242 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Sept-’mber  13,  1900. 
The  National  Rose  Society’s  Exhibition,  Crystal  Palace,  July  7th. 
I  DO  Dot  think  that  anyone  anticipated  that  this  grand  annual 
tournament  would  equal  those  of  its  predecessors,  and  I  think  that 
tlxere  are  very  few  rosarians  but  have  to  confess  that  their  anticipations 
witn  regard  to  it  were  amply  fulfilled,  and  this  simply  owing  to  the 
untoward  character  of  the  weather.  The  same  cause  which  affected 
the  Salisbury  Show  aflfected  this  also ;  not  only  was  the  season  late, 
I  lit  the  cold  weather  at  the  end  of  May  caused  great  deterioration  in 
the  blooms. 
Of  those  points  that  particularly  struck  me,  the  first  of  these  was 
the  success  of  the  Irish  growers.  Three  of  these  were  gainers  of 
prizes ;  chief  among  them  was  the  well-known  firm  of  Alexander 
Dickson  &  Sons  of  Newtownards,  who  for  the  first  time  carried  to 
Ireland  the  champion  trophy;  no  doubt  many  of  their  Roses  came 
from  their  Newbury  grounds  in  Herefordshire,  but  a  large  number 
W'ere  brought  over  direct  from  Ireland.  My  old  friend  Mr.  Hugh 
Dickson,  whom  I  used  to  meet  so  olten  in  bygone  days  at  the  West  of 
Scotland  Rose  Show  at  Helensburgh,  carried  off  the  first  prize  for 
forty-eights,  while  Mr.  Bewley,  an  amateur  from  Rathmines,  near 
Dublin,  not  only  secured  two  medals,  one  for  the  best  Hybrid  Tea 
(Mrs.  W.  J.  Grunt),  the  other  for  the  best  Tea  or  Noisette  (Muriel 
(xiahame),  but  also  the  first  prize  for  six  blooms  of  any  one  Rose  other 
than  Tea  or  Noisette  with  Caroline  Testout,  and  the  second  prize  for 
nine  blooms  Tea  or  Noisette,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  Mr. 
Bewley  is  a  small  grower,  not  growing  more  than  500  plants.  It  is 
evident,  then,  that  English  rosarians,  both  professional  and  amateur, 
will  have  to  take  count  of  their  Irish  brethren  in  future  contests. 
Another  point  which  struck  me  was  the  increase  in  the  practice  of 
dressing  Roses.  This  has  two  results — it  increases  the  size  of  the  flower, 
thus  giving  the  exhibitor  an  unfair  advantage  over  his  rivals,  while  in 
some  instances  the  whole  character  of  the  flover  is  altered  by  the 
petals  being  turned  back.  I  think  surely  there  in  no  flower  which 
deserves  more  to  be  let  alone  than  the  Rose.  Another  point  which 
struck  me,  and  to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  was  the  pluck 
exhibited  by  some  of  our  smaller  growers,  Mr.  Conway  Jones  for 
example,  who  has  been  gradually  creeping  up  from  being  a  very  small 
grower  until  he  has  successfully  competed  in  some  of  the  larger  classes, 
and  at  Birmingham  ventured  to  exhibit  in  the  Jubilee  class  desirous  of 
obtaining  the  trophy,  and  says,  like  the  child  with  Pears’  soap,  “  he 
won’t  be  happy  till  he  gets  it.”  In  the  same  spirit  Mr.  Burnside 
ventured  to  exhibit  for  the  Tea  trophy,  although  he  had  against  him 
that  most  formidable  competitor,  Mr,  Alex.  Hill  Gray,  and  very  nearly 
carried  it  off.  Such  examples  as  these  are  always  an  encouragement 
to  small  growers,  and  show  them  that  it  is  not  always  the  big 
battalions  who  succeed  in  overwhelming  their  opponents. 
