178 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  26,  1903. 
The  Hybrid  Tea.* 
Two  papers  on  Hybrid  Tea  Roses  were  contributed  to  the 
Rose  Conference  lield  last  summer  by  thei  Royal  Horticultural 
Society,  and  each  was  of  very  great  interest.  In  the  subjoined 
paragraphs  we  have  extracted  the  thread  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  H. 
Pemberton’s  observations  on  Hybrid  Teas,  so  far  as  his  remarks 
apply  to  the  his^tory  and  rise  and  progress  of  this  delightful 
section  of  cultivated  Roses,  Mr.  Pemberton  begins  by  a  retro¬ 
spect  of  affairs  to  the  time  of  the  Rose  Conference  in  1889,  and 
proceeds  to  show  how  speedily  the  H.T.’.s  havei  increased  in  the 
number  of  their  A’arieties  and  in  popularity. 
In  1889  (he  observes)  Rose  cultivation  was  on  the  eve  of  a 
new  era,  the  era  of  the  Hybrid  Tea.  The  invasion  of  our  gardens 
by  a  new  race  was  imminent,  quietly  yet  steadily  advancing, 
aided  in  no  small  degree  by  a  revival  of  a  more  refined  appre¬ 
ciation  of  the  beautiful  in  the  Rose,  a  revival  of  what  are  appro¬ 
priately  termed  “  Decorative  ”  Roses.  Speaking  generally,  the 
decade  of  1870-80  was  the  era  of  the  exhibition  Hybrid  Perpetual 
as  we  know  it  now,  since  those  of  the  sixties  had  for  the  most 
part  given  place  to  larger  and  more  perfect  flowers.  In  like 
manner  the  decade  of  1880-90  may  be  termed  the  period  of  the 
Exhibition  Teas.  Those  were  days  when  the  so-called  Exhibition 
Roses  were  paramount:  the  demand  was  for  them,  and  the 
supply  corresponded.  Nevertheless,  a  third  party  was  in  process 
of  formation  which  now  is  challenging  the  other  two  for 
supremacy — the  Hybrid  Tea,  The  introduction  of  Mr.  Bennett’s 
Her  Majesty  set  us  thinking.  Magnificent  as  a  specimen  flower 
when  seen  in  the  exhibition  tent,  as  a  garden  Rose  it  lacked 
that  something  which  can  best  be  expressed  in  modern  Italian  as 
simpatica.  Few  and  scentless  were  its  flowers,  which  by  being 
perched  on  the  top  of  a  stiff  stem  savoured  of  stubbornness  and 
self-conceit.  Was  it  for  this  that  we  had  expelled  from  our 
collection  Aimee  Yibert,  Maiden’s  Blush,  Mrs.  Bosanquet, 
Felicite  Pei-petue,  and  all  our  grandmothers’  Roses,  with  their 
exquisite  scent  and  masses  of  flowers? 
By  reference  to  a  trade  catalogue  we  can  trace  their  advance. 
In  the  catalogue  for  1890  we  find  six,  and  then  two  years  later, 
and  every  two  succeeding  years  to  1901,  we  find  the  number  of 
Hybrid  Teas  to  be  twelve,  thirty-one,  forty-three,  forty-nine, 
and  sixty-five.  These  figures  show  us  that  during  the  last  ten 
years  Hybrid  Teas  have  increased  from  six  to  sixty-five.  In  sup¬ 
port  of  this  evidence  we  can  call  upon  the  “  Official  Catalogue  ” 
of  the  National  Rose  Society. 
But  we  greatly  need  a  definition  of  what  a  Hybrid  Tea  is. 
