pots; these, by surface manuring, and manured water, may be grown to a degree of perfection of which they have not yet been thought capable, and by forcing in spring, and retarding in autumn by removing their bloom buds in August, they will flower early and late, so that we may be reminded of that pleasant season "rose tide" the greater portion of the year.

THE TEA-SCENTED CHINESE ROSE.

(ROSA INDICA ODORATA.)

The original Rosa odorata, or Blush Tea-scented Rose, has long been a favourite. This pretty variation of the Chinese Rose was imported from China, in 1810; from hence it was sent to France, where, in combination with the yellow Chinese or Tea Rose, it has been the fruitful parent of all the splendid varieties we now possess. Mr. Parkes introduced the yellow from China, in 1824; and even now, though so many fine varieties have been raised, but few surpass it in the size and beauty of its flowers, semidouble as they are; it has but a very slight tea-like scent, but its offspring have generally a delicious fragrance, which I impute to their hybridisation with Rosa odorata. In France, this rose is exceedingly popular, and in the summer and autumn months, hundreds of plants are sold in the flower markets of Paris, principally worked on little stems or "mi tiges." They are brought to market in pots, with their heads partially enveloped in coloured paper in such an elegant and effective mode, that it is scarcely possible to avoid being tempted to give two or three francs for such a pretty object. In the fine climate of Italy, Tea

scented Roses bloom in great perfection during the autumn : our late autumnal months are often too moist and stormy for them, but in August they generally flower in England very beautifully. I was much impressed in the autumn of 1835 with the effects of climate on these roses; for in a small enclosed garden at Versailles, I saw, in September, hundreds of plants of yellow Chinese Roses, covered with ripe seeds and flowers. The French cultivators say, that, unless hybridised, it but very rarely produces a variety worth notice. The culture of Tea-scented Roses is quite in its infancy in this country, but surely no class more deserves care and attention; in calm weather, in early autumn, their large and fragrant flowers are quite unique, and add much to the variety and beauty of the autumnal rose garden.

Among the most distinct varieties known to be worth culture, for many new Tea Roses from France will not flourish in our climate, are the following:

Aurore, an old but fine rose, a hybrid of the yellow China and Rosa odorata, and partaking of both, for its flowers are, when first open, of a delicate straw colour, soon changing to blush. Belle Helene is a pale variety of the original tea rose, with flowers larger and more double; a distinct, and good rose. Banse is a large and very superb rose, not a new variety, but rare; this is a rose quite worth careful cultivation. Caroline is a new and pretty rose, with flowers very double, of a bright rose colour, and very perfect in their shape. Coccinea is evidently a hybrid of the crimson Chinese, as it has the pleasing tea-like scent of Rosa odorata, with the vivid colouring of Rosa semperflorens. Flon is a new and beautiful rose, a sort of fawn-coloured blush, its flowers very large and fragrant. Fragrans, one of our oldest varieties, is but a very slight remove from the crimson Chinese, but it has acquired, by being hybridised, the pleasing perfume of this family. General Valazé is a superb rose, so large and double that it ought to be grown as a small standard, otherwise the weight of its flowers will bend it to the

ground. Goubault is a new and excellent rose, as it is remarkably robust and hardy, and will probably form a fine standard. Hardy, or Gloire de Hardy, is a most superb vivid rose of the largest size, of most luxuriant growth, and well calculated for a standard; this will be one of our popular Tea Roses. Hamon is also a very fine rose, but rather too delicate for the open borders; this is a changeable variety; sometimes its flowers are blush tinged with buff, and sometimes, when forced, they are of a deep crimson. Lyonnais is a very large pale flesh-coloured rose, hardy, and worthy the attention of the amateur. Louis Philippe is a beautiful variation of the original Tea Rose, scarcely at all hybridised, but with larger and more double flowers of the most delicate blush. Laura Rivers is a new variety, so named by the French cultivator, who raised it from seed; this is a very distinct, red-flowering Tea Rose. Mansais is also quite a new rose, in colour something like Noisette Jaune Desprez, but not constantly so; this is a fine rose, but I cannot yet pronounce whether it is hardy or otherwise. Madame Guerin is a large and fine flesh-coloured rose, very double, and apparently a luxuriant grower. Odoratissima is a very free growing and pretty lilac rose, more than ordinarily fragrant, and apparently very hardy. Palavicini has been much admired and also much depreciated, owing to the different appearances it has taken under cultivation. On its own roots, and in a weak state, it is poor and insignificant, looking like a bad variety of the yellow Chinese Rose; but when budded on a strong branch of the common Chinese or the Blush Boursault, it will bloom in a splendid manner, so as to appear quite a different rose; a branch budded a few years ago, and blooming very finely on the wall of the council room at the Horticultural Society, attracted much attention. I believe it is of Italian origin, as many fine Tea-scented and Chinese Roses are raised from seed annually in Italy, but not distributed. Princesse Marie is one of the finest roses in this group. I saw this variety blooming in Paris last June

