May  7,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
419 
largely  resorted  to  by  nurserymen,  and  some  new  Roses  are  thus  started 
which  are  rather  enfeebled.  It  is  an  easy  plan  also  in  the  autumn  to 
insert  cuttings  about  October,  when  the  ground  is  still  warmer  than  the 
air  is  becoming.  If  put  in  under  a  bell-glass  the  majority  are  sure  to 
strike,  and  will  make  capital  little  bushes  for  planting  out  by  the 
following  June.  The  origin  of  one  Rose,  the  Moss,  has  been  poetically 
related. 
Watering.— I  am  not  a  strong  advocate  for  watering.  Unless  done 
continuously  it  draws  the  roots  up  to  the  surface,  only  to  suffer  the  more 
seriously  when  a  drought  sets  in.  Well-established  standards  and  bush 
Roses,  with  tap  roots,  will  stand  a  great  deal  of  dry  weather  without 
nagging,  especially  if  kept  syringed,  a  thing  I  was  always  particular 
about  with  my  exhibition  Roses,  as  soon  as  the  sun  was  off  them.  Plants 
drink  largely  through  their  leaves,  and  rejoice  in  these  being  well 
wetted.  In  town  gardens,  with  a  hose,  they  should  find  themselves  in 
c  over,  but,  unhappily,  for  the  most  part  have  largely  favoured  rivals. 
Where  water  can  be  turned  on  amongst  exhibition  Roses  I  have  seen 
barrels  sunk  amongst  the  beds  at  intervals,  and  excellent  manure  water 
thus  manufactured  for  them.  Even  then  nothing  else  can  make  up  for 
the  want  of  rain  water,  or  vie  with  it  when  it  comes  in  the  shape  of  a 
thunderstorm ;  electrical  rain  is  the  one  best  of  all. 
The  greatest  success  I  ever  scored  at  a  show  came  about  in  this  way. 
I  remember  the  evening  before  a  big  Rose  show — it  was  after  a  fort¬ 
night’s  drought — inspecting  my  Rose  beds  with  despair,  and  determined 
it  would  be  utter  folly  to  think  of  exhibiting  on  the  morrow.  Two  or 
three  hours  after  there  came  up  a  heavy  thunderstorm  ;  it  rained  half 
the  night.  The  next  morning,  by  9  A.M.,  my  garden  was  utterly  trans¬ 
formed.  I  could  cut  and  come  again,  and  have  spare  blooms  in  abund¬ 
ance.  That  day  I  won  two  first  prizes  in  classes  open  to  All  England, 
beating  with  my  modest  box  of  twelve  (I  seldom  show  more)  amateurs 
and  nurserymen  from  various  parts  of  the  kingdom,  men  who  had  as 
many  thousand  plants  as  I  could  count  hundreds  ;  but  I  seemed  to  have 
had  that  delightful  thunder  rain  all  to  myself. 
Very  hot  weather  is  most  trying.  Then  I  used  to  purchase  straw  hats 
by  the  dozen,  and  comfortable  wearing  the  Roses  all  found  them.  In  wet 
weather,  on  the  other  hand,  tin  caps  are  required,  and  are  almost  essen¬ 
tial  if  Tea  Roses  are  to  be  exhibited.  A  single  soaking  shower  may 
utterly  ruin  the  tender  petals  of  a  high-class  Tea.  Umbrellas  are  useful 
both  in  rain  and  sunshine.  It  was  a  standing  joke  against  me  in  Surrey 
that  a  friend  was  prevented  from  calling  at  the  Vicarage  by  the  vast 
array  of  parasols  he  saw  about  the  grounds.  He  thought  a  large  garden 
party  was  going  on,  and  did  not  like  to  intrude  1  If  fine  blooms  are  to 
be  obtained  manure  water  must  of  course  be  given  when  the  Roses 
begin  to  show  colour,  but  not  when  very  dry,  or  to  young  and  delicate 
plants.  Babies  are  not  brought  up  on  beefsteaks  and  porter. 
Exhibiting, — I  have  already  glanced  at  this,  but  some  few  further 
words  may  perhaps  be  admissible.  I  am  prepared  to  go  rather  further 
in  the  way  of  advice  than  that  cautious  gentleman  who  was  so  resolved 
that  his  rival  should  not  make  much  out  of  him.  “  In  growing,”  he 
answered,  “for  exhibition  we  find  that  everything  depends  on  every¬ 
thing  else,  and  we  act  accordingly.”  I  have  had  a  long  experience.  I 
learned  first  “  how  not  to  do  it  ”  when  I  began  showing  my  Roses,  some 
pronounced  “  pretty,  but  quite  too  small !  ”  The  next  year  I  took  Paul 
Neron,  La  Reine,  Edward  Morren,  and  nine  others  of  that  calibre.  These 
were  pronounced  “  coarse  and  quite  too  large  1  ”  When  I  bad  learned 
the  right  size  and  proper  manner  of  setting  up,  then  came  perils  of 
journeying.  Sometimes  on  arriving  my  box  of  twelve  would  have  only 
three  or  four  presentable  ;  the  rest  would  have  succumbed  to  the  heat 
of  the  weather.  My  box  lid  had  been  made  too  shallow,  and  when  that 
was  rectified,  and  with  the  spare  bloom  box  also  well  ventilated,  then  I 
found  that  many  fair  seeing  Roses  were  quite  unreliable. 
