424 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  C0TTA9E  GARDENER, 
November  5,  1903. 
Notes  on  5ome  of  the  Newer  Exhibition  Roses. 
{The  Bose  Anah/sis.) 
Mr.  Maw’ley’s  Analyses  of  Roses,  on  which  he  spends  so  much 
ingenious  labour,  is  always  necessarily  of  great  interest  to 
rosarians  and  exhibitors,  who  are  deeply  indebted  to  him  for  the 
results  of  his  task.  Both  matter  and  manner  have  nevertheless 
been  subjected  to  criticism  in  past  years  especially,  perhaps,  by 
my  friend,  the  late  C.  J.  Grahame.  jPersonally  I  think  the 
analysis  is  sound,  as  well  as  ingenious,  and  ought  by  this  time  to 
be  pretty  well  understood,  but  has  little  value  except  for  the 
National  Metropolitan  Show,  owing  to  the  early  date  at  wdiich 
that  exhibition  is  generally  held.  I  am  surprised  that  Mr. 
Mawley  states  that  early  and  late  seasons  were  almost  equally 
divided  in  the  last  eight  years.  He  is  a  much  better  authority 
on  that  subject  than  I,  but  I  should  have  said  we  had  had  no 
really  early  season  since  1893. 
Though,  in  common  probably  with  most  interested  in  the 
matter,  I  am  surprised  at  the  position  occupied  by  some  varieties 
in  each  of  the  tables,  I  will  confine  myself  to  some  remarks  upon 
such  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  newer  varieties  as  I  am 
able  to  speak  of  from  personal  observation. 
Mr.  Mawley  includes  under  this  head  the  Roses  sent  out  in 
the  four  years,  1899-1902  inclusive.  He  seems  to  me  to  have 
here  made  an  error  by  including  Florence  Pemberton  H.T.,  which 
was  only  sent  out  this  (1903)  summer.  A.  Dickson  and  Son.s 
them.selves,  as  well  as  other  trade  growers,  give  its  date  as  1903. 
The  Rose  is  given  a  very  high  position  in  the  list  as  No.  4;  but, 
I  take  it,  no  one  can  have  seen  a  bloom  of  it  except  in  Messrs. 
Dicksons’  own  stands,  or  growing  anywhere  but  in  their  grounds, 
except  as  pot  plants  or  “  run  out”  buds. 
It  hardly  seems  necessary  to  comment  upon  the  1899  varieties, 
which  ought  to  be  fairly  known  by  this  time ;  so,  beginning  with 
H.P.’s,  I  will  leave  out  of  Mr.  Mawley’s  list  Bessie  Brown,  Mrs. 
Cocker,  and  Ulster,  merely  remarking  that  I  have  found  the 
latter  (Ulster),  as  is  so  often  the  case  with  weak  and  dwarf 
growers,  do  well  and  make  a  nice  plant  on  a  short  standard  of 
about  eighteen  inches  high. 
We  come,  then,  to  tlie  first  H.P.  on  Mr.  Mawley’s  li.st,  and 
third  in  order  of  merit  after  Mildred  Grant  and  Bessie  Brown 
(which  was  my  owm  order),  to  Frau  Karl  Druschki ;  and  those 
w'ho  have  grown  this  Rose  must  cordially  agree  with  the  estimate 
of  its  merits  which  Mr.  Mawley  lays  before  us.  I  well  remember 
the  proces.sion  of  white  H.P.’s  which  he  recounts,  but  I  can  recall 
Madame  Noman  before  Madame  Lacharme,  and  cannot  say  I 
“  Mmlcomed  ”  either  Mabel  Morrison  or  White  Baroness.  There 
is  no  doubt  we  have  now  a  far  better  white  H.P.  in  Frau  Karl 
Druschki  than  any  we  have  had  before ;  in  growth  it  surpasses 
all  the  others  except  Margaret  Dickson ;  in  shape  it  e.specially 
and  particularly  excels,  and  in  purity  of  colour  it  is  at  least  equal, 
if  not  superior,  to  the  best.  Considering  how  purely  white  the 
perfect  bloom  is,  it  seems  odd  to  notice  that  the  bud,  when  it 
first  “  shows  colour  ”  (when  the  calyx  turns  back,  exposing  the 
cone  of  young  petals  before  the  first  unfolds),  is  purely  pink, 
thus  te.stifying,  as  an  embryologist  would  probably  say,  to  a 
pink  parent. 
