To those who think the trouble of budding and re-budding too much, I may point out a more simple method, which I extract from the Gardener's Annual for 1863.'-(Longmans.)

'Have some dog-rose stocks gathered from the woods and hedges in November, December, or January. Every stock selected should be of only one year's growth, a young shoot of the preceding season's growth. They should be planted in a deep rich soil, and some manure placed on the surface round their stems, In spring and early summer the young shoots should be removed from the lower part of their stems within, say, a foot of the ground, and all the remaining shoots suffered to grow as they list. In the months of July and August they may be budded after the following mode:-Take some free-growing beautiful Hybrid Perpetual, and place one bud in the stem, mind, of your stock about nine inches from the ground, and then on the opposite side of the stem place another bud and so on, shifting sides to about three, or four, or five feet in height, When these buds break out in the following May, be sure and pinch in closely the three or four buds at the top of the stock, or they will greedily drink too much of the precious sap. A roselover must imagine the great beauty of such a pillar of Empereur de Maroc or Sénateur Vaise; if his constitution be not strong, the sight might make him die of a rose in aromatic pain.'

The most free-growing kinds, such as Jules

Margottin, General Jacqueminot, Colonel de Rougemont, Triomphe des Beaux Arts, Lord Raglan, Souvenir de la Reine, d'Angleterre, Triomphe de l'Exposition, and other kinds of vigorous habit, these will form grand pyramids from six to seven feet in height. For smaller pyramids those of more moderate growth may be selected. It will scarcely be advisable to bud more than one sort on a stem, as no two kinds will be found equal in growth, but as a matter of fancy varieties of different colours may be inserted so as to make a variegated pyramid. Vigorous growing Bourbon roses may be employed for pyramids and Tea-scented and Noisette roses, as the stock is highly favourable to their growth, but they should be protected in winter by fern or branches of evergreens tied round them.

Raising Varieties from Seed.

Raising new varieties of this family from seed presents an extensive field of interest to the amateur; for we have yet to add to our catalogues pure white, and yellow, and fawn-coloured Hybrid Perpetuals, and these, I anticipate, will be the reward of those who persevere. Monsieur Laffay, by persevering through two or three generations, obtained a Mossy Hybrid Bourbon Rose, and many of the finest varieties described in the foregoing pages. This information will, I trust, be an incentive to amateurs in this country:

to illustrate this I may here remark that a yellow Ayrshire Rose, now a desideratum, must not be expected from the first trial; but probably a climbing rose, tinged with yellow or buff, may be the fruit of the first crossing. This variety must again be crossed with a yellow rose: the second generation will, perhaps, be nearer the end wished for. Again, the amateur must bring perseverance and skill into action; and then if, in the third generation, a bright yellow climbing rose be obtained, its possession will amply repay the labour bestowed: but these light gardening operations are not labour; they are a delightful amusement to a refined mind, and lead it to reflect on the wonderful infinities of nature.

Madame Laffay is an excellent seed-bearing rose; this may be fertilised with the Bourbon Gloire de Rosomène, and with Comte Bobrinsky. General Jacqueminot may be crossed with Sénateur Vaise or La Brillante. These should all be planted against a south wall, so that their flowers expand at the same time; and their seed will probably give some fine autumnal roses, brilliant in colour and very double. For fawn-coloured or yellowish and white roses, Duchess of Sutherland may be fertilised with the Tea-scented Roses, Victoria and Safrano. These must all have a south wall. These hints may possibly be considered meagre and incomplete; but I trust it will be seen how much depends upon the enterprise and taste of the cultivator.

THE BOURBON ROSE.

(ROSA BOURBONIANA.)

Rosier de l'Ile Bourbon.

Ir is now, perhaps, about thirty years since a beautiful semi-double rose, with brilliant rosecoloured flowers, prominent buds, and nearly evergreen foliage, made its appearance in this country, under the name of 'L'Ile de Bourbon Rose,' said to have been imported from the Mauritius to France in 1822, by M. Noisette. It attracted attention by its peculiar habit, but more particularly by its abundant autumnal flowering; still, such was the lukewarmness of English rose amateurs, that no attempts were made to improve this pretty, imperfect rose, by raising seedlings from it, though it bore seed in large quantities. This pleasing task has been left to our rose-loving neighbours the French, who have been very industrious, and, as a matter of course, have originated some very beautiful and striking varieties, and also, as usual in such cases, have given us rather too many distinct and fine-sounding names attached to flowers without distinctive characters. In a little time' we shall be able to rectify this very common floricultural error. Many fables have been told by the French respecting the origin of this rose. The most generally received version of one of these is, that a French naval

officer was requested by the widow of a Monsieur Edouard, residing in the island, to find, on his voyage to India, some rare rose, and that, on his return to L'Ile de Bourbon, he brought with him this rose, which she planted on her husband's grave: it was then called Rose Edouard, and sent to France as 'Rose de L'Ile de Bourbon.' This is pretty enough, but entirely devoid of truth. Monsieur Bréon, a French botanist, gives the following account, for the truth of which he vouches: -At the Isle of Bourbon the inhabitants generally inclose their land with hedges made of two rows of roses, one row of the Common China Rose, the other of the Red Four-Seasons. Monsieur Perichon, a proprietor at Saint Benoist, in the Isle, in planting one of these hedges, found amongst his young plants one very different from the other in its shoots and foliage. This induced him to plant it in his garden. It flowered the following year; and, as he anticipated, proved to be of quite a new race, and differing much from the above two roses, which, at the time, were the only sorts known in the island. Monsieur Bréon arrived at Bourbon in 1817, as botanical traveller for the Government of France, and curator of the Botanical and Naturalisation Garden there. propagated this rose very largely, and sent plants and seeds of it, in 1822, to Monsieur Jacques,*

He

* Whence the name often given to the Common Bourbon Rose of Bourbon Jacques.'