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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  2,  1900. 
The  Three  N.R.S.  Shows. 
The  Kose  season  has  been  this  year  in  most  parts  of  the  country  a 
very  trying  and  disappointing  one.  In  the  first  place,  the  frosts  and 
cold  winds  at  the  end  of  April  and  in  the  middle  of  May  caused  a 
large  proportion  ot  the  shoots  to  come  blind.  In  fact,  at  the  Temple 
Show,  on  May  23rd,  I  came  across  only  one  Kose  grower  who  did  not 
take  a  more  or  less  desponding  view  of  his  prospects  for  the  coming 
season.  A  little  later  on,  when  the  blind  shoots  had  been  removed,  a 
sufficient  number  remained — at  all  events  from  an  exhibitor’s  point  of 
view — with  satisfactory  young  buds  at  the  ends  of  them.  These 
young  buds  day  by  day  improved,  and  as  the  plants  continued  healthy 
and  strong,  delightful  dreams  of  magnificent  flowers  in  time  for  “  the 
National,”  as  the  leading  exhibition  of  the  N.R.S.  is  familiarly  styled, 
were  freely  indulged  in.  But  alas  !  those  gloriou-i  visions  were  never 
to  be  realised,  for  cold  weather  set  in,  and  kept  the  buds  almost  at  a 
standstill  for  at  least  a  fortnight.  This  cold  spell  was  immediately 
followed  by  such  a  burst  of  tropical  heat  as  is  seldom  experienced  in 
this  country,  with  the  result  that  the  flower  buds  were  rushed 
prematurely  into  bloom,  and  consequently  came  in  most  cases  under¬ 
sized  and  of  poor  substance.  In  spoiling  the  season,  the  June  cold 
had,  however,  far  more  to  answer  for  than  the  July  heat.  This 
preface  respecting  the  weather  conditions  under  which  our  Roses  were 
grown  this  year  is  necessary,  in  order  that  the  folfjwing  notes  on  the 
National  Rose  Society’s  three  exhibitions  may  be  clearly  understood. 
The  Southern  Show. 
We  will  first  consider  the  Salisbury  Show.  Although  the  fixture 
was  an  unusually  late  one,  June  27th,  the  number  of  blooms  of 
exhibition  Roses  was  smaller  than  at  any  previous  southern  show — 
viz.,  1160  blooms.  That  the  backward  season  was  almost  entirely 
accountable  for  this  small  display  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  no 
exhibitor  came  from  any  town  farther  north  than  Cambridge. 
Added  to  this,  the  exhibitions  held  on  the  same  day  at  Richmond 
and  Southampton  still  further  reduced  the  number  of  Roses  staged. 
With  very  few  exceptions,  however,  our  exhibitors  remained  loyal  to 
the  N.R.S.,  even  those  who  w’ere  showing  elsewhere  in  most  cases 
came  down  themselves  with  Roses  to  Salisbury.  The  spot  on  which 
the  show  was  held  was  one  of  the  most  charming  that  could  have 
been  selected,  in  a  meadow  at  the  back  of  the  Bishop’s  Palace,  and 
under  the  very  shadow  as  it  were  of  Salisbury’s  splendid  cathedral. 
The  redeeming  feature  of  the  show  as  regards  exhibits  was  the 
magnificent  stands  of  “  garden  ”  Roses  at  one  end  of  the  new  and 
spacious  tent  provided  by  the  h  cal  committee.  Although  the  weather 
was  warm  and  bright  most  of  the  flowers  retained  their  freshness 
throughout  the  day. 
The  Metropolitan  Show. 
The  society’s  metropolitan  exhibition  took  place,  as  usual,  at  the 
Crystal  Palace,  filling  very  nearly  the  whole  of  the  north  nave.  It 
was  a  large  show,  the  number  of  blooms  of  exhibition  varieties 
exceeding  the  average  number  for  the  five  previous  Crystal  Palace 
Rose  shows  by  540.  It  was  also  more  extensive  than  either  of  the 
two  preceding  exhibitions.  The  actual  number  of  exhibition  blooms 
staged  amounted  to  6500.  There  were  some  fine  stands,  but  taken  as 
a  whole  the  quality  was  not  equal  to  what  we  expect  to  see  at  our 
national  show.  This,  however,  as  has  been  before  explained,  was 
entirely  due  to  the  backward  and  untoward  character  of  the  season. 
