^^^^^^HH^ggs^^^fg^^^^::;i%TiT.rr:.

7-rr':rr'x<4«iiinna

mwK
f
 BOOK ABOUT ROSES

/
 A

BOOK ABOUT ROSES

HOW TO GROW AND SHOW THEM

BY

S. REYNOLDS HOLE
LIBRARY
NEW YORK
BOX A MO
What is fairer than a Rose? * kOEN.
What is sweeter ?

— George Herbert.

THIRD EDITION, ENLARGED

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS

EDINBURGH AND LONDON
MDCCCLXX

The Right of Translation is reserred

an 45
Hi
^270
 —

I DEDICATE MY BOOK TO

MY WIFE^
BECAUSE

there's a rose looking in at the window,

in every condition of life
in days of content and enjoyment,
in hours with bitterness rife.

where'er there's THE SMILE OF A WOMAN,

AS BRIGHT AS A BEAM FROM ABOVE,
^TIS THE ROSE LOOKING IN AT THE WINDOW,

AND FILLING THE DWELLING WITH LOVE.

—From Poems by P. M. JaiJies.
 PREFACE. LIBRARY
NEW YORK
BOTANrCAL

I WROTE A Book about Roses, because, having grown them

lovingly and shown them successfully for more than twenty

years, I thought that the results of my experience would

be acceptable to others ; and the demand for a third

edition, nine months after the publication of the first, has

realised my happiest hope. The present volume, carefully

revised, after an inspection of the great Rose-shows of the

season, at which, as one of the judges, I had special

facilities of observation — after visits to public and private

Rosaries — and after much interesting conversation and
correspondence with our chief Rosarians — will be found
to contain the latest intelligence and the best information
as to the selection and the cultivation of Roses.

S. REYNOLDS HOLE.

C") Caunton Manor, August 1870.

 — —

CONTENTS.

CHAP.
I. CAUSES OF FAILURE, r

II. CAUSES OF SUCCESS,

III, OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY, 35

IV. POSITION, . 54
V. SOILS, 67

VI. MANURES, . 85

VIL ARRANGEMENT, 106

VIII. SELECTION, 122

IX. SELECTION [continued ), 146

X. GARDEN ROSES, . 162

XI. GARDEN ROSES {contimied), 179

XII. CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS, 198

XIII. ROSES FOR EXHIBITION, . 220

XIV. HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE, 240

XV. AT A ROSE-SHOW, 265

APPENDIX NO. I. — MEMORANDA FOR THE MONTHS, 286

,, NO. IL— NEW ROSES, 297

INDEX, 313
 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

CHAPTER I.

CAUSES OF FAILURE.

E who would have beautiful Roses in his garden

must have beautiful Roses inJiis heart. He must
love them well and always. To win, he must woo,
as Jacob wooed Laban's daughter, though drought and frost

consume. He must have not only the glowing admiration,

the enthusiasm, and the passion, but the tenderness, the

thoughtfulness, the reverence, the watchfulness of love.

With no ephemeral caprice, like the fair young knight's,

who loves and who rides away when his sudden fire is gone
from the cold white ashes, the cavalier of the Rose has
semper fidelis upon his crest and shield. He is loyal and
^> A
2 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

devoted ever, in storm-fraught or in sunny days ; not only

the first upon a summer's morning to gaze admiringly on

glowing charms, but the first, when leaves fall and winds

are chill, to protect against cruel frost. As with smitten

bachelor or steadfast mate the lady of his love is lovely

ever, so to the true Rose-grower must the Rose-tree be

alwavs a thing of beauty. To others, when its flowers have

faded, it may be worthless as a hedgerow thorn : to him, in

every phase, it is precious. I am no more the Rose, it says,

but cherish me, for we have dwelt together ; and the glory

which has been, and the glory which shall be, never fade

from Jlis heart.

Is it rare or frequent this fond and complete affection }

Go to one of our great exhibitions, and you must surely

bring the conviction home, that true love, however rare in

the outer world, may be always found " among the Roses."

From all grades and epochs of life, what vows of constancy,

what fervid words !
" Sir Thomas and I are positively

going to ruin ourselves with a new Rosarium." *'

As soon
as I get home," says a country rector, " I shall plant an

acre of my glebe with Roses." There you may see a Royal

Duchess so surprised out of her normal calmness, that she
raises two pale pink gloves in an ecstasy of surprise, and
 CAUSES OF FAILURE. 3

murmurs, " Oh, how lovely !

" over Marechal NIel. There
a Cabinet Minister stands tiptoe to catch a glimpse of his

brother senator, Vaisse, and wishes he had a neck as long

as Cicero's. Obstructing his view with her ample form and

bountiful bonnet, our old friend Mrs Brown, who has just

had **
one drop of the least as is," informs the public that

she "knows for facts that Mr Turner of Slough has a dead

horse under every Rose-tree, and Pauls & Sons has hundreds
of young men with gig umbrellas standing over their Roses
when it rains heavy." Mrs Brown is delighted, like all

around, and ^'

means to tell Brown, as soon as ever she sets

down in her own parlour, that Marshal Need all over the

house, and Sulphur Terry round the back door, grow she

must and will. But, goodness me !

" she suddenly exclaims,
*'
what a mess o' them reporters !
" No, my dear madam,
they are not reporters, only spectators, putting down in

their note-books the names of Roses, with an expression of

eager interest which says, I must have that flower or die.

Every year this enthusiasm increases. It is not easy to

collect reliable statistics ; some who might furnish them, if

they would, shut their mouths closely ; some open them so

widely as to justify the amusing sarcasm of a reverend and

roseate brother, '*

When they count their trees, they include
4 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

the aphis ; " but I have obtained trustworthy and interesting

information from several of our chief Rosarians, who have

kindly answered my inquiries in a fraternal and friendly

spirit. Without mention of names or minute details, I may

state that these all bear witness to a most extensive and

progressive enlargement of the demand for Roses. The

largest of our wholesale growers writes to me that he has

more than twenty acres of Roses, and that his stock of

Briers and Manetti, with Roses on their own roots and

Roses in pots, amounts to half a million. The young but
most successful representative of one of our older firms
informs me, that their first planting of Rose-stocks, so an

old Brier-man tells him, was a lot of 2000, some forty years

ago ; and that from 2000 they advanced in 1861 to 62,000

Briers. In i860, he adds, we commenced the out-door

culture of the Manetti with 4000 : this year (1868) we have

60,000. Rapid as this increase appears, the same writer

goes on to say that he anticipates a time when their present

stock will seem Lilliputian in comparison with that which

will be required for the home and export trade. I propose

to revert in some future chapter to the history of this de-

velopment.* Suffice it to say, that where Roses were grown

* See p. 201.
 CAUSES OF FAILURE. 5

twenty years ago by the dozen they are grown by the

thousand, and where by the thousand now by the acre.

But now comes a most important question, — Have we

beautiful Roses in proportion to this great multipHcation

of Rose-trees ? The printer will oblige me by selecting a

brace of his biggest and blackest capitals, with which I may

reply emphatically, NO. It is indeed, at first sight, a

marv^el and perplexity, that while the love of Roses is

professed so generally —while the demand for Rose-trees has

increased so extensively, and the flower itself has every

year disclosed some new and progressive charm — Roses

should be so rarely seen in their full and perfect beauty.
Queen Rosa, in common with other potentates, has greatly

enlarged her armies, but how few young officers have as

yet distinguished themselves fighting in the wars of the

Roses ! We all regard as our Commander-in-Chief that

veteran hero, Rivers of Sawbridgeworth, who, although he

has retired from active service, from competitive to com-

mercial Rose-growing, still issues, in his 'Guide to Amateurs,'

those orders and wise counsels which lead to victory. Age
cannot wither his loyalty, and beneath a hundred medals,

orders, and clasps, his brave heart is still with the Rose.

The names of the generals who were eminent when I first

 —

6 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

joined as a Cornet, although some Hke Mr Rivers are no

longer exhibitors, are still the most famous in our ears,

Cant, Cranston, (I. write them alphabetically to avoid in-

vidious distinction) — Francis, Fraser, Keynes, Lane, Lee,

Mitchell, Paul, Turner, and Wood. Perkins of Coventry,

Merryweather of Southwell, and Frettingham of Notting-

ham, have distinguished themselves latterly at provincial

shows, and may hereafter achieve nobler victories, but at

present the older champions ride into the lists, and hold
their own against all comers. The new aspirants for the

smile of our Queen of Beauty go home discomfited. They

may say, when they enter the arena, as the gladiators of

old to the emperor, or, in absence of an emperor, to the

policeman at the gate, Morittiri te sahttant.

It is the same with the professional Rose-grower, who

does not compete and never has competed, as with our

fighting men. The old firms, such as the Dicksons of

Chester, Harrison of Darlington, and Smith of Worcester,
are still, with those whom I have mentioned, the Merchant-
Princes of the Rose.

Passing from the chiefs of the regular army to the officers

of the volunteers, there are, I think, hopeful indications of

a larger, worthier emulation. We have lost a champion in

 CAUSES OF FAILURE. J

Mr Hedge of Colchester, a true earnest Rosarian, a hearty

genial friend ;
and we all sadly miss at our exhibitions those

exquisite Tea-scented Roses, so tastefully, so gracefully

disposed, which none but he could show ; but the motto of

our old Phoenix Club at Oxford has been verified, " Uno
avulso, non deficit alter," and a great Rosarian has arisen
in his place, — the Rev. E. N. Pochin. I do not hesitate to
say that in this present summer he has exhibited a larger

number of perfect Roses, at the Crystal Palace, at " the

National," at Leicester, Newark, and elsewhere, than have

ever been shown by an amateur in one season. There are

others of our clerical brotherhood in whom I rejoice to note

that earnest enthusiasm which alone insures success, 'such

as the Rev. G. Arkwright of Pencombe, Herefordshire, and

the Rev. C. Ellison of Bracebridge, Lincolnshire ; but I

assert notwithstanding, that such men ought to be

numbered not by units, but by scores in every county, and

that if the Rose were loved and grown as it ought to be,

new aspirants for honours would appear at every Rose-

show, and would persevere until they had won them.
We must pass from the public Rose-show to the private

Rose-garden to see in its saddest phase the difference be-

tween what is and what ought to be —the feeble harvest of

8 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

good Roses from the broad acres of good Rose-trees.

