one flower on a stem; for they bear carriage better, when fully expanded, than any other roses. In France, this is called the Provins Rose; and some varieties of it are classed in a separate division, as Agathe Roses.' These have curled foliage, and pale-coloured compact flowers remarkable for their crowded petals. That very old striped rose, sometimes improperly called the York and Lancaster' Rose, seems to have been one of the first variegations of Rosa gallica, as it is mentioned by most of our early writers on gardening. It is properly Rosa mundi:' the true York and Lancaster Rose is a Damask Rose.

6

To describe a selection of these roses is no easy task, as the plants differ so little in their habits, and their flowers, though very dissimilar in appearance, yet offer so few prominent descriptive characteristics. Only a few years since, varieties of this group were reckoned by the hundred. The once-famed collection of the Messrs. Loddiges, of Hackney, consisting, it was said, of 2,000 sorts of roses, owed its fame to nominal varieties of this group. The names were pleasing to the ear; but the eye searched in vain for distinct characters in the flowers. Only a few of these roses are now worth retaining, remarkable for their fine shape and capability of being exhibited as 'show roses,' i. e. as single blooms, in the manner of dahlias and other flowers. To describe them in as few words

as possible, it will perhaps be the most eligible way to give their descriptions in groups, thus:- For fine crimson roses we may take Boula de Nanteuil, D'Aguesseau, Gloire de Colmar, Grandissima, Kean, Latour d'Auvergne, Ohl, Schönbrun, Triomphe de Jaussens; these are large, very double, and finely-shaped crimson roses, of slightly different shades. Kean approaches to scarlet, and is really very beautiful.

A group of fine rose-coloured varieties may be formed with Letitia, Duchess of Buccleuch, Napoleon, Prince Regent, Duc de Valmy, Pharericus, and others: these and other summer roses are more valued in Scotland, where they bloom late in the summer and endure a longer time in bloom, than in England; and as they are not therefore adapted for general culture, it will not be judicious, in the present advanced state of rose culture, to burden these pages with a long list of varieties which are nearly obsolete. Autumnal roses must very shortly to a great extent supersede the greater portion of the summer roses in English gardens, with the exception of a few select varieties of the Moss Rose.

Variegated Roses form an interesting section of this family. To that very old semi-double striped rose, growing almost wild in some gardens, and figured in 'Les Roses, par Redouté,' under the name of Rosa gallica versicolor, and known

in this country as Rosa mundi,* we owe all our striped roses of this family. Our Village Maid or La Villageoise, now an old variety, was one of the earliest proceeds from the above: this is now a well-known, and, in some seasons, a very beautiful striped rose. Eillet Parfait is a rose raised in the west of France, and given out to the world before its qualities were appreciated. It is a hybrid between the Damask and the French rose, so exactly like a carnation in its beautifully-striped flowers as scarcely to be distinguished from one: its ground colour is pale blush, striped distinctly with dark red and crimson: no other variegated rose approaches it in beauty.

Perle des Panachées, with flowers of a pure white, striped with lilac and red, is an acquisition; and Tricolor de Flandres, a new and very double striped rose, may be retained.

THE DWARF FRENCH ROSE.

THE Burgundy Rose, a very old variety, holds the same place among French Roses as the Rose de Meaux among the Provence: it is a pretty little rose, very double, and of a bright rosecolour; useful as an edging rose, and interesting

* How this name came to be attached, I am at a loss to conjecture. Redouté says, 'Les Anglais l'ont appelée Rosemonde du nom de la belle et spirituelle maîtresse de Henri II.'

from its having been so long in our gardens the favourite of every child gardener.

Culture and Pruning.

Most of the varieties of Rosa gallica are robust and hardy, and flourish equally as bushes on their own roots, grafted or budded on short stems, or as standards; but they cannot be recommended for tall standards, as their growth is too compact to be graceful. To grow them fine for exhibition as single blooms or show roses,' the clusters of buds should be thinned early in June, taking at least two-thirds of the incipient flowers from each; manure should also be laid round their stems on the surface, and manure water given to them plentifully in dry weather. With this description of culture, these roses will much surpass anything we have yet seen in this country.

Although the varieties of this group are summer roses only, their period of flowering may be prolonged by judicious pruning, and for this purpose two trees of each variety should be planted, one to be pruned in October, the other early in May, or just when the buds have burst into leaf; these will give a regular succession of flowers. In pruning, cut out with a sharp knife all the spraylike shoots, and then shorten, to within six or eight buds of their base, all the strong shoots : by such I mean those that are above fifteen

inches in length; the weak shoots cut down to two or three buds. This is the pruning required by the Alba, Damask, and Hybrid Provence roses.

Raising Varieties from Seed.

To raise French roses from seed, they should be planted in a warm, dry border, sloping to the south, in an open, airy situation-the shade of trees is very pernicious to seed-bearing roses. The following kinds may be selected, as they bear seed freely: The Tuscany rose, a very old variety, with rich, deep crimson, semi-double flowers; also Ohl and Latour d'Auvergne. The two latter should have their flowers fertilised with the pollen of the Tuscany Rose, and some fine crimson roses will probably be raised. Village Maid and Eillet Parfait are the most eligible to raise striped roses from; if their flowers are deficient in pollen, they should be fertilised with those of Rosa mundi.

The

THE HYBRID PROVENCE ROSE.
(ROSA CENTIFOLIA HYBRIDA.)

THESE beautiful roses are exactly intermediate between the French and the Provence Rose,

Some of the roses recommended for seed-bearing are old varieties, which may be procured from any rose nursery.