  to  fill 
four  rows  of  staging  in  a  tent  240  feet  long. 
There  are  many  reasons  why  the  interest  in  the  Rose  and  its  culture 
continues  to  be  so  well  maintained,  and  is  moreover,  in  my  opinion, 
never  likely  to  decline.  I  will  mention  only  two.  In  the  first  place, 
besides  being  the  most  beautiful  of  all  flowers,  it  is  especially  an 
amateur’s  flower — a  flower  that  appeals  to  nearly  every  lover  of  a 
garden,  and  which  he  himself  can  rear  and  lend  with  his  own  unaided 
hands.  With  few  exceptions  the  Roses  we  see  at  exhibitions  have 
come  from  plants  which  have  been  either  cultivated  entirely  by  the 
exhibitor  himself,  or  each  cultural  operation  in  connection  with  them 
carried  out  under  his  sole  direction. 
Then,  again,  we  have  only  to  look  at  the  wide  range  covered  by 
this  lovely  flower  in  order  to  form  some  idea  as  to  its  future 
capabilities — a  range  say,  from  the  wild  Dog  Rose  of  our  hedges  to 
one  of  Mr.  Prince’s  exhibition  blooms  of  Comtesse  de  Nadaillac. 
Even  at  the  present  time,  never  before  in  the  history  of  the  Rose  has 
there  been  such  a  number  of  choice  varieties  for  the  cultivator  to 
select  from.  It  matters  little  whether  he  required  Roses  for  exhibition 
purposes,  for  the  ordinary  garden  decoration,  or  for  cut  flowers  for  the 
adornment  of  the  home. — E.  M.,  Berkhamsted. 
Campanula  pyramidalis.— Plants  of  this  attractive  Bellflower, 
both  blue  and  white,  are  just  coming  into  bloom,  and  should  be 
well  attended  to  with  water  and  a  little  feeding.  Fine  specimens  are 
obtained  in  9-inch  pots,  such  plants  usually  producing  a  tall  strong 
central  flower  spike,  as  well  as  several  smaller. — E.  S. 