These collections remind us of Martial's description of
his works, " Sunt bona, sunt quaedam mediocria, sunt mala
plura." We can hardly say of them, as an Edinburgh
Reviewer (was it Sydney Smith ?) of a volume of sermons,

criticised in the first number of that work, " Their charac-

teristic is decent debility." As a rule, the amateur Ros-

arian has made about as much progress as George III.

with his fiddle. After two years' tuition, the King asked

his tutor, Viotti, what he thought of his pupil :

" Sire," re-

plied the professor, " there are three classes of violinists ;

those who cannot play at all, those who play badly, and

those who play well. Your majesty is now covnncncing to

enter upon the second of these classes." There is not a

garden nowadays, of any pretension, which has not its col-

lection of Roses, and yet there is not one garden in twenty

where the flower is realised in its beauty. I have scarcely

known at times whether to laugh or weep, when I have
been conducted with a triumphal air by the proprietor to

one of those dismal slaughter-houses which he calls his

Rosary. The collection is surrounded by a few miserable

climbers, justly gibbeted on poles or hung in rusty chains,

and consists of lanky standards, all legs and no head, after

 CAUSES OF FAILURE. 9

the manner of giants, or of stunted "dwarfs," admirably

named and ugly as Quilp ; the only sign of health and

vigour being the abundant growth of the Manetti stock,

which has smothered years ago the small baby committed

to its care, but is still supposed to be the child itself, and is

carefully pruned year after year in expectation of a glow of

beauty. There is no beauty, and there never will be, for

the florist ; but to the entomologist what a happy peaceful

home ! There can be no museum in all the world so ex-

quisitely complete in caterpillars, or so rich with all manner
of flies. For me there is no solace in these charms. I

stand sorrowful and silent, like Marius among the ruins,

until my companion wishes to know whether I can tell him

why that wretched Charles Lefebvre behaves so disgrace-

fully in his garden ? On reflection, perhaps I can. Charles

Lefebvre is placed, like Tityrus, " sub tegmine fagi," under

the drip and shadow of a noble beech-tree, whose boughs

above and roots beneath effectually keep all nourishment

from him. And do I know why Charles Lawson, Blairii 2,

and Persian Yellow never have a flower upon them ?

Simply because they are pruned always, as no man with

seeing eyes could prune them twice, so closely that they

make nothing but wood. The single standards, again, are

 —

10 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

grassed up to the very Brier, except where a circular space

is left for "just a few bedding-out things," — leeches drain-

ing the life-blood of the Rose. It is Mrs Hemans, I think,

who sings,

" Around the red Rose, the convolvulus climbing ;"

and it sounds sweetly pretty, and would be the loveliest

arrangement possible, only that, unfortunately, it is death

to the Rose — death to that queen who brooks no rival

near, much less upon, her throne. Look, too, at those

vagabond suckers clustering like Jewish money-lenders or

Christian bookmakers round a young nobleman, and steal-

ing the sap away. Well may that miserable specimen be

called a " Souvenir de Comte Cav^our," for it is dying from
depletion, like its illustrious namesake. The earth is set

and sodden ; no spade nor hoe has been there. As for

manure, a feeling of profound melancholy comes over us, as

over ]\Ir Richard Swiveller, when he discovered that the Mar-

chioness had passed her youthful days in ignorance of the

taste of beer. We know that they have never seen it, and
yet they are expected to bloom profusely ; and when they
are covered, not with Roses, but grubs, the nurseryman, or

the gardener, or the soil is blamed. Then there is dole in

 CAUSES OF FAILURE. II

Astolat, and a wailing cry over dead Adonis. " Is it not sad

that we cannot grow Roses ? We have spared no trouble,

on them !"
no expense, and we do so dote

The last time I heard a howl of this kind I felt myself

insulted as a lover of the Rose and of truth ; and instead of

yelping in concert, as I was expected to do, I snarled sur-

lily: "You have taken no trouble which deserves the name;

and as to expense, permit me to observe that your fifty

Rose-trees cost you £4, and your sealskin jacket i^20.

You don't deserve beautiful Roses, and you won't have any
until you love them more." If I am accused of discourtesy

to the fair sex (she was not very fair, my reader), I can

only plead that I have been far more explicit with the male

specimen of pseudo-Rosist. " I say, old fellow," remarked

to me a friend as we rode together in the Row, and with a

tone which, though it pretended a cheery indifference, was

fraught with rebuke and anger, " those Rose-trees which

you recommended me to get turned out a regular do.

Cost a hatful of money —precious near a tenner, if not all

out — and, by Jove, sir ! our curate at the county flower-

show came and licked them all into fits !" " Robert," I

responded (I was too indignant to address him with Bob, as

usual), " I never in my life recommended a person of your
12 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

profound ignorance to have anything to do with Roses.

You asked me to give you a list of the best, and I did so

reluctantly, knowing that you had neither the taste nor the

energy to do them justice. As to the outlay, the animal on

which you have recklessly placed yourself, and whose hocks
are a disgrace to this park, cost you, I know, more than
eighty guineas ; and for a tithe of that sum, without further

supervision or effort, you expect a beautiful Rose-garden.

I rejoice to hear that the curate beat you, just as that ear-

nest boy on his nimble pony is out-trotting at this moment

your expensive but tard}' steed."

Not a soup(^on of sympathy can I ever feel for the dis-

comfiture of those Rose-growers who trust in riches. They

see lovely blooms at the Rose-shows (yea, the Duchess of
Kensington said that they were lovely) —selected, probably,
from fifty thousand trees, and the results of excellent cul-

ture, untiring vigilance, and care —and they say. We will

have these Roses for our own forthwith, and in abundance.

They have only to put down the names, give an order, and

sign a cheque, to buy as they buy chairs and tables. They

go home and tell their gardener that they have ordered a

most splendid collection of Rose-trees, and that they quite

expect him next summer to have the best display in the
 — 3

CAUSES OF FAILURE. 1

county. From my heart I pity that gardener. They

might as well have brought him Bob's hack, and told him
that if he could not win the Derby and the St Leger with
him, they really must find somebody who could. He is not

even allowed to choose a situation. The tall ones are to be

planted on each side of the broad walk, and the little ones

opposite the boudoir window. The broad walk may be as

bleak as a common, or, under the shade of melancholy

boughs, as dank as a mausoleum ; and the dear little bed

opposite the boudoir never sees the sun until mid-day,

when it is grilled for three mortal hours, and then given

back to gloom. So there the poor Rose-trees stand
through the winter, htdibrmm ventis, or without any air at

all, and in the spring a rialto, rendezvous, common room,

and tap for all the riff-raff of the insect world —an infirmary
for all the diseases which the neglected Rose is heir to.

Some few, perhaps, may brave all, and bloom ; but they no

more resemble the glorious flowers which my lady saw at

Kensington or the Crystal Palace, than my little boy's toy
railway-train resembles the Scotch express.

In my next chapter I will tell what may be done in a

very small garden, by a very poor man, who really loves

the Rose.
 CHAPTER II.

CAUSES OF SUCCESS.

From the lukewarm to the earnest, from failure to success.

Ten years ago, one cold slate-coloured morning' towards the

end of March ("hunch-weather," as I have heard it termed

in Lincolnshire, because, I suppose, a sense of starvation has

a tendency to set one's back up), I received a note from a

Nottingham mechanic, inviting me to assist in a judicial

capacity at an exhibition of Roses, given by Avorking men,

which was to be held on Easter Monday. Not having at

the time a Rose in my possession, although, to my shame

be it spoken, I had ample room and appliances, and know-
ing, moreover, that all the conservatories of the neighbour-

hood were in a like destitute and disgraceful condition, it

never occurred to me that the tiny glass houses, which I

had seen so often on the hills near Nottingham, could be

more honourably utilised or worthily occupied, and I threw

 — — 5

CAUSES OF SUCCESS. 1

down the letter on my first Impulse as a hoax, and a very

poor one. Hoaxes, I have observed, are not what they

used to be when I took an active part in them ; and, more-

over, the proximity of the ist of April made me more than

ordinarily suspicious. Nevertheless, upon a second inspec-

tion, I was so impressed by a look and tone of genuine

reality that I wrote ultimately to the address indicated,

asking, somewhat sarcastically and incredulousl}', as being

a shrewd superior person not to be sold at any figure, what

sorts of Roses were so kind as to bloom during the month

of April at Nottingham, and nowhere else. By return of

post I was informed, with much more courtesy than I had

any claim to, that the Roses in question Avere grown under
glass where and hozu, the growers would be delighted to

show me, if I would oblige them by my company.

On Easter Monday, in due course, upon a raw and gusty
day, when spring and winter, sleet and sunshine, were fight-

ing round after round, like Spring and Langan, for victory,

winter now retreating, sobbing and puffing, to his corner,

and now coming on in force, black with rage, resistless,

hitting out hard and straight, until the sun's eye had a

sickly glare, and the cold world trembled in his cruel hug
and grip — I went to Nottingham. Again, as the hail beat
l6 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Upon the window of the rail conveyance, a horrible dread

of imposition vexed my unquiet soul, and I was so cowardly

as to give an evasive answer (our vulgar forefathers used to

call it lying) when a friend am.ong my fellow-passengers

inquired the purport of my journey. Nor were my silly sus-

picions expelled until my hansom from the station stopped
before the General Cathcart Inn, and the landlord met me,
Avith a smile on his face and with a Senateur Vaisse in his

coat, which glowed amid the gloom like the red light on a

midnight train, and (in my eyes, at any rate) made summer

of that damp and dismal day. Within his portals I found

a crowd of other exhibitors, some with Roses in their coats

like himself, and some without, for the valid reason, that

they w^ere there in their shirt-sleeves, with no coats at all,

just as you would see them at their daily work, and some
of them only spared from it to cut and stage their flowers.

These welcomed me with outstretched hands, and seemed

amused when, on their apologising for their soiled appear-

ance, I assured them of my vivid affection for all kinds of

florlcultural dirt, and that I counted no man worthy of the

name of gardener whose skin was always white and clean.

No, a rich, glowing, gipsy brown is that one touch from

Nature's paint - brush, which makes the whole world of

 —

CAUSES OF SUCCESS. \J

florists kin, which is seen beneath the battered billycock

and the hat of shining silk, and which, whether the japan-
ned ones get their garments from Poole or pawnbroker,
whether they be clad in double-milled or fustian, whether
they own a castle or rent an attic, unites them, heart and
hand.
'
' Who shall judge a man from manners ?
Who shall know him from his dress ?
Pavipers may be fit for princes,

Princes fit for something less.

Crumpled shirt and dirty jacket

May beclothe the golden ore

Of the humblest thoughts and feelings
"
What can satin vest do more ?

''The Roses were ready: would I go up-stairs .-^

" And
up-stairs, accordingly, with my co-censor, a nurseryman and
skilled Rosarian of the neighbourhood, I mounted, and
entered one of those long narrow rooms in which market-

ordinaries are wont to be held, wherein the Odd-Fellows,

the Foresters, and the Druids meet in mysterious conclave,

and where during the race-week and the pleasure-fair there

is a sound of the viol and the mazy dance. What a contrast

now! The chamber, whose normal purpose was clamour

and chorus from crowded men, we found empty, hushed,
and still ; the air, on other public occasions hot with cooked
B
 8 —

1 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

meats and steaming tumblers, heavy with the smoke and

smell of tobacco, was cool and perfumed ; and the table

you could not see its homely surface of plain deal, stained

with spilt drinks, scorched by the expiring cuba, dinted by

knife-handles and by nut-crackers, when oration or ballad

ceased; for it was covered from end to end with beautiful

and fragrant Roses ! There was nothing to remind of

coarser pleasures or of the tavern here, except, by the way,
the bottles, which, once filled with the creamy stout and
with the fizzing beer of ginger, now, like converted drunk-

ards, were teetotally devoted to pure water, and in that

water stood the Rose.