(1837), in greater perfection than any other Tea Rose: its flowers were from four to five inches in diameter. Pactolus is a new yellow rose, of a pale sulphur, approaching to a bright yellow in the centre of the flower: this does not seem robust enough in its habit for cold situations. Réve du Bonheur is a singularly beautiful tinged rose, forming a fine large cup, but not very double. Silene is a new robust and hardy variety, with large shaded red and blush flowers, very double: this will make a fine standard, and grow in any situation. Strombio is now an old rose, but no variety can be more deserving of cultivation; when growing on a standard, its large and pendulous creamcoloured flowers are quite beautiful. Taglioni is a full sized, fine white rose, shaded with blush towards its centre, and a hardy and good variety. Triomphe du Luxembourg has made some noise in Paris: in the autumn of 1835 it was sold at thirty or forty francs per plant; it does not bloom quite so fine in this country as in France, but under any circumstances it is a fine and distinct variety: its colour is rose very peculiarly tinged with yellowish buff. The yellow Tea or yellow Chinese Rose, for they are one and the same, is placed here, as it has decidedly more of the habit and appearance of the Tea-scented Rose than of the Chinese: its smooth glossy leaves and faint odour of tea sufficiently show its affinity.

As these interesting roses require more care in their culture than any yet described, I will endeavour to give the most explicit directions I am able, so as to ensure at least a chance of success. One most essential rule must be observed in all moist soils and situations; when grown on their own roots they must have a raised border in some warm and sheltered place. This may be made with flints or pieces of rock in the shape of a detached rock border, or a four-inch cemented brick wall, one foot or eighteen inches high, may be built on the southern front of a wall, thick hedge, or wooden fence, at a distance so as to allow the border to be

two feet wide; the earth of this border must be removed to eighteen inches in depth, nine inches filled up with pieces of bricks, tiles, stones or lime rubbish; on this place a layer of compost, half loam or garden mould, and half rotten dung well mixed, to which add some river or white pit sand: this layer of mould ought to be a foot thick or more, so as to allow for its settling: the plants may be planted about two feet apart. In severe frosty weather, in the dead of winter, (you need not begin till December,) protect them with green furze or whin branches, or any kind of light spray that will admit the air and yet keep off the violence of severe frost. I have found the branches of furze the best of all protectors. With this treatment they will seldom receive any injury from our severest winters, and they will bloom in great perfection all summer. This is the culture they require if grown as low dwarfs on their own roots; but perhaps the most eligible mode for the amateur is to grow them budded or grafted on low stems of the Dog Rose, or Blush Boursault, which seems, if possible, even a more congenial stock; they may be then arranged in the beds of any flower garden, and graduated in height so as to form a bank of foliage and flowers. Grafted or budded plants, when established, will in general brave our severest winters; but still it will be most prudent in November either to remove them to some warm shed, and lay their roots in damp mould, or to reduce their heads, and give each plant an oiled paper cap. This is a mode practised in the north of Italy, with great success, to protect their tender roses and other plants; and though paper caps may not be thought objects of ornament on an English lawn, yet the method will be found very eligible in many cases. In March, those that have been laid in the shed for protection, may be removed to the flower borders, pruning off all superfluous and dead shoots; they will bloom the following summer in great perfection, and in general surpass those that have been suffered to remain in the ground