It  is  difficult  to  reconcile  the  grouping  together  of  Marquise  de 
Salisbui-y  and  Caroline  Te.stout,  the  former  showing  affinity  with 
R.  spino.sissima,  the  latter,  especially  in  its  armature^  with  R. 
canina.  It  is  more  difficult  still  to  discover  the  dividing  line 
between  Kaiserin  Augusta  Victoria  (H.T.)  and  Maman  Cochet 
Tea ;  and  what  prevents  Gruss  air  Teplitz  from  being  classed  as 
a  China  ?  Why  is  Suzanne  Marie  Rodocanachi  (H.P.)  excluded 
from  the  Hybrid  Tea  group?.  Again,'  are  we  tO'  conclude  that 
the  apparent  diversity  among  Hybrid  Teas  is  a  result  of 
heredity?  It  is  stated  that  the  first  Hybrid  Perpetual  was 
obtained  by  crossing  the  Hybrid  China  with  a  Damask  Per¬ 
petual.  If  this  is  so,  then  we  have  in  this  class  the  inter¬ 
mingling  of  R.  damascena  with  R.  gallica.  On  the  other  hand 
there  is  considerable  variation  in  Roses  of'  the  Tea-scented 
group,  which  p,ppears  to  owe  its  origin  to  the  blush  Tea  intro¬ 
duced  from  China  in  1810,  and  the  yellow  Tea  received  from 
the  same  country  in  1834.  Was  not  the  Hybrid  Tea  originally  a 
cross  betiveen  the  Hybrid  Perjietual  and  the  Tea-scented?  Have 
we  kept  to  this  ?  Is  there  not  rather  a  tendency  in  the  present 
day  to  class  all  perpetual  Roses  of  an  indefiriite  character  as 
Hybrid  Teas,  regardless  of  botanical  characteristics?  It  seems 
that  a  raiser  considers  there  are  but  three  courses  open  to  him. 
He  obtains  a  seedling,  propagates  it,  and  then,  when  on  the 
point  of  distributing  it,  considers  whether  it  is  a  Hybrid  Per¬ 
petual  or  Tea.  If  he  is  unable  toi  determine  this  point,  he  calls 
it  a  Hybrid  Tea.  Again,  some'’  it  may  be  approach  the 
question  from  the  more  or  less  restricted  view  of  an  exhibitor, 
jealously  protect  the  Tea-scented,  class  from  any  intrusion  of  a 
red  flower.  A  dark  Rose  in  a  stand  of  Teas,  they  say,  spoils  the 
stand.  As  an  instance  of  this  we  may  cite  the  case  of  Souvenir 
de  Therese  Levet,  introduced  in  1882,  which  had  to  stmggle  hard 
to  maintain  its  position  as  a  Tea. :  If  this  Rose  had  been  sent 
out  some  ten  years  later,  I  venture  to  say  it  would,  solely  on 
account  of  its  colour,  have  been  classed  as  a  Hybrid  Tea. 
*  Extracts  from  a  paper  reat  at  the  R.II..S.  Rose  Conference,,  t  ide  Society’s 
Journiil,  vol.  xxvii.,  parts  2  and  3. 
Gadding  and  Gathering, 
“Here  awa’,  There  awa’.” 
Messrs.  James  Carter  and  Co.,  of  High  Holborn,  London, 
cultivate  a  collection  of  10,000  Chinese  Primulas  at  the  nurseries 
in  the  Forest  Hill  district  of  south-west  London.  These  I  in¬ 
spected  a  few  days  ago,  and  noted  some  of  the  varieties. 
Double  Primulas. 
Taking  the  doubles  first,  one  of  the  finest  forms  to  be  seen 
was  Prince  of  IVaies,  a  variety  I  remember  to  have  paid  special 
attention  to  last  season.  It  is  a  delicious  (if  I  may  be  allowed  the 
word)  salmon-carmine  pink,  with  large  flowers  and  trusses  well 
held  up.  The  Princess  of  Wales  is  seen  in  virginal  whitenes.s — a 
gem,  and  well  worthy  of  a  resounding  title.  At  times,  however, 
the  flowers  come  flaked  with  red.  Then  Lilac  Queen,  a  grand 
magenta-purple,  very  deep  and  distinctly  coloured  in  its  earlier 
stages,  is  a  flower  that  appeals  to  many.  So  is  Doublei  Scarlet,  of 
a  glowing  crimson-scarlet  in  reality,  and  a  most  telling  flower 
viewed  rn  iiiassp.  Aurora  is  the  name  of  a  very  pretty  pink  Primula, 
also  with  double  flowers.  Peach  blossom  pink  would  best  describe 
it  ;  and  it  is  a  vigorous  grower.  Snowflake  is  not  the  best  white 
at  Carters — it  is  apt  to  come  pink-tinted  from  what  I  saw  of  it. 
The  finest  v  hite  is  a  single — Elaine  Improved — which  I  will  notice 
presently.  Lastly,  among  the  doubles,  we  have  Carmine  Emijress, 
of  a  deep  crimson-carmine,  somewhat  approximating  the  Double 
Scarlet,  but  yet  quite  distinct. 
Single  Primulas. 