A prettier sight, a more complete surprise of beauty,

could not have presented itself on that cold and cloudy

morning ; and in no royal palace, no museum of rarities, no

mart of gems, was there that day in all the world a table so

fairly dight. As if to heighten our enjoyment of the scene,

and just as we came upon it, the day darkened without, and

the sleet beat against the windows as though enraged by

this sudden invasion of Flora, and determined to fire a

volley on her ranks ; but her soldiers only smiled more

brightly at the idle harmless cannonade, just as the brave

general on his sign outside cared no more for the rattling

 !

CAUSES OF SUCCESS. I9

hail than, In the flesh, a few years before, he had cared for

Crimean snow.
Nor was our first enjoyment diminished, when, from a
general survey of this charming contrast, we proceeded in

our judicial office to a minute and careful scrutiny. I have

never seen better specimens of cut Roses, grown under glass,

than those which were exhibited by these working men.

Their Tea-Roses —Adam, Devonlensis, Madame WlUermorz,

and Souvenir d'un Ami especially — were shown In their

most exquisite beauty ; and, coming down to the jDresent

time, I do not hesitate to say that the best Marechal NIel

and the best Madame Margottin which I have yet seen, I

saw that spring at Nottingham, In the ginger-beer bottles

Many of the Hybrid Perpetual varieties were shown in their

Integrity —a difiicuit achievement when days are short and

dull ; and one of them, Alphonse Karr, I have never met
with elsewhere of the same size and excellence. It Is but

rarely seen at our great Rose-shows, never In Its perfect

phase ; and I must frankly own that I have bought it, budded
It, potted it, petted It, for many years In vain. Of course, in

an exhibition of this kind, with difficulties to oppose which

few dare to encounter and very few overcome, these poor

florists must include among their masterpieces many sped-

 —

20 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

mens of medium merit, and some failures. Among the latter |

I cannot forget a small and sickly exposition of Paul Ricaut, :

who, by some happy coincidence, which warmed my whole

body with laughter, was appropriately placed in a large i

medicine-bottle, with a label, requesting that the wretched

invalid might be well rubbed every night and morning.

Poor Paul ! a gentle touch would have sent him to pot-

pourri !

When the prizes were awarded we left the show-room,

grave and important as two examiners coming out of the

schools at Oxford ; and when the undergraduates — I mean

the stockingers — had rushed to see who had taken honours
and who -wQve: plucked, I went with some of them to inspect

their gardens. These are tiny allotments on sunny slopes,

just out of the town of Nottingham,* separated by hedges

or boards, in size about three to the rood —such an extent

as a country squire in Lilliput might be expected to devote

* "No town in England displays the gardening spirit more manifestly than
'old Nottingham.' Independently of gardens attached to residences, there |

are, we believe, nearly 10,000 allotments within a short distance of the town ; '

and as many of these are divided, and in some cases subdivided, it is not too
much to affirm that from 20,000 to 30,000 of the inhabitants, or nearly one-
half, take an active interest in the garden. And where will you see such Roses \

as are produced upon the Hungar Hills by these amateurs — such cabbage and
lettuce, rhubarb and celery?" Nottinghamshire Giiardia?i, March 8, 1867.
 —

CAUSES OF SUCCESS. 21

to horticulture. And yet it was delightful to see how much

might be, and was, done in one of these pleasant plots.

There was something for every season :

" The daughters of the year,

One after one, through that still garden pass,

Each garlanded with her peculiar flower."

There, to cheer the ungenial days of winter, were the Christ-

mas Rose, the Aconite, the Laurestinus, the Golden Holly,

the Cheimonanthus fragrans on its snug bit of southern wall,

with the large yellow Jasmine near, and the winter Violets

beneath. There, to follow in the spring, the Mezereon, the

Erica, the Berberis, the Snowdrop, Hepatica, Polyanthus,

Crocus, and Tulip ; after these the Lilac, Laburnum, Ribes,
and then the Royal Rose. The straight standards, cleanly

and closely pruned, firmly staked, and liberally mulched

(blessed be the boy with donkey and cart, who goes to a

cheap market, and sells accordingly !) ; the Manetti Dwarfs,

full of vigorous wood — not the stock, but the scion this

time ; the climbers tastefully trained over " the bower of

Roses by," dare I say, " Bendigo's stream," seeing that the

ex-champion is oft an angler in the waters of the Trent,

hard by ; — all these acknowledge the royal supremacy, and

the loyal love of our second Queen. And think what a

 —

22 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

refreshment for these working men on a summer's eve,

when their hot work is done, or on silent Sabbaths, when

there is no work to do, " to sit 'mong the Roses and hear
the birds sing" — songs of praise and comfort and hope.
Meanwhile they have a foretaste of this gladness in the

glass houses which I went to see. Houses ! why, a full-sized

giant would have taken them up like a hand-glass ;

and

even I, but a small office-boy in connection with that great

business," was unable in most of them to stand upright; and

into some to enter at all. That ''

bit o' glass " had been,

nevertheless, as much a dream, and hope, and happiness to

its owner as the Crystal Palace to Paxton. How often the

very thought and expectation of it had soothed and relieved

his weariness as he worked at his stocking-frame ! How
the reality had refreshed, refined him, in his brief, bright,

holiday hours ! There is a timber-yard on the left as you

leave Nottingham, travelling upon the Derby Road, and

* One of the first of many delicious stories which it was my privilege to

hear Mr Thackeray tell, was, that once upon a time he and Mr Higgins
('•Jacob Omnium") went to see a Giant, and that the man at the door in-

quired whether they were in the business, because, if so, no charge would be
made for admission. Mr Thackeray was 6 feet 4 inches, and Mr Higgins not
less than 6 feet 6 inches in height. As the Eton boy, describing a country

fair, i-emarked in his Latin verse

" Gigaritesque duo, super honore meo."
 —

CAUSES OF SUCCESS. 23

therein the framework of a neat miniature greenhouse, thus

described upon a board affixed to it :
 —

24 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

to various healthy and handsome rose-buds, which, though

belonging to junior branches of the family, gave promise of

equal beauty.

How was it done ? Dc V abondance dti c(^iir — from a true

love of the Rose. '^
It's more nor a mile from my house to
my garden," said one of these enthusiasts to me, *'but I've

been here for weeks, in the winter months, every morning

before I went to my work, and every evening when I came

from it, and not seldom at noon as well, here and back,
andmy dinner to get, between twelve and one o'clock."

"How do you afford," I inquired from another, "to buy

these new and expensive varieties .''

" and I would that

every employer, that every one who cares for the labouring

poor, would remember the answer, reflect, and act on it.

"I'll tell you," he said, "how I manage to buy 'em by

"
keeping away from the beershops !

From a lady who lives near Nottingham, and goes much

among the poorer classes, I heard a far more striking in-

stance of this floral devotion than from the florists them-

selves. While conversing with the wife of a mechanic

during the coldest period of a recent winter, she observed

that the parental bed appeared to be scantily and insuf-

ficiently clothed, and she inquired if there were no more

 CAUSES OF SUCCESS. 2$

blankets in the house. " Yes, ma'am, we've another,"

replied the housewife ;

" but " and here she paused.
"But what?" said the lady.

" It is not at home, ma'am."

"Surely, surely it's not in pawn.-^"

"Oh dear no, ma'am; Tom has only just took it — just
"
took it

"Well, Bessie, took it where?"

" Please, ma'am, he took it —took —took it it, to keep

the frost out of the greenhouse ; and please, ma'am, we

don't want it, and we're quite hot in bed."

They ought to be presented with a golden warming-

pan, set with brilliants and filled with fifty-pound Bank
of England notes.

I took my leave of the brotherhood at last, delighted with

their gardens and delighted with them, but not much de-
lighted with myself. I seemed to have been presiding as
Lord Chief-Justice in a court, wherein, had merit regulated
the appointments, I should most probably have discharged

the duties of usher. I had been enthroned as Grand Master

of a Rosicrucian Lodge, when I ought to have been standing
at the door as tiler ; and as I carried away a glorious

bouquet of Roses, with their " best respects to the Missus,"

26 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

I felt ashamed to think how httle I had done, and how

much more such men would do, with my larger leisure and
more abundant means. But when I reached the station and

entered my carriage, I was roused from my reverie by a

loud and prolonged " Oh !
" which greeted rne from five of

my acquaintances, as though I had been an asteroid rocket,

which had just burst, and the Roses were my coruscant

stars : and I was beginning to regain my self-complacency,

and to find solace in the remark of one of my neighbours,

who, I knew, had glass by the acre and gardeners in troops,

that " they were the first Roses he had seen this year,"

when I was again discomfited by the insolent behaviour of

the company — on this wise. To an inquiry from what

garden the Roses came, I responded, in all truthfulness,

" Chiefly from a bricklayer's." Whereupon an expressive

sneer of unbelief disfigured each stolid countenance ; and a

solemn silence ensued, which said, nevertheless, as plainly as

though it were shouted, "We don't admire tomfoolery." I col-

lapsed at once into my corner, sulking behind my big bou-
quet, and looking, I fear, very like the Beast when he first

showed himself among the Roses to Beauty ; nor did I quite

regain my equanimity until, reaching homiC, I had written

and posted an order for an assortment of Roses in pots.
 CAUSES OF SUCCESS. 2/

These Nottingham florists are equally successful in the

outdoor culture of the Rose. On the 4th of July 1870,

I attended, as one of the judges, the annual exhibition of

" The St Ann's Amateur Floral and Horticultural Society,"

at Nottingham. The Society consists of artisans, occupying

garden allotments in the suburbs of Nottingham, and justly

prides itself on having developed a taste for gardening

among the working classes. Nearly eighty prizes for Roses

alone, varying in value from two guineas to two shillings,

were offered, and closely fought for. The Roses were

excellent, the interest and excitement of the exhibitors were
intense. The winners (so I learned from their president, Mr
Knight, well chosen to preside over working men, for he

was untiring and ubiquitous in his shirt-sleeves) were twist-

hands, shoemakers, tailors, mechanics, &c. He talked to

me, con amove, of their devotion to their gardens and their

glass. How they carried their bags of coal through the

deep snow, and how early in the morning, and late at even-

tide, they robbed themselves of rest for the Rose.

