6 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  ASD  COTTAGE  G A R DEFER. 
July  3,  1902. 
Salisbury  ancl  Killarney,  which,  if  disbudded,  forms  a  good  exhi¬ 
bition  Rose.  Thirdly,  freeJiowering  perfectly  double  Varieties. 
First  in  this  list  was  Mrs.  W.  J.  Grant,  which  yields  a  mass  of 
blooms  early,  and  continues  to  do  so  till  frosts  appear.  It  is  the 
first,  and,  so  far,  only  seedling  from  La  France,  receiving  a  gold 
medal  in  1892.  It  was  sold  to  an  American  firm,  who  sent  out 
their  stock  under  the  name  of  Belle  Siebrecht .  Liberty  is  a  new 
brilliant  crimson  Rose,  which  was  raised  in  Ireland  and  sold  to 
America.  In  March,  1900,  it  was  distributed,  and  within  one 
month  the  number  of  plants  sold  amounted  to  100,000.  Kaiserin 
Augusta  Victoria  was  received  from  Germany,  and  welcomed  on 
account  of  its  colour.  Marjory,  a  good  white,  was  named  after 
Mr.  Dickson’s  own  daughter,  and  was  introduced  in  1895.  It 
comes  splendid  in  the  bud.  Other  three  named  were  Caroline 
Testout,  L’lnnocence,  and  Countess  of  Caledon. 
Fourthly,  pillar  and  climbing  H.T.’s.  Here  Cheshunt  Hybrid 
was  one  of  the  finest,  with  Grass  au  Teplitz  (1899)  and  England’s 
Glory.  Mr.  Dickson  also  named  the  following  in  his  fifth  class, 
good  exhibition  sorts  presumably  :  — Mildred  Grant,  a  gold  medal 
Rose  in  1900,  and  w’hich  possesses  splendid  form  and  colour.  He 
believed  that  this  must  stand  as  the  most  prominent  Rose  raised 
in  the  last  century.  Duchess  of  Portland  is  also  good  ;  and  so  is 
Robert  Scott,  raised  at  the  Pennsylvania  Rose  Nurseries,  Phila¬ 
delphia.  Bessie  Brown,  sent  out  in  1899,  had  already  reached 
the  second  place  in  the  Rose  analysis  (see  Journal  of  Horticulture, 
October  31,  1901),  and  it  will  no  doubt  oust  Mrs.  John  Laing 
from  the  place  this  old  variety  has  held  for  so  long.  The  blooms 
are  massive  and  altogether  meritorious. 
In  concluding,  the  essayist  said  that  few  people  had  any  know¬ 
ledge  of  the  hybridist’s  work.  He  would  have  liked  to  have 
been  able,  but  he  felt  he  could  not  lay  down  rules  for  hybridisa¬ 
tion  that  could  be  depended  on  for  set,  results.  He  had  crossed 
and  hybridised  50,000  Roses,  yet  not  one  hundred  varieties  had 
he  sent  out.  He  had  studied  the  question  of  hybridisation  and 
had  failed  to  be  able  to  reduce  its  principles  to  theory.  There 
seemed  to  be  no  stability  or  dependableness  on  the  results. 
The  Weather  and  Roses. 
Mr.  Edward  Mawley,  in  reading  a  paper  on  “  The  Sensitive¬ 
ness  of  Cultivated  Roses  to  Changes  of  Weather,”  mentioned  that, 
after  annually  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  contributing  a 
resume  of  the  weather  report  to  the  National  Rose  Society, 
instancing  the  effect  of  the  same  on  various  species  and  varieties, 
the  conclusion  he  had  arrived  at  was  that  there  is  no  more  sensi¬ 
tive  plant  than  the  Rose  to  changes  in  temperature,  rainfalls, 
&c.,  which  come  under  the  one  head  of  weather.  Many — perhaps 
the  great  majority — of  our  cultivated  varieties  are  only  what  may 
be  termed  half-hardy,  and  for  an  example  of  a  hardy  one, 
Bennett’s  Seedling  still  enjoys  a  reputation  among  the  best.  It 
is  a  marvel  th^t  the  English  climate,  which  really  only  satis¬ 
factorily  supplies  one  of  the  conditions  most  necessary  to  the 
successful  growth  of  the  Rose — i.e.,  a  humid  atmosphere — suits 
this  subject  so  well.  Moderate  cold,  experience  teaches,  is  good, 
but  in  severe  winters  often  much  harm  is  wrought.  Great  mild¬ 
ness  is  also  undesirable,  because  when  such  exists  the  plant  is 
deprived  of  that  rest  which  it  needs  to  defend  it  against  late 
frosts.  A  beneficial  practice  is  to  draw  the  soil  in  autumn  well 
up  and  around  the  plant,  thus  protecting  it  in  a  measure  from 
this  evil.  The  greatest  trials  the  rosarian  has  to  endure  are, 
after  passing  successfully  through  a  severe  winter,  a  late  frost  or 
seVere  drought  when  buds  are  in  progress  mars  what  would  other¬ 
wise  be  at  least  a  satisfactory  result  of  months,  and  perhaps  years 
in  some  cases,  of  earnest  work. 