The  next  H.P.  on  the  list,  omitting  Ulster,  is  Ben  Cant,  and 
.  one  cannot  help  thinking  how  pleased  the  dear  old  man  would  have 
been  with  it,  not  only  as  a  splendid  Rose,  but  as  one  of  several 
which  have  so  soon  testified  to  the  skill  of  his  sons  in  the  difficult 
art  of  hybridisation.  It  is,  I  believe,  a  cross  between  Horace 
Vernet  and  Victor  Hugo  ;  and  it  is,  as  a  cross,'  one  of  the  most 
perfect  yet  sent  out,  for  it  seeins  to  partake,  almost  equally,  of 
the  characteristics  and  general  appearance  of  both  parents,  with¬ 
out  “  throwing  back  ”  or  showing  any  trace  of  any  other  Rose. 
The  season  with  me  was  against  it,  for  though  it  has  been  almo.st 
washed  out  of  our  recollection  since  the  “  season  ” — i.e.,  the  la.st 
week  in  June  and  first  fortnight  in  July- — that  period  was  here 
absolutely  rainless  (a  rare  occurrence)  and  very  hot,  .so  that  the 
crimson  H.P.’s  never  got  a  chance  to  appear  at  their  best.  It 
appeared  to  me  to  be  rather  more  like  Victor  Hugo  than  Horace 
Vernet,  in  opening  too  quickly  under  strong  sunshine ;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  to  be  stronger  in  growth  and  habit  than  either 
of  them. 
Coming  next  to  the  Hybrid  Teas,  we  must  all  regret  with 
Mr.  Mawley  the  very  general  tendency  to  wdiite  among  the  new 
varieties.  Alice  Grahame,  Alice  Lindsell,  Duchess  of  Portland, 
I^dith  Dombrain,  Florence  Pemberton,  Helene  Guillot,  Mildred 
Grant,  Perle  von  Godesberg,  and  Robert  Scott,  wdth,  no  doubt, 
some  others,  may  be  described  as  “  whiti.sh  ” — thnt  is,  practically 
white,  to  the  ordinary  cultivator,  who  is  not  likely  to  have  many 
flowers  at  their  strongest  and  best.  However,  this  defect  is 
certain  to  be  faihiliar  to  the  raisers,  and  I  have  no  doubt  they  will 
do  their  best  to  meet  the  demand  for  brighter  colours.  At  the 
same  time  they  should  not  forget  that  we  are  abundantly  satisfied 
with  the  general  great  improvement  in  form  which  these  magni¬ 
ficent  new  Hybrid  Teas  have  given  us ;  and  we  by  no  means 
desire  that  this  should  be  lost,  or  even  depreciated,  for  the  sake 
of  colour. 
First,  of  undoubted  right  on  Mr.  Mawley’s  list  of  H.T.’s 
comes  Mildred  Grant.  If  anyone  wishes  to  know  what  this  mag¬ 
nificent  Rose  is  like,  let  him  get  a  copy  of  A.  Dickson  and  Sons’ 
current  Rose  catalogue.  On  the  cover  is  a  print  of  Mildred 
Grant,  which  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  is  the  best  coloured 
likeness  of  a  Rose  I  have  ever  seen — a  splendid  work  of  art  of 
a  splendid  Rose,  though  one  would  fancy  it  would  have  looked 
better  still  with  a  darker  background.  I  have  seen  .some  pretty 
pictures  of  Roses,  and  a  good  many  very  bad  ones  ;  but  this  is  not 
only  beautiful;  it  is  a  likeness,  so  that  one  could  name  it  with 
as  much  confidence  as  if  it  was  the  actual  flower.  Mildred  Grant 
is  the  largest  of  Show  Roses — that  is,  of  those  of  good  shape. 