I rejoiced both to see and hear. I have always believed

that the happiness of mankind might be increased by
encouraging that love of a garden, that love of the beautiful,

which is innate in us all. Get a man out of the dram and

28 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

beer shops into the fresh pure air, interest him in the

marvellous works of his God, instead of in the deformities

of vice, give him an occupation which will add to his health

and the comforts of his family, instead of destroying both,

then build Revealed upon Natural Religion, and hope to see

that man a Christian.

In one of the most genial and gratifying notices with

which this book has been favoured, the Saturday Reviewer

gladdened my heart, confirmed my belief, and stimulated
my endeavours, by endorsing these my views on the subject.
From this love of flowers, he writes, " may be learned the

road, difficult to find in these days, to the inner heart of the

lower classes —the key to tastes, dearer to them than beer-

swilling —the secret, which, if rightly applied by those who

bear spiritual rule over the working man, may do much
directly to civilise, and indirectly to Christianise him."

There are difficulties, of course, in this as in all good works.

There are difficulties with regard to cottage-gardening, ev^en

in those villages where priest and squire co-operate heartily,

and these difficulties are multiplied where men are thick

upon the ground, and where at present little interest is taken

in the matter, either by the clergy or the rich. These diffi-

culties come from the temptations incidental to the annual

 CAUSES OF SUCCESS. 29

show, and the annual show is, according to my experience,

a necessity. Emulation is the stimulus, with which we

cannot dispense. My Lord won't ride his best hunter over

a nasty brook, when nobody is there to see; and Bill Smith

won't dig and delve after work hours, if no one is to admire

his big potatoes. Large and lovely is the rhubarb of Jones,
but never so large, never so lovely, as Avhen it rests

beside the rhubarb of Robinson, having won the premier

prize. Alas ! to win premier prizes men are tempted

to be dishonest, and they fall. '^
If you please, sir.

Bob Filch went a-cadging miles and miles for them cut
flowers as won last show." '*
Lor bless your reverence, I

knows for a fact that Jim A gave Jack B one and nine for

that Senateur Vaisse in his six." And his reverence, more-

over, knows for fact, that Roses have not only been begged and
bought, but stolen, just before a show. His reverence could
name some of his Nottingham friends who have slept in their

greenhouses, fearing a raid, for nights before the contest

came. This very Society of St Ann has a sub-committee to

inspect the gardens of exhibitors, and to prevent imposture.

Discouraging facts ! but so it is discouraging to note certain

infirmities of slothfulness, selfishness, and ignorance in our

daily life ; and when we have made ourselves just such
30 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Christian gentlemen as we wish to be, let us be severe with

our fellow-men. In the interim, suppose we try the experi-

ment of winning them by kindness and love.

It is high time, however, to leave this digression, and to

repeat, that whatever may be the infirmities of these poor

florists, they are eminently successful in the culture of

flowers ; and indeed it would be easy to multiply proofs

that in Rose -growing, as in everything else, earnestness

and industry, born of love,

" Di tutte le arti maestro e amore,"

must achieve success. At a flower-show which took place

a few weeks ago at Oundle, and at which I acted as one of

the judges,* the hero of the day was a Northamptonshire

butcher, Thorneycroft of Floore, a name well known to

Rosarians. He told me that by rising early, sometimes at

3 A.M., and by working late, he had not only carried on an

extensive trade, but had found time to put up three glass

houses with his own hands ; and that, in addition to his

* On this occasion some very pretty collections were shown, not only of

wild-flowers, but of wild ferns and grasses. In three of the latter, exhibited
by children of one family, I observed asparagus ; and upon my saying to the
exhibitors that this was not contemplated by the schedule, my ignorance was
at once enlightened, — " Please, sir, it says ferns and grasses, and this is

sparrow grass."
 1

CAUSES OF SUCCESS. 3

plants, fruits, and vegetables, he had in cultivation six

thousand Rose-trees, most of which he had budded, and all

of which he had pruned and cared for himself From his

houses he showed some beautiful seedling Gloxinias, which

won the first prize and especial commendation ; obtained

the prize for a specimen plant of recent introduction, the

pretty Panicum variegatum, sent out last year by Messrs

Veitch ; while from his Rose-garden he won the first prize

for twelves, and in the larger collection succumbed with-

out discredit, as an amateur may and generally must

when he competes with a nurseryman, to Messrs Wood &

Ingram.

Ascending some rungs of the social scala, passing from

the bluecoat school of Rosists to the black, we floral eccle-

siastics may congratulate ourselves, thankfully and happily,

upon our status in the world of Roses. And here again,

how often will the poor curate, with something more than a
good gardener's wages, and something less than a good

gardener's house, show what earnest love can do ! When-

ever I see at an exhibition a white tie behind a box of
Roses, I know (although I may have on one or two occa-
sions irreverently exclaimed to my clerical friends, " Hollo,

Butler ! are you bringing breakfast } ") — I know that, almost

32 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

as a rule, bright gems shine within that case. And ah !

who but he can tell the refreshment, the rest, the peace,

which he finds in his little garden, coming home from the

sick and the sorrowful, and here reminded that for them
and him there is an Eden, more beautiful than the first, a

garden where summer shall never cease !

And here I would ask permission to digress briefly, that

I may confirm a very interesting statement which was

made after our florist dinner at Leicester* by the editor of

The Gardener, and received with hearty acclamations. He

had been told, he said, by a Scotch clergyman, that in his

visitations from house to house he had never met with an

ungenial reception where he had seen a plant in the win-

dow. It was a promise of welcome ; it was a sign that

there dwelt within a love and yearning for the beautiful ;

it was an invitation for the sower to sow. What tender

memories, solaces, and hopes, may be brought into darkened

homes by the brightness and the sweetness of flowers !

*
' The weary woman stays her task,

That perfume to inhale ;

The pale-faced children pause to ask

What breath is on the eale.

* During the Provincial Show of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1867.

 —

CAUSES OF SUCCESS. 33

And none that breathe that sweetened air,

But have a gentle thought ;

A gleam of something good and fair

Across the spirit brought."

Would that these inmates of alley and court, would that

these weary men and women, with their pale-faced children,

might breathe that sweetened air, and see that gleam more
oft. All honour to the owners of park and pleasaunce who
admit them therein, and to employers who give them holi-

days to go. Well does our great poet plead,

" Why should not these gr?at Sirs

Give up their parks a dozen times a-year,
To let the people breathe ?"

Why should there not be great public gardens, and great

public flower-shows, in or near all our towns } When

the Council of the Manchester Botanical Society, advised

by their clever, energetic curator, Mr Bruce Findlay, offered

i^iooo in prizes at their June Show, men shook empty
heads, and m^urmured " Madness." What has been the

result ? The receipts last Whitsuntide exceeded Sixteen

hundred pounds, a7id of this Eleven Imndred was paid by

tJie working classes in sJdllings.

It is gratifying to notice that this influence is recognised

and encouraged more and more by the clergy ; that, under

C
34 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

their auspices, successful shows have been held in London,

at which window-plants, and plants grown in yards and on

roofs, have well deserved the prizes they have won ; that

allotments are more numerous near our larger towns ; that

at some of our barracks, soldiers have the opportunity of

turning their swords into pruning-hooks (metaphorically, I

mican, as an actual transformation might not be agreeable

to the drill-sergeants) ; and that societies for the improve-

ment of cottage-gardening are multiplying throughout the

land. I may mention here, that for some years I have

tried, satisfactorily, to promote among the children of my
parish that love of flowers which we find in them all, not

only by giving prizes for their collections of wild-flowers at

our annual show, but by taking them walks on Sunday

evenings, and helping them to collect and arrange their

posies, teaching them names, habits, and uses, and showing

them the coloured likenesses and the histories which are
provided in a cheap form by the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, and in other illustrated manuals.

But I must cease now to babble of green fields, and must

come away from the wild to the garden Rose.
 CHAPTER III.

OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY.

Having proved, as I hope, that there is no royal road, no

golden key, to an excellent Rose-garden, but that a poor

man, on the contrary, who loves the flower, may walk about

in March with a Rose in his coat — while Dives, who only

likes, may be roseless under all his vitreous domes, — I will

proceed now to instruct those who, having this love, desire

instruction, in the lessons which a long and happy experi-

ence has taught to me.

And yet, before I commence my lecture, I would fain

enlarge the number of disciples : I would multiply the com-

petitors by exhibiting the prizes, and would so extol the
charms of our Queen of Beauty, that all brave knights,

gallantly armed, should leap upon their steeds for the lists.

In more homely and modern metaphor, I would exhibit to

him whom I propose to make a fisherman, his fish. I

36 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

would take him, as it were, to the broad rivers, from which

silvery salmon leap, or peep with him stealthily through

brookside bushes at the dark, still, 3-lb. trout. Then, when
his eyes glisten and his fingers itch for a rod, I would teach
him how to throw and spin ; and would say to him, as old

Izaak said, " I am like to have a towardly scholar of you.

I now see that with advice and practice you will make an
angler in a short time. Have but a love of it, and Fll war-
ranty 021''
I will essay, therefore, while I enumerate and extol the
special charms of the Rose, to convince all florists zuhy, be-

fore I proceed to demonstrate hozu, they should admire and

honour pre-eminently the Queen of Flowers.
First of all, because she is Queen. There is not in her

realm a single Fenian, but her monarchy is the most abso-

lute, and her throne the most ancient and the most secure
of all, because founded in her people's hearts. Her supre-

macy has been acknowledged, like Truth itself, semper,

ubique, ab oiiinibiis — always, everywhere, by all.

I. Semper. —When, in sacred history, a chief prophet of

the Older Covenant foretold the grace and glory which

were to be revealed by the New—when Isaiah would select,

and was inspired to select, the most beautiful image by

 OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY. 3/

which to tell mankind of their exodus from the Law to the

Gospel, slavery to freedom, fear to love —these were the

words which came to him from heaven, " The wilderness

shall blossom as a Rose." In the Song of Songs the

Church compares herself unto "the Rose of Sharon ;" and

in the apocryphal scriptures the son of Sirach likens wisdom

to a Rose-plant in Jericho, and holiness to a Rose growing

by the brook of the field. And the Rose still blooms on
that sacred soil, even in that garden of Gethsemane, where

He, who gives joy and life to all, was sorrowful unto
death.* In our own, as in the older time, it is associated

with religion, with acts and thoughts of holiness which

should be fair and pure and fragrant as itself; and at the

Orphanage of Bey rout, the authoress of d'adle Lands saw

two hundred and fifty maidens receive their first com-
munion with wreaths of white Roses on their heads."[*

Passing from sacred to secular records, shall I take down

my Greek Lexicons, Donnegan the fat and Hederic the
slim, my Dictionaries, Indices, and Gradus ad Parnassum }

Shall I look out fo^oi/ and rosa^ collect a few quotations,

* " The old man, a Franciscan monk, gave me a Rose as a memorial of the
garden." — Bartlett's Jenisalem Rrjisited, p. 129.

