September  10,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
251 
was  when  we  saw  it,  and  it  must  be  even  more  pleasinpc  when  occupied 
■by  the  young  ladies  with  their  pretty  dresses  and  graceful  forms.  This 
even  the  sedate  Benedicts  who  saw  the  garden  that  night  were  not 
privileged  to  see,  and  I  presume  that  must  be  a  pleasure  only  reserved 
for  the  fair  sex.  The  influence  of  this  garden  upon  the  young  ladies  who 
enjoy  its  pleasures  must  be  a  great  one,  and  must  lead  many  of  them  to 
seek  in  after  years  in  gardens  of  their  own  the  delights  of  that  craft 
so  many  of  ns  follow  and  find  pleasure  in.  The  sights  of  the  day  were 
finished,  and  my  hotel  was  sought  weary  again,  but  not  less  gratified 
.than  on  the  day  before. — S.  Abbott. 
(To  be  continued.! 
The  Past  Rose  Season. 
Thebe  is  no  use  in  disguising  the  fact ;  since  the  year  1879  the  Rose 
-season  for  1896  is  the  very  worst  on  record.  We  may  use  honeyed  phrases, 
and  try  to  extenuate  our  shortcomings,  but  still  the  fact  remains  that 
wherever  Roses  have  been  grown  or  exhibited  the  same  story  has  been 
told.  In  that  year  the  shortcoming  was  from  a  very  different  cause,  it  was 
the  continuous  rain  which  spoiled  the  flowers  then,  whereas  this  year  it  is 
the  continuous  drought  which  has  injured  them.  Of  course,  where  we  have 
the  whole  of  our  islands  to  range  over  it  is  never  very  likely  that  the  same 
■sort  of  weather  will  prevail  in  every  portion,  and  hence  it  is  with  Roses 
as  with  most  crops,  some  places  come  out  with  a  better  record  than  falls 
to  the  lot  of  their  less  favoured  brethren.  And  in  surveying  the  past  we 
must  not  confine  ourselves  to  exhibitions  or  show  flowers,  and  I  think 
most  owners  of  the  garden  who  grow  Roses  will  say  that  the  past  season 
has  been  to  them  a  sore  trial ;  so  early  was  the  season  that  J une  has 
pretty  well  reasserted  herself  as  the  month  of  Roses. 
Single  Roses  especially  had  but  a  very  short  life  of  it.  Lord 
Penzance’s  hybrid  Sweet  Briars,  although  more  lasting  than  the  purely 
single  ones,  are  very  soon  out  of  flower,  and  when  the  month  of  July 
came  it  would  have  been  hard  in  most  localities  to  have  gathered  any 
appreciable  number  of  single  flowers.  In  an  early  season  like  this  we 
find  our  different  localities  are  fensibly  affected.  Thus  in  the  South  and 
West,  where  Roses  are  always  early,  the  season  was  a  short  one.  Many 
of  those  who  are  in  the  habit  of  exhibiting  from  those  districts  found 
themselves  hopelessly  handicapped,  and  did  not  even  put  in  an 
appearance  at  any  of  our  principal  shows,  while  it  is  of  course  favourable 
to  those  who  hail  from  the  North.  What  we  may  call  accidents 
oftentimes  interfere  with  our  calculations.  Thus  I  know  of  one  grower  ^ 
who  sat  mournfully  deploring  the  blighting  effects  of  a  frost  in  the 
middle  of  May  on  a  batch  of  Tea  Roses,  but  having  cut  away  the  injured 
parts  the  plants,  under  the  influence  of  the  warm  weather  which 
followed,  made  vigorous  shoots  and  supplied  him  with  excellent  blooms 
when  the  time  of  the  later  shows  came  on.  May  frosts,  however,  were 
not  genera',  and  bad  the  weather  not  been  so  dry  the  season  would,  there 
is  no  doubt,  have  been  a  grand  one.  It  is  of  course  very  disappointing 
when  we  have  watched  the  gradual  development  of  a  plant,  have  seen 
the  flower  buds  formed  and  hoped  for  good  blooms,  to  find  all  our  hopes 
dashed  to  the  ground  by  either  small  or  misshapen  flowers  meeting  our 
eyes,  instead  of  the  grand  blooms  we  had  expected. 
When,  therefore,  we  consider  the  large  number  of  Rose  exhibitors, 
and  the  varied  character  of  the  positions  they  occupy,  we  cannot  be 
/Surprised  even  in  the  most  deplorable  seasons  that  some  good  flowers 
will  be  produced.  But  our  standard  becomes  (it  may  be  insensibly) 
.lowered,  and  what  would  in  other  seasons  only  have  been  tolerated 
receives  a  certain  amount  of  praises.  This  was,  however,  not  a  season  in 
which  one  is  buttonholed  and  asked  to  come  and  view  some  grand  flower 
which  had,  perhaps,  escaped  our  notice  ;  no  grand  stands  elicited  warm 
encomiums  from  Rose  connoisseurs,  however  acceptable  they  may  have 
bfen  to  the  general  public,  who  do  not  view  them  with  a  ciidcal  eye. 
