during summer watered with manure water and some manure kept on the surface; towards the end of September or the middle of October, if the weather be wet, they may be placed under glass : they will bloom in fine perfection even as late as November.

Pruning.

These roses require but little pruning: towards the end of March or beginning of April their shoots may be thinned, those that have been killed by the winter removed, and long shoots shortened to within four or five buds. In summer, the ends of the long vigorous shoots that are often made by Pillar Bourbons when cultivated as standards, should be pinched off, so as to make them break into numerous blooming shoots.

Raising Varieties from Seed.

It is difficult to point out roses of this family that bear seed freely, except the Common Bourbon; but Acidalie, planted against a south wall, would probably give some seed; its flowers might be fertilised with the pollen of the Teascented Rose Pactolus. Bouquet de Flore may be planted against a south wall, with Menoux, with which it should be carefully fertilised: some interesting varieties may be expected from seed thus produced. Queen of the Bourbons, planted with the Yellow China Rose, might

possibly give some seeds; but those would not produce true Bourbon Roses, as the former is a hybrid, partaking of the qualities of the Tea-scented Roses. Modèle de Perfection, planted near and fertilised with some white Teascented Rose, would give seed from which some very delicate Blush Roses might be raised; and Le Florifère, fertilised with the Common Bourbon, would also probably produce seed worthy of

attention.

THE CHINA ROSE.

(ROSA INDICA.)

Rosier Bengale.

THIS rose is said by botanists to be a native of China, from whence it was introduced to our gardens in 1718. Its ever-blooming qualities have made it a favourite from the cottage to the palace; and perhaps no plants have contributed so much to enliven our cottage walls as the Common China Rose (Rosa Indica), and the Crimson China Rose (Rosa Semperflorens). These roses have been and are considered distinct species by botanists. Like all other cultivated roses, they sport much from seed; but the descendants of each may generally be recognised by a close observer. The common and its varieties make strong green luxu

riant shoots, with flowers varying in colour from pure white to deep red. The Crimson also takes a wide range; for though its original colour is crimson, yet I have reason to believe that the pure white, which was raised in Essex, came from its seed. There are but few of these roses now cultivated, owing to their want of fragrance, the Hybrid Perpetuals having superseded them; still they are beautiful roses for small beds, and we have not even now any rose more beautiful than Cramoisie Supériure; its flowers are so finely formed, and its crimson tints so rich. Another member of this semperflorens group is Eugène Beauharnais; its colour amaranth, and its flowers large and double. Fabvier, with semi-double scarlet flowers, exhausts our catalogue of the most worthy of these crimson semperflorens roses. Clara Sylvain and Madame Bureau are two pure pearly-white roses, which form an admirable contrast to those first described.

For blush roses we have the yet unrivalled Mrs. Bosanquet. Archduke Charles and Virginie are the best of those roses that, when they open are rose-coloured, and yet, in a day or two, if the weather be warm and dry, change to dark crimson. I have seen them in France nearly black. Madame Bréon is a fine large rose, with brilliant rosecoloured flowers, well worthy of cultivation; and in these few lines, we have exhausted our China Roses, which, at one time, were our only roses that

gave flowers constantly in autumn, and were proportionately esteemed.

Culture.

In cultivating China Roses but little care is required, as most of them are quite hardy. All the varieties of Rosa semperflorens, are adapted for the front edges of beds or clumps, as they are of more humble growth than the varieties of the Common. It must also be recollected that the latter are those alone adapted for standards. The varieties of Rosa semperflorens, though they will exist for several years on the Dog Rose stock, yet do not form ornamental heads, but become stinted and diseased; on the contrary, the varieties of the China Rose, as standards, particularly on short stems two or three feet in height, form good heads swelling and uniting with the stock, and giving a mass of bloom from June to November; on tall stems I have not found them flourish equally. About the end of March, not earlier, the branches of standards will require thinning out, and shortening to about half their length; in summer, a constant removal of their faded flowers is necessary, and this is all the pruning they require.

China Roses are better adapted than almost any other class for forming groups of separate colours. Thus for beds of white roses, which, let it be

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remembered, will bloom constantly from June till October, Clara Sylvain and Madame Bureau are beautiful; the former is the taller grower, and should be planted in the centre of the bed; for crimson, take Cramoisie Supérieure no other variety approaches this in its peculiar richness of colour; for scarlet, Fabvier; for deep crimson, Eugène Beauharnais; for blush, Mrs. Bosanquet; for a variegated group, changeable as the chameleon, take Archduke Charles and Virginie; for rose, Madame Bréon. I picture to myself the above on a well-kept lawn, their branches pegged to the ground so as to cover the entire surface, and can scarcely imagine anything more chaste and beautiful. All the varieties described in this article will be found desirable for pot-culture: they are more hardy, and bloom more abundantly in a lower temperature than the Tea-scented Roses, and are thus admirably adapted for the 'window garden.'

Raising Varieties from Seed.

To succeed in making these roses bear and ripen their seed in this country, a warm dry soil and south wall are necessary; or, if the plants can be trained to a flued wall, success will be more certain. Eugène Beauharnais, fertilised with Fabvier, would probably produce first-rate brilliant coloured flowers. Archduke Charles, by remov