+ Syria, according to some writers, took its name from Suri, a species of

Rose indigenous to it.

38 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

dress up a few incidents, and then try to convince my read-

ers that I know every word which classic authors have

written anent the Rose ? Shall I, having just discovered

some sentence bearing on my theme, and having hardly

translated it (lame and broken-winded is the Pegasus now,

which once cantered in Oxford riding-schools, and jumped

with a mighty effort, and a wily tutor whipping behind, the
statutory bars) — shall I proudly display my electroplate,

and commence magniloquent passages with — " the edu-

cated reader will of course remember," and ''

every school-

boy knows" ? — No ; I promised to write sans etude, and

therefore sans humbug also ; and it will suffice to say, with-

out dictionaries or high-falutenation, that the classical writ-

ers, from Homer to Horace, extol above all other flowers

the Rose. To the fairest of their goddesses, to Venus, they

dedicated this the fairest of their flowers ; and the highest

praise which they could offer to beauty, was to assert its

resemblance to the Rose. Aurora had rosy fingers ; I

always thought of her at school, and envied her as of one

who had been among the strawberries ; and beautiful

Helen, with whom the world was in love (there must gene-

rally have been between forty and fifty distinguished prin-

ces, with Ulysses, who ought to have known better, at their

 —

OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY. 39

head, loafing about the mansion of Papa Tyndarus)

Helen, fair and frail, rosa imuidi non rosa imiiida, had, we
are told, cheeks like a Rose, though not perhaps a blush one.

Other belles of the past had —so Anacreon, Theocritus, and

the poets generally, inform us — rosy arms, rosy necks, rosy

feet, and — delicacy forbids me to translate ^ohoy.oX'jrog and

^odoTwyog, "Burning Sappho" — it would have been more
gentlemanly, I think, if Byron had called her gushing

crowned the Rose Queen of Flowers, being herself, accord-

ing to Meleager, the Rose of Poesy ; and her readers

crowned themselves with the Rose (one can't help wonder-
ing whether the nimble earwig ever ran down their Grecian

noses), and vied with each other, at their banquets, ex'rX^rrs/v

rovg (Spovvovg^ to astonish the Browns, with Roses. There was

a flower-market at Athens, as in Covent Garden now,
where the young swells bought for the Honourable Miss
Rhodanthe and for the Lady Rhodopis bouquets of the

blushing Rose ; and then, as now, he who would not or

could not speak boldly to his Maid of Athens,

Zwri /J.OV, ads ayaTru,

declared his love by these

" Token-flowers that tell

What words can never speak so well."

40 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Rome, succeeding Greece in greatness, copying its customs,

and lighting her Roman candles from Greek fire, showed an

equal fondness for the Rose. Romans of wealth and Romans
of taste were as anxious as Horace,
" Neu desint "
epulis ros£e ;

and when the Rose-trees of Passtum had finished their

autumnal bloom,* they were succeeded by flowers artifi-

cially produced by means of hot water. Cleopatra, accord-

ing to Athenasus, had the floor covered with them a foot

and a half in thickness ; and Nero is said to have expended

at one feast nearly ;^30,ooo in Roses — a nice little order for

his nurseryman. In their joys and in their sorrows the

Rose was their favourite flower, and the Corona convivialis,

the Corona nuptialis, and the Corona funebris, were wreathed

alike from the Rose. They miade wine from Roses, con-

serves from Roses, perfumes,*!* ^'^h a^d medicine from Roses.

The Rosa canina took its name, it is said, like the Kwo^cdoy

* Doubts have arisen whether the Roses of Paestum bloomed twice in the

year, as Virgil and Ovid state. The second efflorescence may have taken place
in the glowing fancy of the poet, as now with so many of our Hybrid Per-
petuals in the imagination of our French friends.

+ The historians of perfumery tell us that the Rose was the first flower from
which perfume was made, and that Avicenna, an illustrious Arabian doctor,
who discovered the art of extracting the perfume of flowers by distillation,
made his first experiment upon Rosa centifolia, and so invented Rose-water.
 OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY. 4I

of the Greeks, from Its supposed power to cure hydrophobia ;

and they used It, finally, In the embalming of their dead, and
In adorning the tombs of their heroes.

Such are my slender memories of classical allusion to the

Rose ; but I do not lament this scantiness, because " I have

no opinion," as Mr Llllyvick remarked concerning the

French language, of Greek or Roman floriculture. It was
the only art In which they did not excel. We know nothing
of Greek gardening, and that which we know of Roman
Is a disappointment. The arrangement was formal and
monotonous. They had ''
come to build stately, but not to

garden finely :
" and upon terraces and under colonnades,
around bath-rooms and statue-groups, they placed horrible
mutilations of evergreen shrubs, hacked by a diabolical

process, which they called the Aj's Topiaria, Into figures

of fishes and beasts and fowls, such as our own forefathers

once rejoiced in under the system of gardening surnamed

the Dutch. The Roman gardener was actually called

Topiarhis ; and this terrible tree-barber went proudly round

his arboric menagerie with the trenchant shears, pointing

snouts, docking tails, and gaily disfiguring the face of

nature, with the pleased demeanour of some cheerful savage

cleverly tattooing his dearest friend. And history, repeat-

 —

42 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

ing itself, tells us, through ]\Ir Pope in TJie Gttardian,

how an eminent cook beautified his country-seat with

a coronation dinner done in evergreens, the Champion

flourishing in horn-beam at one end of the table, and
the Queen in perpetual yew at the other. ''
But I, for

my part," writes Lord Bacon, *'

do not like to see images
cut out in junipers and other garden-stuff: they be for

children."

It is, however, enough to have shown that although the

floral light of these Greeks and Romans was dim and feeble,

it revealed to them the supreme beauty of the Rose ; and we

shall find, as we pass down the highways of history from

their times to our own, that against the Royal Supremacy

no voice has been ever raised. It has been reverently

acknowledged always ; but its great champions and

laureates have been found, of course, among the poets

among those who love beauty most, and in whose hearts a

love of the beautiful rings the " manifold soft chimes " of

song. In all lands and languages they have sung the Rose,

and in none with sweeter service than our own. From

Spenser to Tennyson there is no great English chorister
who has not loved and lauded her. I have pages of extracts
in my commonplace-book, but they are, I doubt not, familiar
 OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY. 43

to most of my readers, and the assertion which I have made

asks no further proof.

The excellent beauty of the Rose has not only been ap-
preciated in all times {semper), but in all climes.

2. Ubique^ — Born in the East, it has been diffused, like

the sunlight, over all the world. A flower, writes Pliny,

known to all nations equally with wine, myrtle, and oil. It

is found in every quarter of the globe — on glaciers, in deserts,

on mountains, in marshes, in forests, in valleys, and on

plains. The Esquimaux, as Boitard tells us in his interest-

ing Monographie de la Rose, adorn their hair and their

raiment of deer and seal skin with the beautiful blossoms

of the Rosa nitida, which grows abundantly under their

stunted shrubs. The Creoles of Georgia twine the white

flowers of Rosa laevigata among their sable locks, plucking

them from the lower branches of climbing plants, which at-

* I cannot write this word without recording an anecdote which has not, I
believe, been published, but which well deserves to be. It was told to me by
an artillery officer, that a gentleman, dining at the mess, Woolwich, mistook
the Latin trisyllable Ubique on the regimental plate for a French dissyllable,
and delighted the company by exclaiming, "Ubique! Where's Ubique?—
never heard of that battle!" A veiy similar question was put to myself,
showing to a young friend, among some old curiosities, a medal which had been

given to my grandfather at school, and on which were engraved his initials, the

date, and the word " Merenti "— " What regiment did he seii'e in ?
"
44 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

tach themselves to the garden-trees of the forest, and bloom

profusely on their boles and boughs. The parched shores

of the Gulf of Bengal are covered during the spring with a

beautiful white Rose, found also in China and Nepaul ;

while in vast thickets of the beautiful Rosa sempervirens (a

native also of China) the tigers of Bengal and the crocodiles

of the Ganges are known to lie in wait for their prey. The
north-west of Asia, which has been called the fatherland of

the Rose, introduces to our notice the Rosa centifolia, the

most esteemed and renowned of all, with which the fair

Georgians and Circassians enhance their fairness. And yet

in the coldest regions — for nature is ever bountiful as

beautiful, and that merciful Power which makes the wheat

to grow everywhere for our food, sends also for our delec-
tation things pleasant to the eye— in Iceland (I wish to

confess honourably that I am still prigging from Boitard),

so infertile in vegetation that in some parts the natives are

compelled to feed their horses, sheep, and oxen on dried

fish, we find the Rosa rubiginosa, with its pale, solitary, cup-

shaped flowers ; and in Lapland, blooming almost under the

snows of that severe climate, the natives, seeking mosses

and lichens for their reindeer, find the Rosas majalis and
rubella, the former of which, brilliant in colour and of a
 OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY. 45

sweet perfume, enlivens the dreariness of Norway, Denmark,

and Sweden.
And I come home now, eagerly as a carrier-pigeon to his

native dovecot, to our own Rose-gardens — eagerly, because

here, and here only, can our Queen be found in the full

splendour of her royal beauty. The Roses of all lands are

here, but so changed, so strengthened by climate, diet, and

care, so refined by intermarriage with other noble families,

that they would no more be recognised by their kinsfolk at

home than Cinderella at the ball by her sisters. The

fairy. Cultivation, has touched them with her wand, and
the pale puny kitchen-girl steps out of her dingy gingham
a princess, in velvet and precious point, like some
glowing butterfly from his drab cocoon ; or as when, at

the Circus, "Paddy from Cork" drops suddenly his broken

hat, his slit coat, coarse breeks and brogues, and lo!

it is "Winged Mercury." They came, as ambassadors to

the Queen's court, savages, " with nothing on but their

nudity," their luggage a peacock's plume, and now

they move with a majestic dignity in gorgeous yet

graceful robes.

Will you accompany me, my reader, to one of Queen

Rosa's levees "i They differ in some points from Queen
4-6 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Victoria's — as, for example, in these : that the best time

to attend them is at sunrise ; that you may go to them

with dressing - gown and slippers, or with shooting - coat

and short pipe ; that the whole court will smile upon you
according to your loyalty, not according to your looks

or your income ; and that all the beauty which you

see will be real — no false foliage, no somebody - else's

ringlets, no rouge, no pastes, no powders, no perfumes

but their own.