Roses  under  Glass. 
Mr.  George  Mount,  of  Canterbury,  read  a  most  interesting 
and  instructive  paper  on  “Roses  Cultivated  under  Glass.”  For 
February  blossoms,  Mr.  Mount  advised  pots  to  be  used,  which, 
after  flowering,  can  be  placed  outside,  thus  enabling  the  house 
to  be  used  for  other  purposes.  Also,  in  this  method  of  culture, 
more  command  is  held  over  the  plants.  Eight-inch  pots  are  used, 
and  October  is  the  time  for  the  potting  to  take  place,  and  the 
plants  well  potted  to  where  budded.  Protection  from  bad 
weather,  and  syringing  if  bearing  much  foliage,  are  two  necessary 
items  in  a  successful  start.  In  the  November  twelvemonth 
pruning  and  top-dressing  must  be  attended  to,  and  hard  pruning 
is  beneficial,  after  which  only  sufficient  fire  heat  to  protect  should 
be  used.  When  leaves  appear  no  syringing  should  take  place, 
as  this  is  not  needed  to  keep  clean ;  fumigate  at  first  trace  of  fly. 
When  the  buds  appear,  feed,  and  aim  at  growing  the  plants  strong 
enough  to  need  no  staking.  After  blooming,  encouragement 
should  be  given  to  make  good  growth,  and  they  may  then  be 
turned  out  into  cold  frames.  When  the  method  of  planting  out 
in  borders  in  houses  is  adopted,  a  house  20ft  wide,  with  two  paths, 
giving  2ft  4in  borders  and  one  central  8ft  bed  is  the  form  to 
employ.  The  houses  should  be  kept  close  to  allow  buds  to  break 
well,  and  Teas  or  Hybrid  Teas  may  be  used.  As  an  instance  of 
better  growth  on  secondary  wood  Catherine  Mermet  was  cited. 
_The  conference  concluded  with  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  to 
Dean  Hole.  No  further  papers  were  read  on  the  second  day. 
Improvements  in  Hardy  Plants.' 
It  is  now  nearly  forty  years  since  I  first  interested  myself 
in  hardy  plants.  It  was  at  the  period  of  the  “  flare-up  style  of 
gardening,”  masses  of  brilliant  colour  for  about  three  months, 
and  the  remaining  nine  almost  bare.  Many  collections  in 
nurseries  were  destroyed,  and  I  have  had  to  run  through  these 
doomed  plants,  buy  up  what  I  wanted  at  a  nominal  price,  and 
see  these  same  collections  reinstated  within  ten  years  from  the 
time  they  were  destroyed. 
The  only  collections  of  repute  in  those  days  were  those  of 
Rollisson  of  Tooting,  the  St.  John  Wood’s  Nursery;  Yule  of 
Yarmouth,  and  May  of  Bedale.  These  collections  were  limited 
in  extent,  but  unlimited  in  price.  Digitalis  purpurea  was  priced 
at  a  shilling  a  plant ;  Gentiana  affinis  at  the  same  figure.  One 
had  taken  five  minutes  and  the  other  five  years  to  make.  These 
were  the  sort  of  inducements  offered  to  the  public  for  buying 
hardy  plants.  They  wrere  practically  ignored  by  everyone,  and 
the  trade  always  looked  upon  them  as  a  great  nuisance,  costing 
far  more  than  they  were  worth.  To  show  how  much  they  were 
appreciated,  I  will  just  give  you  my  first  experience  at  the  old 
Horticultural  Gardens  at  South  Kensington.  It  was  suggested 
that  a  group  of  some  of  the  wonderful  plants  that  were  being 
collected  together  at  Tottenham  should  be  exhibited  at  one  of 
the  big  summer  show's.  I  believe  this  was  the  first  time  that 
anything  like  a  representative  collection  of  hardy  stuff  had  been 
showm. 