Judging  by  the  exhibits,  the  most  favoured  parts  of  the  country  th  s 
year  appear  to  have  been  such  counties  in  the  West  of  England  as 
Hereford,  Somerset,  Gloucester,  and  Worcester.  To  give  some  idea 
of  the  extent  of  the  show,  1  may  state  that  there  were  no  fewer  than 
ninety-nine  exhibitors,  who  staged  altogether  400  stands  of  flowers. 
Twenty-five  Enghsh  counties  were  represented,  the  most  northerly 
of  these  being  Nottinghamshire.  Three  exhibitors  came  from  Ireland, 
but  the  season  was  too  backward  to  allow  of  any  Scottish  rosariacs 
putting  in  an  appearance.  I  do  not  ever  remember  a  Crystal  Palace 
Rose  Show  in  which  everything  worked  quite  as  smoothly.  For  this 
great  credit  is  due  not  only  to  Mr.  Caselton,  the  garden  superintendent 
of  the  Crystal  Palace,  but  also  to  the  society’s  stewards  who  took 
charge  of  the  various  sections  of  the  exhibition.  When  we  consider 
the  number  of  exhibitors,  the  extent  of  the  show,  and  that  the  whole 
of  the  judging  was  completed  by  the  sixty-six  judges  engaged  in 
less  than  an  hour,  this,  I  think,  may  be  regarded  as  highly  creditable 
to  all  concerned — stewards,  exhibitors,  and  judges  alike. 
The  Northern  Show. 
The  society’s  northern  exhibition  was  held  in  the  conservatory 
attached  to  the  beautifully  situated  gardens  of  the  Birmingham 
Botanical  and  Horticultural  Society  at  Edgbaston.  But  for  the  great 
heat  which  prevailed  both  before  and  at  the  time  of  the  exhibition,  for 
the  show  was  held  on  July  19th,  one  of  the  hottest  days  of  the 
present  summer,  this  would  undoubtedly  have  been  the  best  Rose 
.show  of  the  year.  As  it  was  the  exhibition  proved  a  fine  and  exten¬ 
sive  one.  The  number  of  blooms  of  exhibition  varieties  staged 
amounted  to  3730,  or  300  in  excess  of  the  average  number  for  the 
previous  five  northern  shows,  but  500  less  than  at  the  largest 
provincial  show  ever  held  by  the  society,  which  took  place  in  the 
same  gardens  in  1890.  The  exhibit  of  “  garden  ”  Roses  was  a  note¬ 
worthy  feature  of  this  show,  A  few  years  ago  these  so-called 
“garden”  Roses  were  only  to  be  met  with  at  our  early  exhibitions, 
but  now  that  so  many  charming  varieties  other  than  summer-flowering 
kinds  have  been  introduced  it  appears  they  can  be  shown  as  late  in 
the  season  and  as  well  as  the  exhibition  Roses. 
At  both  provincial  shows  the  arrangements  made  by  the  local 
committee  were  as  complete  and  satisfactory  as  could  possibly  be 
wished,  and  few  are,  I  think,  aware  upon  how  many  .-mall  but 
important  details  being  properly  carried  out  the  success  of  these 
provincial  exhibitions  of  the  society  depend.  Regarded  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  number  of  visitors  present,  all  three  exhibitions 
must  be  considered  as  having  been  unusually  successful.  Indeed,  as 
regards  comfort,  some  of  the  23,000  visitors  at  the  Crystal  Palace  this 
year  on  the  Rose  Show  day  could  well’  have  been  spared,  for  owing  to 
the  want  of  sufficient  police  in  the  afternoon  to  regulate  the  circulation 
of  the  crowd,  the  flowers  could  only  be  inspected  with  difficulty.  At 
the  metropolitan  exhibition  one  of  the  most  encouraging  features  was 
the  number  of  new  recruits  to  be  found  among  the  large  army  of 
exhibitors,  and  considering  the  small  experience  of  some  of  them,  the 
general  excellence  of  their  exhibits  was  highly  creditable. 