Enter, then, the Rose-garden when the first sunshine

sparkles in the dew, and enjoy with thankful happiness

one of the loveliest scenes of earth. What a diversity, and

yet what a harmony, of colour ! There are White Roses,

Striped Roses, Blush Roses, Pink Roses, Rose Roses, Car-

mine Roses, Crimson Roses, Scarlet Roses, Vermilion

Roses, Maroon Roses, Purple Roses, Roses almost Black,

and Roses of a glowing gold. What a diversity, and yet

what a harmony, of outline ! Dwarf Roses and Climbing

Roses, Roses that droop to earth like fountains, and Roses

that stretch out their branches upwards as though they

would kiss the sun ; Roses " in shape no bigger than an

agate-stone on the fore-finger of an alderman," and Roses

4 inches across ; Roses in clusters, and Roses blooming

 OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY. 47

singly ; Roses in bud, In their glory, decline, and fall. And

yet all these glowing tints not only combine, but educe and

enhance each the other's beauty. All these variations of

individual form and general outline blend with a mutual

grace. And over all this perfect unity what a freshness,

fragrance, purity, splendour ! They blush, they gleam

amid their glossy leaves, and

" Never sure, since high iii Paradise,

By the four rivers, the first Roses blew,"

hath eye seen fairer sight. Linnaeus wept when he came

suddenly upon a wide expanse of golden furze ; and he
is no true florist who has never felt the springs of his heart

troubled, surging, overflowing, as he looked on such a scene

of beauty as that which I so feebly describe. Such visions

seem at first too bright, too dazzling, for our weakly sight ;

we are awed, and we shrink to feel ourselves in a Divine

presence ; the spirit is oppressed by a happiness which it is

unworthy, unable to apprehend, and It finds relief in tears.

It is such a feeling as one has, hearing for the first time

the Hallelujah Chorus sung by a thousand voices, or see-

ing from " clear placid Leman " the sunlight on Mont
Blanc. " It is too wonderful and excellent for me," we
 —

48 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

say ;
" it is more like heaven than earth." Or, with Milton,

we ask in reverent wonder,

*' What if earth

Be but the shadow of heaven, and things herein

Each to each other like, more than on earth is thought ?"

and our prayers go up, as the incense from the Rose, for

purer eyes and hearts.

We have nothing in the whole range of floriculture so

completely charming as a Rosary in " the time of Roses."

A grower of most flowers, and a lover of all, I know of

none which can compete with the Rose for colour, form,

and fragrance, jointly, whether en masse or in single blooms.

*'
Orchids," do I hear .''
Well, I have stood before Laelia

purpurata in an ecstasy of admiration, until, the flower-show

being crowded, the police have requested me to move on.

Not long ago I lost half my dinner because my eyes would

wander from my plate to a Lycaste Skinneri some distance

up the table ; and I appreciate generally with a fond delight

the delicacy, the refinement, the brilliancy of this lovely

class. It is the aristocracy, but not the queen of the flowers.

Regarding the two collectively, there is never to be found

in the orchid -house the simultaneous splendour of the

Rosary in July — the abundant glistening foliage, the sweet

 —

OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY. 49

perfume ; and comparing the individual flowers, which

would a lover take to his beloved — which would his dar-

ling, herself

*'
A Rosebud, set with little wilful thorns,

And sweet as English air can make her,"

osculate and pet the most ?

And the stove, truly, is a gladness and refreshment

gay, when all without is bleak and dismal, with the golden

Allamandas, the rosy Dipladenia, so truthfully termed

amabilis, the bridal Stephanotis, the gorgeous Amaryllids,

the Bougainvilleas, Francisceas, &c. ; but what will you find

there like the Rose? Place Marechal Niel by the Alla-

manda, Louise Peyronney by the Dipladenia, a truss of

Madame Bravy by the Stephanotis, Charles Lefebvre by

the Amaryllis, and, like fair maids of honour and beautiful
ladies in waiting, these inmates of the hothouse must bow
before their queen.

It is the same in the conservatory. The Camellia is of

faultless form, but it has not the grace, the ease, the expres-

sion of the Rose. It is like a face whereof every feature

is perfect, but which lacks the changing charms of feeling

and intellect. Neither has it the colours nor the scent.

So with all other greenhouse favourites ; they are lovely

D
 ;

50 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

— Azaleas, Pelargoniums, Ericas — but not so lovely as

the Rose.

It is the same out of doors as under glass. The gardens

of Bagshot, where nightingales sing, and Rhododendrons,

Azaleas, and Kalmias bloom — the goodly tents of Waterer

in the park of the Regent and in the gardens of Ken-
sington, —are sights to make an old man young ; but they

show not to our eyes the brightness, the diversity of the

Rose's hues, and for our noses they have nothing. The
golden tints of Persian Yellow and Celine Forestier, the
glowing scarlet of Senateur Vaisse and Due de Rohan,
the odour of Devoniensis, we may look for and sniff for

in vain.

Glorious, too, are the Dahlias of Slough and Salisbury,

of every hue, and in symmetry almost too severely perfect

and yet let their owners, than whom two more earnest and
successful florists never tended flowers — let Charles Turner

and John Keynes declare, as I know they would, that

though the Dahlia may be " Queen of Autumn," the Rose

is the Queen of Flowers.

And the tall, proud, stately, handsome Hollyhocks of

Chater, of W, Paul, — yea, even those of the peer, peerless

in this branch of floriculture. Lord Hawke, — must bow their

 1

OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY. 5

high heads to the Rose. Not even In combination and

alliance can all the flowers of the garden compete with

the garden of Roses — not the flowers of spring, or the

terraces of Clieveden, or Belvoir's sunny slopes, not the

summer splendours of Archerfield and beautiful Hard-

wicke. Let the artistic " bedder-out " select his colours

from all the tribes and families of plants : his blacks

and bronzes and dark deep reds from the Coleus, the
Oxalis, Amaranthus, and Iresine ; his yellows from the
Calceolaria, Marigold, Tropseolum, Viola ; his scarlets

from the Verbena and Pelargonium ; his whites from the

Cerastium, Centaurea, Santolina, Alyssum ; let him have

all that flower and foliage, arranged by consummate
taste, can do, he can never produce a scene so fair, because

he can never produce a scene so natural, as he may

have in a garden of Roses. It may be more brilliant,

more imposing, but there will not be that unity, that

perfect peace, of which the eye wearies never. It is like

a triumphant march of organs, trumpets, and shawms,

but the ear cannot listen to it so long, so happily, as to

some plaintive horn in the calm eventide, or some sweet

simple song. The gorgeous dame of fashion, the loud

undaunted woman of the world, prismatic, brilliant, flaunt-

52 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

ing, glowing with a colour which, though decidedly " fast,"

will no more endure soft water than certain of our brightest

" bedders " will endure a drenching rain — she, I say, may
bewilder the dazzled eye, and captivate the weaker world ;

but to the fresh, pure, gentle girl, whose blushes cannot

be bought in Bond Street — to her be given St Medard's

wreath,* for she only wins the wise man's heart.

And the Rose, as it is admired, so may it be grown by all.

3. Ab ovinihits. — Loved by all grades and ages, from the

little village child who wreathes it from the hedgerow in his

sister's hair, to the princess who holds it in her gemmed

boiiquetier, so it may be alike enjoyed in the labourer's

garden or in the conservatory of the peer. Wherever it is

loved, there will it display its beauty ; and the best Cloth-
of-Gold I ever saw was on a cottager's wall. It is adapted
for every position, and for every pocket too. The poorest

may get his own Briers, and beg a few buds from the
rich ; and men of moderate means may make or maintain
a Rosary at a very moderate expense. There is nothing
in floriculture to be purchased and perpetuated so cheaply

* In the sixth century, St Medard instituted the custom of giving a wreath

of white roses as an annual prize to the most modest and obedient of the maidens
at Salency.
 OUR QUEEN OF BEAUTY. 53

as a garden of Roses. You may lay the foundation for a

£^ note; and then, by budding and by striking cuttings

from your own trees, and by an annual selection of a few

additional and valuable varieties, may in two or three
seasons possess a beautiful Rosarium.

I will now endeavour to tell, practically and minutely,

how this may be done.
 ;

CHAPTER IV.

POSITION.

Where, is now our question, shall the Rosary be ? In

what part of our garden shall we find the best situation, the

most worthy site for a royal throne ? Some, indeed, have

treated our Queen more as a menial than as a monarch
they have sent her Majesty by lobbies and back-stairs into
dismal chambers which look down on bottle-racks, and to

attics where, through clattering casement, the wintry winds

blow chill. And this when they should have uncovered

their drawing-room damask, and thoroughly aired their

best bed.

Some, having heard that a free circulation of air and

abundance of sunshine are essential elements of success,

select a spot which would be excellent for a windmill, ob-

servatory, beacon, or Martello tower ; and there the poor

Rose-trees stand, or, more accurately speaking, wobble,
 POSITION. 55

with their leaves, like King Lear's silver locks, rudely

blown and drenched by the "to-and-fro contending wind

and rain." I have seen a garden of Roses — I mean a col-

lection of Roseless-trees — in front of a " noble mansion,

proudly placed upon a commanding eminence," where, if

you called upon a gusty day, the wind blew the powder
from the footman's hair as soon as he had opened the front

door, and other doors within volleyed and thundered a feu

de joie in honour of the coming guest.
Others, who had been told that the Rose loves shelter,

peace, repose, have found "such a dear snug little spot,"

not only surrounded by dense evergreen shrubs, but over-

shadowed by giant trees. Rest is there, assuredly — rest

for the Rose, when its harassed life is past, when it has

nothing more for disease to prey upon, no buds for the

caterpillar, no foliage for the aphis —the rest of a mausol-

eum ! I was taken not long ago to a cemetery of this de-

scription, which had been recently laid out ; and there was
such a confident expectation of praise in the pretty face of

the lady who took me, that I was sorely puzzled how to

express my feelings. I wished to be kind, I wished to be

truthful ; and the result was some such a dubious compli-
ment as the sultan paid to the French pianist. The French-
56 •
A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

man, you may remember, was a muscular artist, more re-

markable for power than pathos ; and he went at the in-

strument, and shook and worried it as a terrier goes in at

rats. His exertions were sudorific ; and when he finished

the struggle, with beads on his brow, the sultan told him,
" that although he had heard the most renowned performers

of the age, he had never met one who — perspired so

freely!" Nor could I, with my heart as full of charity's

milk as a Cheshire dairy of the cow's, think of any higher

praise of the plot before me than that it Avas an admir-

able place for ferns ; and therefore, when my commentary

was received with an expressive smile of genteel disgust, as

though I had suggested that the allotment in question was

the site of all others for a jail, or had said, as Carlyle said

of the Royal Garden at Potsdam, that " it was one of the

finest Fog-preserves in Europe," then, without further pre-

varications, I told the truth. And the truth is, that this

boundless contiguity of shade is fatal, and every overhang-

ing tree is fatal as an upas-tree, to the Rose. As Ireland

has been said to be too near a great country ever to achieve

greatness for itself (I do not myself attribute its humidity

or its indolence, its famines or its Fenianism, to the vicinity

of England) ; so the Rose, in close proximity to a forest-

 ;

POSITION. 57

tree, can never hope to thrive. In a twofold sense it takes

umbrage ; robbed above and robbed below, robbed by

branches of sunshine and by roots of soil, it sickens, droops,

and dies. A Rose under trees can no more flourish than a

deer can get a good " head " who never leaves the forest for

the moor.