.Even  medal  Roses  were  not  up  to  their  usual  mark,  andirquiries  were 
made  by  those  appointed  to  judge  whether  it  was  obligatory  to  award 
•the  prize. 
In  one  respect  the  Rose  shows  of  1896  favoured  the  grower  and  the 
exhibitor  as  far  as  I  can  recollect  or  obtain  information  ;  they  were  all 
held  in  fine  weather,  a  most  fortunate  circumstance  to  those  who  have 
the  responsibility  of  managing  local  societies ;  in  fact,  the  weather 
was  too  fine  in  some  cases  for  the  exhibitors.  The  railway  vans  and 
tents  are  apt  to  become  too  heated,  and  consequently  when  the  flowers 
have  to  meet  the  eyes  of  the  judges  too  many  of  them  are  staring  at  the 
fudges  with  their  eyes,  for  in  a  hot  season  the  flowers  have  not  the 
Atoutness  of  petal  which  enables  them  to  withstand  the  heated  atmo¬ 
sphere  which  too  often  prevails  in  the  show  room  or  tent.  As  far  as 
one  can  judge  there  has  been  no  diminution  either  in  the  number  of 
exhibitions  or  in  exhibitors,  nor  has  there  been  any  lack  of  enthusiasm 
in  engaging  in  the  contests.  I  may  instance  as  a  proof  of  this  the  pluck 
of  Messrs.  Alexander  Dickson  &  Sons  of  Newtownards  in  chartering  a 
special  train  to  take  their  Roses  to  Ulverston.  But  a  mistake  has  been 
.made  aVjout  this.  A  writer  has  alluded  to  it  as  if  it  were  a  unique 
instance  ;  but  I  remember  many  years  ago,  when  there  was  a  keen  con¬ 
test  for  what  was  called  the  Cranston  challenge  cup,  that  Mr.  Jowett  of 
Hereford  and  Mr.  John  Cranston  took  a  special  to  convey  their  boxes  to 
the  Crystal  Palace,  a  much  longer  and  more  expensive  journey.  What 
will  not  people  do  when  they  are  interested?  I  read  the  other  day  of 
the  lady  in  a  western  city,  whose  dog  bad  been  injured,  who  wired  up 
to  London  for  a  veterinary  to  come  and  see  i.t,  and  getting  a  replv 
stating  that  the  last  train  had  left,  immediately  wired,  “  Take  a  special.” 
I  wonder  what  reply  such  people  would  give  who  were  requested  to  help 
some  poor  people  who  were  in  trouble. 
It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  in  a  year  when  we  have  heard  so 
many  complaints  of  insect  ravages  that  so  few  have  reached  me  with 
regard  to  those  pests  over  which  we  ordinarily  grumble  when  we  are 
looking  at  our  Rose  gardens.  Of  course,  there  was  a  number  of  the 
Rose  maggots,  but  not  more,  I  think,  than  usual ;  while,  concerning 
aphides,  I  was  astonished  to  find  how  little  trouble  they  occasioned  this 
year.  In  my  own  garden  I  had  more  of  them  than  last  season,  bat  not 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  cause  me  much  trouble  and  annoyance.  Of 
mildew,  of  course,  we  had  after  the  first  bloom  was  over  the  usual 
invasion  of  this  disfiguring  pest,  but  beyond  the  disfigurement  I  do  not 
think  that  Rose  growers  take  much  account  of  it  nowadays.  We  do  not 
like  it,  and  those  Roses  which  are  especially  subject  to  it,  such  as  Her 
Majesty,  and  Abel  Carriere  and  Jean  Sou  pert,  had  better  be  kept 
apart,  if  possible.  Orange  fungus,  too,  as  usual,  made  its  appearance, 
but  not  with  the  same  virulence  as  I  have  seen  in  some  seasons. 
Most  of  my  plants  have  now  a  healthy  foliage,  whereas  in  seasons 
when  it  is  very  prevalent  the  foliage  is  mostly  under  the  trees  instead 
of  on  them. 