“  Beware,”  I  find  in  my  note  book,  “  of  Comtesse  d’Oxford  and  all  the 
Victor  Verdier  tribe  !  ”  Even  Chas.  Lefebvre  is  not  quite  to  be  trusted  ; 
and  fair  La  France  has  more  than  once  failed  me  cruelly.  Annie  Wood, 
though  solid  looking,  is  absolutely  unreliable.  Again,  there  is  great 
danger  where  Roses  have  been  cut  for  some  time  ;  under  such  circum¬ 
stances  they  will  go  to  pieces  very  suddenly.  The  best  box  of  six  Teas  I 
ever  sent  to  a  show — it  was  at  Bath — had  in  it  a  superb  Rubens,  but  it 
had  been  kept  too  long.  One  of  my  rivals,  who  was  looking  at  the  box 
with  dissatisfaction,  told  me  afterwards — I  was  not  there — that  just  before 
the  judges  came  round,  to  his  great  delight,  he  saw  this  Rubens  suddenly 
collapse  and  slide  down  like  a  snow  wreath.  It  was  at  once  replaced 
with  a  smaller  Rose,  but  the  character  of  the  box  had  been  hopelessly 
ruined,  as  that  good  old  lady  said  of  something  else,  under  some  other 
circumstances,  "  You  might  write  1  knickerbocker  ’  over  it ;  its  glory 
was  departed  I  ” 
The  style  of  Rose  I  used  to  select  latterly  was  a  good  fat  stout  one 
like  Star  of  Waltham.  Marie  Rady  is  trustworthy,  so  is  Marie 
Baumann.  Mardchal  Niel  is  always  reliable,  and  is  by  far  the  most 
generally  useful  of  all  Roses.  An  exhibitor  should  grow  more  of  this 
than  of  any  other  sort.  On  one  occasion  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  when  I 
gained  two  first  prizes  and  a  third,  there  were  eight  Marechal  Niels  in 
my  twenty  Roses — one  in  the  first  prize  box  of  twelve,  one  in  the 
six  Tea  box,  and  the  rest  in  the  six  yellow  of  any  kind,  which  came  in 
an  easy  first  on  that  occasion.  The  Mardchal  is  a  good  all-round  Rose, 
and  a  marvellous  progeny  for  that  mean  little  Isabella  Gray  to  have  had. 
That  was  a  very  “  one  horse  affair  ”  at  the  best,  whilst  the  Marshal  is 
what  the  Americans  call  a  “  whole  team,  and  a  dog  under  the  waggon  1  ” 
— ALAN  CHEALES. 
(To  be  concluded.) 
GARDENERS’  ROYAL  BENEYOLENT  INSTITUTION. 
Worcestershire  Branch. 
Through  the  kindness  of  the  Right  Honorable  Earl  Beauchamp, 
President  of  the  Worcestershire  Branch  of  the  above  Institution,  the 
beautiful  grounds  and  gardens  of  Madresfield  Court  were  thrown  open 
to  the  public  on  the  30th  of  April,  a  small  charge  being  made  at  the 
gates,  the  receipts  of  which  will  be  forwarded  to  the  Institution.  The 
privilege  was  highly  appreciated. 
The  great  centre  of  attraction  was  of  course  the  flower  garden  with 
its  thousands  of  spring  flowering  plants.  The  splendid  rockery  was 
largely  visited.  Mr.  Crump  seems  to  have  got  all  the  best  varieties  of 
alpine  and  rock  plants  in  their  proper  homes.  A  mass  of  the  hardy 
Cypripedium  in  a  sheltered  nook  is  doing  well.  In  the  water  at  the  foot 
of  the  rocks  are  aquatics,  and  around  the  margin  Osmundas  and  other 
moisture-loving  plants.  The  famous  avenue  of  Picea  nobilis  glauca  was 
at  its  best. 
Among  the  many  improvements  made  at  Madresfield  are  large 
plantations  of  flowering  shrubs,  not  a  shrub  here  and  there,  but 
masses  of  a  hundred  square  feet  of  each  family,  as  Berberis  of  sortB, 
Lilac,  Spiraeas,  Laburnum,  Cytisus.  Very  prominent  is  the  new 
C.  Andreanum,  Deutzias,  Azaleas,  and  Rhododendrons  in  variety.  A 
large  mass  of  Iris  in  many  varieties  are  just  commencing  to  bloom,  and 
promise  to  be  grand  in  a  short  time.  The  new  herbaceous  garden 
recently  planted  is  another  feature  of  this  extensive  place.  Every 
variety  worth  having  is  here,  growing  with  that  luxuriance  that  betokens 
that  they  are  properly  cared  for.  As  I  was  privileged  with  a  look 
through  the  houses  and  kitchen  garden,  which  were  not  open  to  the 
public,  everything  was  looking  remarkably  well  under  glass  and  in  the 
kitchen  garden. 