These regicides were none the less correctly told —both

those who kill by suffocation, and those who starve our
Queen to death —that the Rose must have a free circula-

tion of air, and likewise repose and rest. The directions

may seem to be incongruous, but they can be, and must

be, followed. The Rosarium must be both exposed and
sheltered ; a place both of sunshine and of shade. The
centre must be clear and open, around it the protecting

screen. It must be a fold wherein the sun shines warmly

on the sheep, and the wind is tempered to the shorn lamb
a haven in which the soft breeze flutters the sail, but over

which the tempest roars, and against whose piers the billow

hurls itself in vain.

And this may, I think, be taken consequently as a golden

rule in the formation of a Rose-garden : so arrange it that

a large proportion of your trees may have the sunshine on

them from its rise to the meridian, and after that time be in
58 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

shadow and In repose. To effect this, the garden must ex-

tend In longitude from north to south rather than from east

to west — the form being oblong or semicircular. The

western wall or fence should be high, from 8 to lo feet ; the

northern tall and dense, but not necessarily so high as the

western ; the eastern such as will keep out cold, cutting

winds, but not one ray of sunshine — say 5 feet. To the

south the Rosary may be open ; but even here, so hurtful

is a rough wind which occasionally blows from this quarter,

I prefer some slight protective screen, such as a low bank

or a bed of Rhododendrons.

Of what material should we make the higher boundary

fences ? This is a question of time and of outlay. Walls

are built at once, and are soon beautifully covered with

Noisette and other climbing Roses ; but evergreen hedges

of Yew, Holly, American Arborvltae, Berberis, Privet, and

Hornbeam, are an admirable contrast to the glowing

colours of the Rose, and introduce the air, subdued and
softened, like respirators, into the Rosarium. But why not
hedges of the Rose itself.^ Might we not have hedges of
the common Brier, and bud them with our choicest

varieties ? Might we not make hedges of the Ayrshire,

Sempervlrens, Boursault, and Sweetbrier Rose } " I have
 POSITION. 59

had a hedge of Rosa villosa these twenty years," writes

Mr Robertson, a nurseryman at Kilkenny, in 1834, "about
8 or 10 feet high, which is a sheet of bloom every May, and
throughout the rest of the season flowers with the Bour-
sault. Noisette, Hybrid China, and other Roses which are
budded on it." ''At the Isle of Bourbon," writes Mr
Rivers, quoting Monsieur Breon, in the Rose Amateurs'

Gtnde^ " the inhabitants generally enclose their land with

hedges made of two rows of Roses — one row of the com-

mon China Rose, the other of the Red Four Seasons."

And in the Gardeners Chronicle of June 19, 1869, we have

the description of a hedge of Roses, grown at Digswell,

Hertfordshire, 280 feet in length.

Catullus, in one beautiful line, describes the benign and

gracious influences which we should seek to obtain for the

Rose. He writes of a flower,

" Quem mulcent aurge, finnat sol, educit imber,"

to which the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself,

bringing the complexion of beauty, but not visiting the

* Rose Amateurs' Guide. Referring to this excellent manual for the first

time, I wish to say, once for all, that it has made more Rose-growers, and
done more for the improvement of Rosaries, than any other book or books in

existence.
 ;

6o A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

cheek too roughly, which the sun strengthens but does not

scorch, which the shower refreshes but the tempest spares.

Such a genial home we must find, or make, for our Roses,

wherein we may see them in a serene and placid loveliness,

what time their unprotected sisters are withering beneath

burning suns, and may admire their ample and glossy
foliage when, in exposed and unfenced ground, the furious
wind seems almost to blow out the very sap from the shim-
mering shivering leaves. Transitory, almost ephemeral, is

"a Rose's brief bright life of joy,"

TO podop uKfJid^eL fiaiou xpot^ov

and there comes a broiling day towards the end of June,

when the Rose, unshaded, is burnt to tinder, and the petals

of that magnificent Charles Lefebvre, which was intended

for next day's show, crumble as we touch, and are as the

parsley which accompanies the hot rissole. Or there comes

a gusty day, and lo ! that lovely bloom of Cecile de
Chabrillant, perfect just now in tint and symmetry, is

chafed, discoloured, deformed, for want of a guardian

screen. I know that in the one case something may be

done by the use of those fiorumbras and metallic hats of
which I shall have more to say when I speak of Roses for
 POSITION. 6l

exhibition — and that in the other, strong stakes, secure

tying, and low stature will do much to save ; but in both

instances a natural shelter and a natural shade are far more
reliable aids — far more conducive to the beauty and en-
durance of the Rose.
" Cease firing," I hear it said ;
" you are shooting over
your target and wasting powder and ball. You are talking

of walls and hedges and banks — of crescents and parallelo-

grams, as though all your readers had the wealth and the
acres of Lord Carabbas. You are sermonising above your

congregation —at all events enjoining precepts which they

are unable to perform. You are writing for the few, and
not, as you promised, for the many." But this, I must
plead, is as unjust an accusation of exclusiveness as was
brought against a clerical neighbour and friend of mine, a

good and gentle pastor, by one of his flock, on this wise.

He had been preaching, he told me, a simple discourse on

the duties and privileges of a Churchman, and he was leav-

ing the church after his people, when an old man, not aware

of his proximity, turned to another veteran, as they hobbled

out of the porch together, and said, "Well, Tommy, my

lad, thou sees there's no salvation for nobbody but him and

a few partickler friends !

" He had preached, nevertheless,
62 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

as I would fain write, without respecting persons, the truth

for all. If I have any special sympathy, it is certainly with

the poorer portion of our brotherhood ; and as I have

passed through all the grades of Rose-growing, commencing

with a dozen only (nay, I well remember the Rose which
first won my allegiance, D'Aguesseau Gallica, as a man
remembers the first love-smile of his heart's queen), and

gradually increased to my present maximum of 3000

(maximum, do I say ? trop 11 est pas asscz ; and if I had
Nottinghamshire full of Roses, I should desire Derbyshire

for a budding-ground), I can identify myself with Rose-

growers of all denominations, and with Rose-gardens of

every shape and size.

And the directions which I have offered apply equally to

the small as to the larger Rosary — expose to the morning's

sunshine, protect from cutting wind. Give the best place in

your garden to the flower which deserves it most. In the

smallest plot, you may make, if you do not find, such a site

as I have described. You will make it if you are in earnest.

I have seen old boards, old staves (reminding one of the

time when the Bordeaux casks made fences commonly in

English gardens), old sacking, torn old tarpaulins —yes,

once an old black serge petticoat — set up by the poor to
 POSITION. 6^

protect the Rose ; and there I have ever seen her smiling
upon Love, however mean its offering, and rewarding its

untiring service.

For the flirt, for the faint-hearted, for the coxcomb, who
thinks that upon his first sentimental sigh she will rush into

his arms and weep, she has nothing but sublime disdain.

Of this, and before I speak upon Soil, let me submit an

illustration.

Not many summers since, three individuals, of whom I

was one, were conversing in a country home. One of my

companions was about to succeed the other as tenant of the
house in which we were met, and was making anxious in-

quiry about the garden in general, and concerning Roses in

particular. " Oh !
" said our host, " the place is much too
exposed for Roses. No man in the world is fonder of them

than I am, and I have tried all means, and spared no ex-
pense ;
but it is simply hopeless." " Must have Roses,''

was the quiet commentary of the new-comer ; and two

years afterwards I met him at the local flower-show, the

winner of a first prize for twelve. " My predecessor," he

said, " was no more the enthusiast which he professed to be

about Roses, than that Quaker was an enthusiastic alms-

giver who had felt so much for his afflicted friend but had
64 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

not felt in his pocket. The pleasure-grounds, It is true, are

too bleak for prize blooms, but in the large, half-cultivated

kitchen-garden, I found the most delightful corner, with an

eastern aspect ;
put in one hundred Briers ; budded them
last summer ; manured them abundantly this ; and am
now, between ourselves, and sub rosd, in such a bumptious

condition, that you'd think I'd made the Roses myself"

There is, alas ! one locality, beneath that dark canopy of

smoke which hangs over and around our large cities and
manufacturing towns, wherein it is not possible to grow the

Rose in its glory ;

and many a time as I have stood in the

pure air and sunshine among my own beautiful flowers, I

have felt a most true and sorrowful sympathy for those

who, loving the Rose as fondly as I do, are unable to

realise its perfect beauty. Well, no man can have his earthly

happiness just in the way he wills ; but every man, as a rule,

has his equal share, and these men, I doubt not, have other
successes as solace and compensation. Nay, are not their

Roses, which we, more favoured, should regard as disap-

pointments, successes to them, great and gratifying t If

Mr Shirley Hibberd, for example, whose "i^^j^^ Book''' I

commend to urban and oppidan amateurs, can grow good

Roses within four miles of the General Post-Office —and I

 POSITION. 65

have seen the proofs of his skill and perseverance at one of

the great London Rose-shows, to my high surprise and

delectation — it is quite certain that he would be milli

seamdtis with the full advantage of situation and soil. Nor
do I hesitate to say that the collection to which I refer,

necessarily less perfect than those around it in colour and

in size, seemed to me the most honourable of all.

What can I offer, besides the hand of friendship and the

praise of an old Rosarian, to these brave brethren of the

Rose } I subjoin for them a list of those varieties which

are, in my opinion, most likely to repay their anxious care.

Let them be planted in the best place and in the best soil

available, avoiding drip and roots. Let them be manured

in the winter and mulched in the spring. In the summer
months let them be well watered below and ivell syringed

above two or three times a-week. Let grubs and aphides be

removed, and sulphur, or soot, or soap-and-water, applied

as soon as mildew shows itself

66 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

List of Roses for Suburban Gardens,

For JVal/s. —Gloire de Dijon, Solfa- minot, Jean Goujon, Jules Margottin,

terre, the Ayrshire, Sempervirens, La Reine, La Ville de St Denis, Leo-

and Boursault Roses — the latter pold I.Madame Boll, Madame Bou-
,

three where a large space is to be tin, Madame Clemence Joigneaux,

covered. Madame Victor Verdier, Marechal
OfSujnmer Roses. —The C ommon Moss, Vaillant, INIarie Beauman, Madame

the Common Provence or Cabbage ;

Charles Wood, Marguerite de St

La Ville de Bmxelles and INIadame Amand, PieiTc Notting, Senateur

Hardy, Damasks ; Boula de Nan- Vaisse, Hybrid Perpetuals ; Armosa,

teuil and Kean, Gallicas ; Brennus Queen, and Souvenir de la Mal-
and Blairii2,* Hybrid Chinas ;
maison, Bourbons ; Aimee Vibert
Charles Lawson* and Paul Perras, and Grandiflora, Noisettes ; Mrs
Hybrid Bourbons. Bosanquet, China ; and Climbing,
Of Autumnal Roses. —Auguste Mie, Devoniensis, Gloire de Dijon,f
Baronne Prevost, Charles Lefebvre, Sombreuil, and Souvenir d'un Ami,
Empereur de Maroc (on Manetti), Teas.