Another  point  was  the  continued  interest  that  seems  to  be  taken 
in  garden  Roses.  The  character  of  the  season  was  favourable  to  this 
class,  and  many  amateurs  would  like  to  exhibit  in  it,  but  with  only 
small  gardens  it  is  very  difficult  at  present  to  do  so.  Nothing  can  be 
more  beautiful,  for  instance,  than  the  single,  or  nearly  single,  Roses 
that  we  have,  such  as  Paul’s  Carmine  Pillar,  Macrantha,  Paul’s  Single 
White,  Bardou  Job,  Janet’s  Pride,  Paul’s  Royal  Scarlet,  and  Polyantha 
Simplex,  but  these  all  are  of  rampant  growth,  and  judging  from  my 
own  experience  we  have  quite  enough  of  this  class,  and  therefore  one 
hails  with  pleasure  the  advent  of  those  single  Roses  of  dwarfer  growth 
and  continuous  blooming  character. 
I  have  already  alluded  to  some  of  the  medal  Roses,  but  it  may  be 
as  well  to  state  that  no  gold  medal  was  awarded  for  any  seedling  Rose, 
while  the  silver  medals  were  awarded  as  follows.  In  the  amateurs’ 
section  Mr.  G.  W.  Cook  had  the  best  H.P.  in  Ulrich  Brunner;  Mr. 
Cook,  too,  is  a  small  grower.  Mr.  Bewley  of  Rathmines,  near  Dublin, 
the  best  Hybrid  Tea  in  Mrs.  W.  J.  Grant,  and  also  the  best  Tea  or 
Isoisette  in  Muriel  Grahame.  Thus  all  the  three  medals  were  taken  by 
amateurs  who  must  be  ranked  among  the  small  growers.  In  the 
nurserymen’s  section  the  medals  were  awarded  as  follows.  For  the 
best  H.P.  Messrs.  Alex.  Dickson  &  Sons  were  successful  with  Susanne 
Marie  Rodocanachi ;  Mr.  W.  Tayler  had  the  best  Hybrid  Tea  in 
Mildred  Grant,' and  Mr.  George  Prince  the  best  Tea  in  Bridesmaid. 
Another  feature  of  the  exhibition  was,  I  think,  the  loyal  manner 
in  which  it  was  supported  by  the  members  of  the  N.R.S.  and  the 
cordial  and  kindly  feeling  which  existed  amongst  them.  Never 
have  I  seen  a  larger  number  of  our  members  ;  there  were  nearly  100 
exhibitors,  and  most  of  our  principal  rosarians  were  there.  'Our 
president  was  with  us,  and  he  too,  like  myself,  had  watched] with 
interest  the  onward  progress  of  the  society.  My  co-secretary,  Mr. 
Mawley,  was  busy  as  usual,  and  kindly  took  upon  hin  self  some  "of 
tbe  work  which  used  to  devolve  on  me.  Our  new  treasurer,  Mr. 
0.  B.  Haywood,  was  there,  and  the  Woodhatch  Roses  occupied  a  good 
position,  and  I  hope  we  may  see  him  permanently  seated  in  the 
chair  so  long  occupied  by  his  father.  These  rosarians  of  various 
degrees,  and  hailing  from  twenty-five  counties,  met  one  another  in 
friendly  rivalry,  and  showed  that  kindly  appreciation  of  one  another 
which  I  venture  to  think  is  hardly  equalled  by  any  other  of  our 
societies.  True  it  is  that  we  miss  some  who  used  to  be  present 
with  us,  and  on  the  lips  of  many  there  was  no  name  more  frequently 
mentioned  than  Ben  Cant.  It  was  pleasant,  too,  to  see  new  faces 
and  to  hear  of  new  names  amongst  the  exhibitors;  and  so,  as  inwall 
other  things,  some  come  and  some  go,  and  one  can  only  hope  and 
believe  that  the  same  kindly  feeling  which  has  existed  for  so  many 
years  will  continue,  and  thus  assure  the  prosperity  and  progress  of 
our  much  valued  society,  and  so  farewell  to  the  Metropolitan 
Exhibition  of  1900,  and  let  us  look  forward  hopefully  to  the  first 
exhibition  of  the  twentieth  century. — D.,  Deal. 
[We  think  our  esteemed  coadjutor  is  in  error  respecting  the  medal 
blooms.  The  premier  Tea  or  Noisette  in  the  amateurs’  section  was 
Muriel  Grahame,  shown  by  Mr.  E.  B.  Lindsell,  and  the  premier 
Hybrid  Tea  in  the  professional  section  was  Mildred  Grant,  shown  by 
Messrs.  A.  Dickson  &  Sons.] 
