give it an elegant and pleasing character. Rosa Hardii, or Rosa berberifolia Hardii, is a most interesting rose, raised from seed by Monsieur Hardy, of the Luxembourg Gardens, from Rosa involucrata, a variety of Rosa bracteata, fertilised with that unique rose, Rosa berberifolia, or the Single Yellow Persian Rose. This curious hybrid, like its Persian parent, has single yellow flowers with a dark eye (much like Cistus formosus), and evergreen foliage; it is not quite hardy. It will probably be the parent of an entirely new group; and what can be imagined more interesting in roses than varieties with double yellow flowers and evergreen leaves !

Culture.

Macartney Roses sometimes suffer when exposed to severe frost in the open borders of the flowergarden: they will therefore require the same protection as recommended for the Noisette Roses in cold situations. Maria Leonida is a fine border rose; for, by pegging down its shoots as they are produced in summer, a few plants soon cover a bed or clump with a dense mass of foliage and flowers, ornamenting the flower-garden from three to four months in summer and autumn.

Raising Varieties from Seed.

It requires the burning sun of Italy to make these roses produce their seed; yet, by persever

ance and careful cultivation, this desirable end may be obtained. To raise a double variety of Rosa Hardii is, at any rate, worth attempting. A flued wall must be used to train the plants to; and in small gardens, where there is not such a convenience, a hollow wall might be built about four or five feet in height and ten or twelve feet long, of two courses of four-inch brickwork, with a space between, into one end of which an Arnott's stove might be introduced, and a pipe carried in a straight line through to the opposite end (each end must of course be built up to keep in the hot air); this pipe would heat the air between the two courses of brickwork sufficiently for the purpose. A fire should be kept every night from the middle of May to the middle of July; and this treatment would possibly induce some of these roses to give their seed. Rosa Hardii would bloom freely if trained to a hot wall; and, if fertilised with the Double Yellow Briar, seed may perhaps be obtained. Maria Leonida, planted in an orchard house, and fertilised with the Tuscany Rose, might also give some curious hybrids. This is all speculative; but such speculations are, unlike many others, exceedingly innocent and interesting.

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ROSA MICROPHYLLA.

(THE SMALL-LEAVED ROSE.)

ROSA MICROPHYLLA RUBRA, from which we have derived all our varieties of this pretty family, was introduced from the East in 1823. It is nearly allied to the Macartney, and is most probably a Chinese hybrid of that rose. The original imported plant bearing double flowers makes it appear more probable that it is a mere garden variety. I have received seed from Italy of this rose, and find that plants from it, to use a florist's term, sport amazingly, no two appearing alike.

Several varieties were formerly cultivated, but having no fragrance and but little beauty, they have gone out of cultivation. The original sort is by far the prettiest, as its prickly calyx is very

remarkable.

Culture.

This rose is not hardy enough to bear exposure in wet and cold soils; it will perhaps grow for a time, but seldom bloom well. A warm and dry elevated border or a south wall will suit it admirably but to see this very curious rose bloom in perfection, bud it on short stems of the Dog Rose, and treat it exactly as recommended for the Tea-scented Roses; it will then bloom freely, either in pots or in the flower-borders, and form delightful little plants, quite unique in their character and appearance.

PART III.

GENERAL CULTURE AND PROPAGATION OF ROSES.

TREATMENT OF THE SEED, SOWING, &c.

THE HIPS of all the varieties of roses will in general be fully ripe by the beginning of November; they should then be gathered and kept entire, in a flower-pot filled with dry sand, carefully guarded from mice; in February, or by the first week in March, they must be broken to pieces with the fingers, and sown in flower-pots, such as are generally used for sowing seeds in, called 'seed-pans,' but for rose seeds they should not be too shallow; nine inches in depth will be enough; these should be nearly, but not quite, filled with a rich compost of rotten manure and sandy loam or peat; the seeds may be covered, to the depth of about half an inch, with the same compost; a piece of kiln wire must then be placed over the pot, fitting closely at the rim, so as to prevent the ingress of mice, which are passionately

fond of rose seeds; there must be space enough between the wire and the mould for the young plants to come up; half an inch will probably be found enough; the pots of seed must never be placed under glass, but kept constantly in the open air, in a full sunny exposure, as the wire will shade the mould, and prevent its drying. Water should be given occasionally in dry weather; the young plants will perhaps make their appearance in April or May, but very often the seed will not vegetate till the second spring. When they have made their 'rough leaves,' that is, when they have three or four leaves, exclusive of their seed leaves, they must be carefully raised with the point of a narrow pruning-knife, potted into small pots, and placed in the shade: if the weather be very hot and dry, they may be covered with a hand-glass for a few days. They may remain in those pots a month, and then be planted out into a rich border; by the end of August those that are robust growers will have made shoots long enough to take buds from. Those that have done so may be cut down, and one or two strong stocks budded with each; these will, the following summer, make vigorous shoots, and the summer following, if left unpruned, to a certainty they will produce flowers. This is the only method to insure seedling roses flowering the third year: many will do so that are not budded; but very often the superior varieties are