I  may  say  that  Earl  Beauchamp  takes  great  interest  and  delight  in 
his  magnificent  gardens  and  estate.  For  his  generosity  in  throwing  his 
beautiful  place  open  to  the  public  for  the  above  object  he  deserves  the 
thanks  of  all. — J.  W.  S. 
WHITE  AND  GREEN  CUCUMBERS. 
Some  years  since  I  wrote  to  you,  stating  that  a  green  Cucumber 
plant  yielded  white  fruit,  and  I  wish  now  to  inform  you  that  this  white 
variety  is  lapsing  into  its  original  green  state. 
As  it  seemed  probable  to  me  that  the  lapsing  would  take  place  in 
time,  I  used  great  precautions  during  its  cultivation  to  keep  it  distinct 
from  the  green  sort.  I  may  now  give  you  the  particulars  of  that 
cultivation. 
In  each  of  nine  years  I  have  grown  four  plants  of  the  white  variety 
on  a  separate  bed,  though  about  4  yards  from  another  bed  with  green 
Cucumber  plants.  Daring  eight  successive  summers  all  the  former 
have  borne  abundantly  only  white  fruit.  In  the  ninth  year  I  had  four 
plants  as  before,  but  whilst  three  of  them  produced  white  fruit,  the  other 
bore  pale  green  fruit. 
This  change  from  a  white  to  a  greenish  fruit  does  not  seem  to  me 
quite  established,  for  the  colour  was  pale  or  pea-green,  instead  of  the 
dark  green  of  the  Cucumber  from  which  the  white  fruit  came  originally. 
Where  this  lapsing  fruit  rested  on  the  soil  it  was  whiter  than  the 
common  Cucumber  under  the  like  circumstances.  Moreover,  the  young 
fruit  to  3  inches  in  length  was  white  at  the  stalk,  and  gradually  became 
greenish  as  it  grew.  Further,  the  fruit  when  ripened  (one  being  left  for 
seed)  obtained  a  uniform  golden  yellow  colour,  as  do  the  white 
Cucumbers,  and  was  not  mottled  as  in  the  green  Cucumber  in  that 
state. 
The  thought  may  occur  to  you  possibly  that  the  plant  bearing  the 
pale  green  fruit  was  derived  from  a  seed  of  the  green  Cucumber, 
accidentally  mixed  with  the  white  seed.  Such  an  opinion  will  probably 
be  the  general  one,  but  I  took  the  greatest  care  to  guard  against  the 
possibility  of  error  from  that  source  in  each  of  the  years  during  the 
time  mentioned. 
I  have  prepared  and  preserved  during  the  winter  the  seed  of  the 
white  Cucumber,  have  planted  the  same  in  pots  next  spring,  and  have 
afterwards  transferred  them  to  a  permanent  bed  ;  and  as  this  was  done 
by  myself  I  am  more  confident  than  I  should  otherwise  be  that  there 
was  not  any  accidental  mixture  of  green  with  white  seed. 
To  me  who  have  witnessed  the  characters  (described  above)  of  the 
pale  green  fruit  there  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  of  that  fruit  now  returning 
to  its  original  condition  after  a  period  of  a  few  years.  It  will  be  inter¬ 
esting  to  observe  further  whether  the  plaut  bearing  this  season  the  pale 
green  fruit  will  yield  green  or  white  fruit  next  summer.  I  have 
preserved  seed  of  this  lapsing  Cucumber,  and  shall  plant  it  as  I  have 
done  before,  and  the  result  I  shall  be  pleased  to  send  you  if  it  will 
interest  you.— George  Viner  Ellis. 
P.S. — The  above  notice  was  written  at  the  end  of  last  year,  but 
illness  prevented  me  sending  it  to  you.  Since  December  I  have  become 
blind,  and  shall  therefore  be  unable  to  conduct  the  experiments  I  have 
promised  ;  but  I  will  entrust  them  to  a  person  in  whom  I  have  con¬ 
fidence,  and  I  shall  hope  to  send  the  results  to  you  towards  the  end  of 
the  year. — G.  Y.  E. 
[We  regret  exceedingly  the  calamity  that  has  befallen  a  careful 
observer,  and  trust  the  loss  of  sight  will  not  be  permanent.  We  do  not 
attribute  the  change  to  the  mixing  of  seed.  It  may  have  been  effected  by 
the  transference  by  some  means  of  a  grain  of  pollen  from  a  green  to  a 
white-fruited  plant,  and  which  exerted  its  influence  in  the  direction 
indicated  ;  or  the  change  may  be  a  case  of  reversion.  Perhaps  some  of 