Men  cf  Mark. 
The  leading  honours  of  the  year  were  thus  distributed.  The 
amateur  champion  challenge  trophy  was  for  the  ninth  time  in  eleven 
years  carried  off  by  that  invincible  competitor  Mr.  E.  B.  Lindsell  of 
Hitchin.  The  same  exhibitor  also  again  claimed  the  Jubilee  challenge 
trophy.  The  nurserymen’s  challenge  trophy  was  for  the  first  time 
secured  by  that  well-known  Irish  firm,  Messrs.  A.  Dickson  &  Sons  of 
Newtownards  and  Newbury  ;  while  the  Jubilee  challenge  trophy  was 
for  the  ninth  time  in  fourteen  years  won  by  Messrs.  Harkness  &  Sons 
of  Bedale  and  Hitchin.  The  amateur  Tea  and  Noisette  trophy  fell  to 
Mr.  A.  Hill  Gray  of  Bath,  who  has  how  won  it  four  times. — E.  M., 
Berkhamsted. 
Some  Hybrid  RoeeSt 
The  two  classes  of  Roses  known  as  Teas  and  H.P.’s  are  old  and 
familiar  friends  to  everyone,  but  in  their  production  there  have  only 
been  three  or  four  of  the  many  species  of  Rosa  used.  R.  indica, 
R.  gallica,  R.  darnascena,  with  perhaps  one  or  two  others,  are  in  the 
main  the  first  parents  of  most  of  our  beautiful  garden  Roses,  while 
the  other  species,  many  of  them  equally  beautiful,  have  been  neglected 
until  the  past  few  years.  But  now  there  are  many  first-class  Hybrid 
Roses  which  have  been  raised  from  R.  rugosa,  R.  multiflora,  and 
R,  Wichuriana.  One  of  the  best  of  these  is  Mrs.  Anthony  Waterer 
(R.  rugosa  X  Gdn^ral  Jacqueminot) ;  it  is  one  of  the  oldest  of 
the  rugosa  hybrids,  and  having  nearly  double  flowers  of  a  deep 
crimson  colour.  It  has  the  habit  of  R.  rugosa,  and  is  very  free 
flowering.  Souvenir  de  Chri-tophe  Cochet  is  a  cross  between  R.  rugosa 
and  some  H.P.,  but  in  habit  it  more  nearly  approaches  the  first  men¬ 
tioned  parent.  It  has  nearly  double  flowers  of  a  bright  red  colour, 
over  3  inches  across. 
R.  multiflora  X  General  Jacqueminot  (the  Dawson  Rose)  is  a 
rambling  Rose  with  small  semi-double  pink  flowers,  which  are 
produced  in  great  abundance  on  even  small  plants,  and  when  planted 
in  a  mass  makes  one  of  the  most  effective  sights  in  a  garden  during 
June.  R.  Iwara  (multiflora  X  rugosa)  has  the  small  single  white 
flowers  of  the  first  named  parent  on  the  habit  of  the  second  ;  but  the 
flowers  open  badly,  and  are  not  very  effective. 
R.  W.churiana  x  rugosa  is  a  good  example  of  a  true  cross,  being 
exactly  midway  between  the  two  parents.  In  addition  it  is  a  beautiful 
Rose  having  single  flowers  of  a  lovely  .-hade  of  pink;  the  foliage  has 
the  varnished  look  of  the  first  parent,  with  the  roughened  appearance 
of  the  second.  The  growth  is  free  and  rambling,  and  covered  with 
large  reddish  spines.  Pink  Roamer  is  a  cross  of  American  origin,  of 
which  R.  Wichuriana  is  one  of  the  parents,  while  the  other  is  unknown. 
It  has  single  flowers  of  a  beautiful  colour,  more  nearly  purplish-pink 
or  magenta  than  true  pink,  making  the  name  a  rather  misleading  one. 
Univeisal  Favourite,  Manda’s  Triumph,  and  South  Orange  Perfection 
are  all  hybrids,  of  which  R.  Wichuriana  is  one  of  the  parents.  The 
c  lours  are  various  shades  of  pink  or  blush-white,  with  small  semi¬ 
double  flowers  and  free  rambling  habit. 