Tlie  plant  is  more  “robust”  than  “vigorous”  in  growth,  the 
shoots  not  making  much  long  growth  without  forming  buds, 
which  take  some  time  to  mature  and  grow  and  lengthen  into 
the  great  flowers.  The  young  bloom  must  be  protected  from 
rain,  for — as  is  the  case  with  some,  if  not  all,  other  white  Roses — 
a  drop  of  water,  if  allowed  to  dry  on  the  petals,  will  leave  a  red 
.spot,  and  if  allowed  to  become  thoroughly  wet,  the  unopened 
flower  is  apt  to  rot  and  gum,  like  all  other  Roses  of  pointed 
shape,  but  I  have  not  found  it  a  serious  offender  in  this  respect. 
The  bloom  should  not  be  tied  up  too  soon;  and,  indeed,  the 
tying  up  of  Roses  for  exhibition  is  an  evil,  hindering  the  perfect 
placing  of  the  middle  petals,  but  a  necessary  one  very  often 
owing  to  the  baking  the  blooms  have  to  withstand  from  an  early 
hour  in  oven-like  tents.  The  plant  is  a  good  autumnal  bloomer, 
and  from  my  limited  experience  I  should  say  it  does  equally 
well  as  a  dwarf  or  a  standard  ;  the  leafstalks  are  very  long  and 
spreading,  and  my  plants  have  not  been  attacked  by  mildew.  It 
is  certainly  a  characteristic  and  unique  Rose,  which  is  likely  to 
rise  a  good  many  places  in  next  year’s  general  analysis.  But, 
though  in  favourable  circumstances  it  will  undoubtedly  come  of 
the  colour  figured  on  Messrs.  Dicksons’  catalogue,  as  a  general 
rule  it  must  be  looked  on,  for  the  ordinary  cultivator,  as  practi¬ 
cally  white. — W.  R.  Raillem. 
(To  be  continued.) 
Millipedes  and  Centipedes. 
Millipedes  (Figs.  1  and  2)  and  centipedes  (Fig.  3)  belong  to 
a  group  of  the  animal  kingdom  known  as  the  Mj^riapoda.  These 
animals  are  recognised  by  having  legs  on  every  ring  or  segment 
of  the  body.  In  the  case  of  the  millipedes  there  are  tw’o  pairs 
of  legs  to  each  segment;  in  the  centipedes,  one  pair  only.  It 
Fig.  1.  Fig  2. 
Flg3.  1  and  2,  Millipedes  (1,  Juliis  pulchellus  ;  2,  Polydesmus  complanatns-) ; 
Fig.  3,  Centipede  (Geophilus  subterraneus). 
is  important  to  notice  these  differences,  as  the  millipedes  are  in¬ 
jurious  and  the  centipedes  are  beneficial. 
They  are  found  in  all  manner  of  places,  both  in  the  field  and 
in  the  garden,  and  are  especially  attracted  by  decaying  vegeta¬ 
tion,  such  as  heaps  of  leaf  mould,  rotting  stalks,  &c.  They  are 
also  found  crawling  about  under  the  bark  of  trees  and  in  tlie 
soil.  The  difference  in  structure  is  also  accompanied  by  a  differ¬ 
ence  in  habits;  centipedes  are  very  active  and  are  carnivorous, 
whereas  millipedes  are  mostly  herbivorous,  and  live  upon  sound 
and  decaying  vegetable  matter.  The  millipedes  have  the  mmith 
formed  for  chewdng,  there  being  powerful  biting  mandibles  with 
which  to  devour  the*  roots  of  plants.  Centipedes  are  provided , 
with  poison  claws.  The  bite  of  some  centipedes  in  the  tropics  is 
very  poisonous  to  man,  but  none  are  so  in  this  country.  Milli-' 