- - 
AiqinoDiacal  or  Gas  Liquor  as  a  tfanure. 
In  hope  that  someone  with  more  recent  experience  would  have 
responded  to  the  inquiry  of  a  correspondent  who  would  “  be  interested 
to  learn  if  gas  water  is  still  used  to  any  extent  at  the  present  time,” 
I  have  deferred  giving  details  of  my  experience  with  it  a  decade  ago. 
In  the  first  place  I  have  to  record  the  fact  that  neither  farmers  nor 
gardeners  make  much,  if  any,  use  of  gas  water  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  a  public  gasworks,  which  may  be  due  to  the  bulky  nature  of  the 
article,  and  the  much  handier  form  its  most  valuable  properties  can  be 
obtained  in — namely,  sulphate  of  ammonia,  which  salt  is  prepared  in 
large  quantities  from  the  ammoniacal  liquors  of  gasworks.  Another 
reason  of  the  disusage  of  gas  liquor  may  be  that  of  the  volatile  nature 
of  the  ammonia  contained  in  the  gas  water,  and  its  liberation  as 
gaseous  an  monia,  much  of  which  escapes  into  the  atmosphere  and  is 
lost,  the  soil  of  the  district  being  silicicalcarious  on  a  chalk  with  flints 
formation.  It  was,  however,  on  this  that  my  experience  with  gas 
liquor  refers,  the  soil  being  in  some  places  argillocalcarious,  the  gas 
liquor  being  produced  on  the  place,  and  cost,  as  the  saying  is,  nothing 
but  the  labour. 
It  may  be  useful  before  proceeding  further  to  note  that  ammoniacal 
or  gas  liquor  is,  according  to  chemists’ investigations,  an  impure  solution 
of  carbonate  and  acetate  of  ammonia,  together  with  minute  quantities 
of  ammonia,  in  combination  with  sulphur  and  cyanogen.  Suffice  to 
remark  that  ammonia  carbonate  and  acetate  are  amongst  the  most 
fatal  substances  to  such  pests  as  cockchafer  and  roseebafer  grubs  and 
wireworm,  slugs,  snake  millipedes,  woodlice,  root  and  bud  mites,  and 
earthworms  and  eelworms.  Of  sulphur  and  cyanogen,  only  another 
form  of  prussic  acid,  it  may  be  said  that  the  first  ranks  highest  as  a 
lungicide,  and  second  foremost  as  an  animal  poison,  embracing  the 
part  animal  part  vegetable  clubbing  organisms.  I  do  not  know  how 
ihe  acetate  or  vinegar  acts  on  ujalignant  bacteria,  but  it  certainly  does 
not  prejudice  the  nitrifying  micro-organisms. 
The  other  side  of  the  question  is  very,  but  not  more,  important, 
for  health,  in  crops  is  the  first  wealth.  There  is  the  carbonate  of 
ammonia,  a  powerful  fertiliser,  volatile  in  part,  but  “fixed”  in  great 
measure  by  the  soil,  and  what  goes  into  the  atmosphere  comes  back 
again  in  rain,  and  consequently  so  does  good  to  someone.  Atmospheric 
ammonia  may  not  be  believed  to  greatly  influence  the  growth  of  vege¬ 
tation,  but  gardeners  know  better,  for  plants  readily  absorb  atmospheric 
ammonia  by  their  leaves,  and  substances  that  evolve  it  are  utilised  in 
glass  structures  to  promote  a  vigorous  and  healthy  growth.  Besides, 
where  does  grass  and  vegetation  generally  appear  greener  than  in  the 
environs  of  gasworks  ?  The  acetate,  we  may  assume,  passes  into 
nitrate  of  ammonia  in  the  soil  by  the  action  of  the  nitrilying  micro¬ 
organisms;  and  what  is  a  more  powerful  stimu  ant  of  vigorous  growth 
of  foliage  and  root  development  ?  Then  there  is  the  sulphate — 
ammonia  combined  with  sulphur,  one  of  the  most  concentrated  (though 
the  quantity  is  only  minute  in  gas  liquor)  forms  in  which  ammonia  can 
be  applied  to  crops,  being  a  most  active  and  directly  available  plant 