Garden  Roses  have  been  much  more  in  evidence,  although,  as  already 
said,  the  season  was  not  very  favourable  for  them ;  but  yet  most  of 
those  who  grow  Roses  at  all  cultivate  some  of  them,  and  where  space 
permits  they  may  be  made  to  form  a  very  attractive  feature.  I  do  not 
know  that  anything  very  remarkable  has  been  added  to  them  this  yea'", 
but  the  dwarf  Polyanthas  seem  to  be  much  in  favour.  Such  varieties 
as  Perle  d’Or,  Paquerette,  Anna  Maria  de  Montravel,  Mignonette,  and 
others  make  charming  plants  for  the  garden,  being  covered  with  bloom 
and  continuing  so  until  late  in  the  autumn.  There  is  a  practice  in 
which  we  see  some  symptoms  every  year  which  I  think  ought  to  be 
condemned.  When  a  new  Rose  is  produced  which  is  not  up  to  the 
standard  of  exhibition  Roses  the  raiser,  unwilling  to  let  it  go  by 
altogether,  pronounces  it  to  be  a  good  garden  Rose,  although  probably 
much  inferior  to  some  we  have  already  in  cultivation. 
There  has  unquestionably  been  a  great  lack  of  new  Roses,  whether 
we  regard  home  or  foreign  raisers.  No  medal  for  a  new  seedling  was 
awarded  at  the  Metropolitan  exhibition,  and  the  flower  which  obtained 
that  award  at  Lllverston  was  not  a  seedling  but  a  sport,  and  it  is  hoped 
that  Muriel  Grahame,  for  such  it  is  named,  may  be  as  popular  as  the 
Rose  from  which  it  is  a  sport— The  Bride — itself  a  sport  from  Catherine 
Mcrmet',  Another  Ilose— Mrs.  Frank  Cant,  a  beautiful  light  pink  shade 
_ promises  to  be  a  useful  addition  to  our  Roses  of  that  colour.  Messrs. 
Frank  Cant  &  Co.  have  received  an  award  of  merit  from  the  R.H.8., 
but  I  believe  I  am  correct  in  saying  that  it  will  not  be  sent  out  until 
next  year.  u  i  *  i 
As  far  as  the  foreign  raisers  are  concerned  there  has  been  absolutely 
n  thing  new,  and  when  the  C  mmittee  of  the  N  R.S.  drew  up  a  lilt  of 
the  Roses  which  it  was  suggested  might  be  added  to  the  catalogue 
published  by  the  Society  it  was  remarkable  how  few  they  were,  and 
although  they  were  asked  to  take  notice  of  them  when  exhibited  this 
year  it  was  remarkable  how  few  made  their  appearance  on  the  exhibition 
table.  There  has  been  no  great  change  amongst  the  exhibitors  them- 
selv^  ;  the  large  growers  amongst  amateurs  may  still  almost  be  numbered 
upon  the  fingers  of  one’s  hand.  There  have  been  changes  amongst  the 
smaller  exhibitors,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  many  have  been  encouraged 
by  the  division  of  classes  according  to  the  number  of  plants  grown  to 
come  forward,  not  having  the  fear  before  them  of  being  swallowed  up 
by  some  of  the  Tritons  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  coming  down  and 
scattering  them  in  all  directions. 
There  nas  been  one  aspect  of  the  Rose  season  for  1896  which  has 
been  of  unmixed  satisfaction — namely,  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the 
second  bloom.  Teas  and  Noisettes,  of  course,  are  always  to  the  front 
late  in  the  season,  but  H.P.’s  have  also  been  unusually  good.  When  the 
drought  broke  up,  and  good  rains  supervened,  the  plants  which  at  one 
time  seemed  as  if  they  were  standing  still  made  vigorous  growth  and 
excellent  flower  buds  were  formed,  and  blooms  opened  well,  so  that  all 
through  the  month  of  August  quantities  of  good  flowers  could  be 
gathered,  and  should  the  present  weather  continue  with  its  a,lternation8 
of  sunshine  and  showers,  we  may  look  to  gathering  good  blooms  until 
the  time  when  the  frost  comes  and  -  puts  an  end  to  our  enjoyment  of 
them  for  a  season. 
It  will  now  be  a  busy  time  in  preparation  for  next  year  by  planting 
in  next  month.  If  I  have  been  correct  in  my  estimate  of  the  past 
season  there  will  not  be  many  new  Roses  to  be  added,  and  in  all  that  1 
have  written  I  have  not  indulged  in  a  pessimistic  tone,  nor  praised  the 
past  for  what  it  did  not  possess.  But  we  must  now  let  the  curtain  drop 
over  the  season  of  1896  ;  let  us  hope  when  it  rises  again  we  may  have 
a  real  transformation  scene,  and  while  the  same  performers  reappear  to 
enact  their  parts,  they  may  not  come  forward  in  the  garb  of  mourning 
which  has  best  suited  them  this  year,  but  under  the  influence  of  more 
rosy  weather  may  show  to  us  that  they  have  lost  none  of  their  vigour 
and  skill,  but  are  prepared  again  to  do  vigorous  battle  for  the  queen  of 
flo  vers. — D.,  Deal. 