The  notes  which  follow  describe  the  cultivated  single  Primula 
sinensis.  I  have  mentioned  Elaine  Improved.  Well,  there 
is  the  ordinary  Elaine  with  light  leaf-and-flower  stalks ;  there  is 
also  a  fern-leaved  Elaine,  and  still  another  form — a  dark  stemmed 
“  palm-leaved  ”  Elaine.  Thus  are  therq  differences  to  suit  a 
variety  of  tastes.  But  in  Elaine  Improved  we  have  the  ideal 
white!  single  Chinese  Primrose.  It  is  from  a  cross  between  Elaine 
and  Bouciuet.  The  latter  has  large  rounded,  almo.st  fleshy  green 
leaves,  with  large  flowers,  peculiar  in  this,  that  each  one  is  pro¬ 
duced  on  a  separate  short  stalk,  and  has  a  green  bouquet-fringe 
around  it,  rendering  it  odd  and  interesting.  The  good  parts  of 
both  parents  have  gone  into  the  offspring,  and  in  Elaine  Improved 
we  see  a  iialmate  (or  plain-edged  leaf)  dark,  metallic  stemmed, 
vigorous  variety.  But  to  pass  on,  there  is  next  Rose  (fern-leaved), 
a  pretty  rose-iDurple  thing  with  an  orange  centre.  The  variety 
named  Salmon  (or  correctly  Holborn  Salmon,  for  Holborn  should 
be  prefixed  to  each  of  these)  is  a  free  flowering  plant,  exceedingly 
effective  in  its  coat  of  warm  salmon-carmine.  Rose  Queen  I 
liked.  It  is  a  pretty  pale  rose-pink,  and  blossoms  more  profusely 
than  Princess  May,  but  otherwise  is  much  the  same  in  character. 
It  is  one  of  the  best.  Then  comes  another  gem  in  Vermilion,  free, 
rich,  bright,  and  vigorous — a  grand  winter  and  spring  flowering 
Primula. 
King  Edward  Primula. 
Carmine  in  this  section  is  free  and  good,  having  large  trusses 
of  fine  flowers,  coloured  a  distinctive  rich  rose-carmine,  with  a 
telling  zone  around  the  eye.  Holborn  Scarlet  and  Holborn  Blue 
each  deserve  the  three  crosses  (xxx)  to  denote  the  highest  form 
of  excellence.  More  need  not  be  said  in  their  favour.  Magenta, 
too,  is  quite  a  distinctive  flower,  and  has  all  the  good  qualities. 
Holborn  Pink  is  a  salmon  pink.  Crimson  King,  with  velvety 
crimson  clu.sters  of  richly  glowing  flowers,  is  another  of  the  best. 
Yet  again  Ave  have  a  flower  of  merit  in  a  iiewcomer — King 
Edward  VII.  Curiously  enough  the  cross  which  gave  Elaine 
Improved,  also  yielded  this.  The  variety,  be  it  noted,  is  not  yet 
sent  out.  It  is  a  pur©  whit©  of  targe  size  and  good  form,  having 
great  substance,  and  a  beautifully  frilled  edge.  The  foliage  is 
handsome,  being  rounded,  thus  partaking  largely  of  the  Bouqiret 
character.  With  the  inclusion  of  Princess  May  (SAveet  rose  flowers, 
and  robust  character)  and  the  only  stellate  variety  noted,  namely 
Mont  Blanc,  a  Avhite,  these  descriptions  conclude.  Altogether 
there  are  tAventy-nin©  varieties  groAAii,  of  Avhich  I  have  chosen 
twenty-one.  The  cream  of  the  above  is  represented  as  folloAvs : 
Double,  Prince  of  Wales;  and  the  singles,  Princess  May,  Holborn 
Scarlet,  Holborn  Blue,  Magenta,  Crimson  King,  King 
EdAvarcl  VII.,  and  Elaine  Improved. 
The  Cinerarias  and  Calceolarias,  though  not  in  flower,  were 
yet  promising  Avell,  the  plants  being  large  and  robust,  and  of  a 
stamp  likely  to-be  A1  seed  bearers.  The_  collection  of  10,000 
Japanese  Fern-balls  hung  upon  wired  trellises  in  a  long  span- 
house,  and  the  largei  assortment  of  Japanese  dwarfed  Conifers, 
Maples,  Elms,  Prunus,  and  other  trees,  were  of  unusual  interest. 
The  Fern-balls  aroAvatered  as  they  hang  by  means  of  a  hose.  Near 
this  house  is  the  seed-testing  pit— all  seed  samples  being  sent  from 
Holborn  and  tested  here  before  being  sent  out.  In  the  opposite 
direction  is  placed  Mr.  Bard’s  photographic  studio,  Avliere  the 
coloured  and  uncoloured  illustrations  for  Messrs.  Carter’s  cata¬ 
logues  are  prepared.  The  photographs  are  all  from  Nature,  and 
the  greatest  possible  car©  is  taken  in  order  to-'  secure  a  correct 
impression. — Wandering  Willie. 