A  lot  of  preparation  had  been  made,  space  had  been  written 
for,  and  on  the  appointed  day  a  van  with  plenty  of  assistance 
appeared  at  the  great  horticultural  exhibition.  I  saw  the  super¬ 
intendent,  Mr.  Eyles,  shortly  after  my  arrival,  and  asked  him 
for  a  space.  He  told  me  I  should  have  to  wait  and  see  if  any 
were  left.  I  did  not  like  my  reception  a  bit.  After  waiting  and 
worrying  till  about  eight  or  nine  o’clock,  he  told  me  he  would 
come  and  see  what  I  had  got.  “  Go  and  wait  in  the  yard  till 
I  come,”  and  I  w'as  foolish  enough  to  go.  After  again  waiting 
some  considerable  time  I  went  and  found  him,  and  got  him  to 
go  and  have  a  look  at  the  class  of  plants  I  proposed  to  exhibit. 
He  looked  at  them  in  the  van,  laughed,  and  said,  “  I  cannot 
have  such  rubbish  here.”  However,  after  waiting  another  hour 
or  so,  a  man  was  sent  to  me  stating  they  had  got  a  place  for 
me  in  the  western  arcade  among  the  exhibits  of  W'ire  stands, 
pottery,  and  other  accessories  to  the  garden.  I  was  given  two 
large  wire  stands  to  set  up  pots,  pans,  and  boxes,  and  did  the 
best  under  the  circumstances.  Now  every  show  in  the  country 
largely  depends  upon  hardy  plants  to  fill  the  tents. 
It  is  impossible  in  a  short  time  to  go  fully  into  such  an 
important  subject  as  the  improvement  of  hardy  plants,  the 
capabilities  of  which  are  immense,  but  it  is  of  vital  importance 
that  this  matter  should  be  taken  Up  to  assist  in  maintaining  an 
interest  in  hardy  plants.  It  is  becoming  more  difficult  every 
year  to  find  novelties,  and  it  is  new  or  rare  plants  that  the 
public,  want.  It  is  surprising  how  little  has  been  done  in  this 
direction.  Some  families,  it  is  true,  have  been  thoroughly  dealt 
with,  and  these  now-  form  some  of  the  chief  attractions  to  the 
gardens  of  the  present  day,  but  how  few  have  received  the 
attention  they  deserve ! 
It  is  unfortunate  that  nurserymen  as  a  rule-  have  so  little 
time  to  devote  to  this  important  matter.  The  older  they  get 
the  more  they  have  to  do,  and  before  they  have  accomplished 
one  tithe  the  part  of  their  early  intentions  they  find  their 
energies  directed  to-  other  phases  of  horticulture.  What  a  vast 
field  there  is  still  for  enterprising  men  to  take  up  hardy  plants 
and  improve  them  by  hybridising  and  selection!  What  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  many  of  our  gardeners  have  for  this  kind  of  interesting 
work !  They  have  the  materials  and  opportunities,  and  in 
hundreds  of  cases  nothing  would  please  their  employers  more 
than  to  know  that  their  gardens  wrere  the  birthplace  of  numbers 
of  plants  which  sooner  or  later  w’ould  find  their  way  into  every 
garden  in  the  land.  There  is  also  a  vast  field  open  for  men  fond 
of  mountaineering ;  but  this  class  of  enthusiast  is  difficult  to 
find,  because  a  young  man  has  not  the  knowledge  to  detect  a 
new'  plant  the  moment  he  sees  it,  while  the  middle-aged  man, 
having  the  knovdedge,  has  not  always  the  energy  necessary  to 
take  a  trip  of  two  or  three  days’  duration  in  the  mountains, 
carrying  all  the  paraphernalia  required  for  climbing,  and 
knowdng  there  is  no  luxurious  hotel  in  which  he  can  recuperate 
for  the  return  journey. 
In  one  of  my  trips  to  the  Pyrenees,  in  1870,  I  was  successful 
in  finding  many  interesting  plants,  some  of  which  are  notv 
common,  while  other  have,  unfortunately,  been  lost — Ramondia 
pyrenaica  alba.  Primula  integrifolia  alba,  Gentiana  verna  alba, 
and  a  solitary  double-flow'ering  variety,  which  never  survived  tlfe 
journey,  Anthericum  Liliastrum  major — not  the  major  now 
offered,  but  one  growing  3^ft  with  very  large  flowers 
*  Improvements  in  Hardy  Plants,  a  paper  read  by  Mr.  Anns  Perry,  of  Winch- 
more  Hill  London,  N'.,  before  the  Horticultural  Club. 