Comte de Nanteuil, General Jacque-

* Blairii 2 and Charles Lawson must not be too shortly pruned. Cut out
the weakly wood, and leave 8 or lo " eyes " on the vigorous branches.
+ I name this Rose again, because it should be planted not only against a
wall, but in the garden.
 CHAPTER V.

SOILS.

" What a constitution must that air and soil of Hereford-

shire give the Rose !

" So wrote Dr Lindley, praising the
beautiful blooms which Mr Cranston brought from the

King's Acre, by Hereford city, to the first grand National

Rose-show. And we aliens read with envy. Rivers, and

the Pauls, and Lane, and Francis, gazed sorrowfully a while

on the / in Hertfordshire ; from Sussex, so it seemed to

Messrs Wood and Mitchell, all success had fled ;

" So much
for Buckingham," sighed Mr Turner from the Slough of his

deep despair ; in Wiltshire, even Keynes, the stout-hearted,

looked ruefully for a moment on his fair garden as though

it had been Salisbury Plain ; in Essex, Mr Cant of Col-

chester was mute as one of its oysters ; and as these great
leaders of Queen Rosa's armies were seized with a brief

despair, we privates and non-commissioned officers were not

what we should have been with regard to knees, and felt a

 !

08 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

sudden conviction that the time had come when we ought

to retire from the service. That gust, which caused the

light to flicker in our grand chandehers and lamps, all but

blew out for ever our rushlights and farthing dips.

It was but a gust and a surprise. " It was a moment's

fantasy, and as such it has passed." Those generals, whose
eyes blinked for a second as they read of the superior powers

of Hereford, have since won glorious victories, each for his

shire. Cheshunt and Colchester, Salisbury and Slough,

again and again have gained the pride of place ; and not
until 1867 did the victor of 1858 resume his championship

among the chiefs. Enough, surely, for one man's ambition,

twice in a decade to achieve such a conquest

There are no duties upon sunshine, there are no mono-

polies in air ; and there are thousands of acres, both sides

the Border, as genial for the Rose as the King's by Here-

ford — nurseries and gardens in every part of Victoria's

realm, from which Mr Cranston, or any other man, with his

fondness for the flower and persevering skill in its culture,

may grow it in all its glory.

But idleness and ignorance will not believe it. Dwelling

in a land of Roses, in a land where the w^oods and lanes

and hedges are clothed at summertide with Roses, they pre-

 SOILS. 69

fer the stolid conviction that the stars in their courses fight

against them, that meteorology and geology are their bitter

foes. Look over your garden-wall with a beautiful Rose in

your coat, and your neighbour, loitering with his hands in

his pockets, knee-deep in groundsel, amid his beds un-

drained, undug, will sigh from the depths of his divine

despair, *'
What a soil yours is for the Rose !
" Some of

my own friends talk to me regularly as the summer comes,

not as though I had any special fondness or took any special
pains, but as if my garden would grow excellent Roses

whether I liked it or no. At first, and as a neophyte, I

used to feel a little irritation when all the glory was given

to the ground ; and I remember upon one occasion that I

could not refrain from informing a gentleman, who bored

me with the old unchanging commentary, that wild Rose-

trees transplanted from the hedgerow to my garden in the

autumn grew flowers large enough for exhibition the next

summer but one. It was the simple fact concerning budded

Briers, but he took away the inference, which I blush to

own was meant for him, that the transformation was effected

by the soil solely ; and he was very angry, I heard after-

wards, when his views on the subject were not universally

accepted by a large dinner-party in his own house.
 —

70 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

How often has it been said to me, '*

Oh, what a garden is

yours for Roses ! We have a few nice flowers, but of course

we can't compete with you. Old Mr Drone, our gardener,

tells us that he never saw such a soil as yours, nor so bad a
soil as ours, for Roses." And herein is a fact in horticulture

— Mr Drone always has a bad soil. An inferior gardener,

whether his inferiority is caused by want of knowledge or

want of industry (the latter as a rule), is always snarling at

his soil. Whatever fails, flowers, fruits, or vegetables,

shrubs or trees, the fault rests ever with the soil. Hearing
some of these malcontents declaim, you would almost con-
clude that a tree, planted over night, would be discovered

next morning prostrate over the wall upon its back, elimi-

nated by the soil in disgust. Only by superhuman efibrts,

they will assure you, combined with extraordinary talent,

can anything be induced to grow but weeds. The place

might be, like Hood's Haunted House,

Under some
*
' prodigious ban
Of excommunication "

a place from which Jupiter had warned Phoebus and

Zephyrus, and Pomona and Flora, on pain of hot thunder-

bolts. They come there, of course, from a spirit of dis-

obedience, but only on the sly, and seldom. The old, old
 "

SOILS. 71

story —the muff, coming from his wicket with a second

cipher, and blaming the uneven ground, the ball which

" broke in " with a wild defiance of every natural law, and

baffled all that science knew ; the bad shot, whose ''
beast

of a gun " is always on half-cock when the rare woodcock

comes, and on whose eyes the sun sheds ever his extra-

dazzling rays ; the bad rider, who ''

never gets a start

(nor wants one), and whose fractious horse " won't go near
the brook" at the very crisis of the run.

The good gardener, on the contrary, the man whose heart

is in his work, makes the most of his means, instead of

wasting his time in useless lamentations. He knows that

this world is no longer Eden, and that only by sweat of

brow and brain can he bring flower or fruit to perfection.
''
Let me dig about it and dung it," he says of the sterile

tree ; knowing, as it was known when the words were

spoken, more than eighteen hundred years ago, that to

prune and to feed the roots is to reclaim and to restore,

wherever there is hope of restoration.*

* The occasional lifting and tap-root pruning of standard Rose-trees is

beneficial, as a rule ; but exceptions should be made, when the growth of stock,
scion, and flower is vigorous, upon the excellent principle of letting well
alone.
72 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

No long time ago, and while the judges at a flower-show

were making their awards, I strolled with two other exhi-

bitors, gardeners, into a small nursery -ground, not far

distant. My companions were strangers to me, but still

more strange to each other, for they seemed to differ in

all points, as much as two men having the same vocation

could. The one was of a cheerful countenance and con-

versation, ruddy with health, lithe and elastic as a hunter

in condition ; the other ponderous, morose, flabby — com-

plexion, gamboge and green. Not knowing their real

appellations, I named them in my own mind, Doleful and

Gaylad, after two foxhounds of my acquaintance. Doleful

soon found the fox he wanted, — something to decry and

depreciate ; and he gave tongue with a deep melancholy
howl, which might have been the last sad wail of poor

Gelert. Gaylad simultaneously, but in an opposite direc-

tion, went away with Jiis fox, —something to admire and
praise ; but his tone was full of mirth and music, and he

seemed thoroughly to enjoy the sport. Doleful had just

growled to me in confidence that he " wouldn't have the

place as a gift," when Gaylad pronounced it ''a jolly little

spot," and told the occupier, who was hard at work, that

his nursery did him credit. I found out, as we returned,

 "

SOILS. 73

that these two men were competitors in the same class ;

and I found, as I anticipated, on entering the show, that

Gaylad was first and Doleful nowhere. Subsequently, at

the dinner, and as I again expected, Mr Doleful informed

us that his defeat was to be attributed entirely to the

wretched nature of his soil ; a remark which was received

with a graceful silence by the company in general, and by

Mr Gaylad in particular with a festive wink.

Some soils, we all know, are naturally more beneficent

than others, but gardening is an art ; its primary business

" To study culture, and with artful toil

To meliorate and tame the stubborn soil;"

and its success certain, wherever this aira colendi is under-

taken by working heads and hands. I know of only one

soil in which the attempt to grow grand Roses would be

hopeless — a case of " Patience sitting by the pool of Des-

pondency and angling for impossibilities," with never a

nibble —and that is the light barren sand called " drift

and " blowaway," of which the clay farmer said derisively

that it might be ploughed with a Dorking cock and a carv-
ing-knife ! Mud, we are told in Mortimer's Husbandry, ,

makes an extraordinary manure for land that is sandy.

74 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

but this gritty rubbish demoralises whatever comes. You

may expel nature with a muck-fork on Monday, but on

Tuesday morning she will be back, and grinning.

This exception, however, only proves the rule, that dif-

ficulties must yield to cultivation, and to free-trade in soil.

This is, no doubt, a matter of Radical Reform {i^adix,

genitive radicis, a root), but the Conservatories have taken

a decided lead in it. The growers of stove and greenhouse

plants collect their material from all quarters ; from India,

the fibres of the cocoa-nut ; their sand from Reigate ; their

peat from Seven-Oaks ; their leaf-mould, their Sphagnum

and other mosses, from forest and bog ; their top-spits from
the rich old pasture ; their manures, natural and artificial,

from Peru to the farmyard. They stand in their potting-

sheds surrounded by these varied articles of home and

foreign produce, even as the men of Gunter among the rich

ingredients of the matrimonial cake. Regard, too, the per-

fect drainage provided for these plants ; no chronic satura-

tion, dangerous to life, as all dropsies are ; no perpetual
conflict between air and water, but each exercising its

function in peace. And yet many a man, who knows all

this, and practises it within doors, stands helpless and

hopeless on the soil without. I have walked out of houses

 SOILS. 75

where Orchids and stove plants, and even those hard-

wooded inmates of the greenhouse which so thoroughly

test the plantsman's skill — those Ericas, for example,

which come indeed from the Cape of Good Hope, but

too often bring dark despair —were all in admirable con-

dition, and have been told, as I stood upon soil the facsimile

of my own, and better, " We can't grow Roses." There is

only one reply, — "You won't."

Because I know that Roses may be grown to perfection

in the ordinary garden soil, if they have such a position as

I have described in the preceding chapter, and if that soil

is cultivated — I don't mean occasionally tickled with a rake,

or sprinkled with manure from a pepper-box, but thoroughly

drained, and dug, and dunged. I am not theorising, nor

playing the game of speculation with my readers — not

writing from a fertile soil, regardless of the difficulties of

others, like the Irish absentee, who, dating from his cosy
club in London, thus addressed his agent in a dangerous,

disaffected district
—" Don't let them think that, by shoot-
ing you, they will at all intimidate me;" but I have
proved that which I preach in practice. Upon two soils

as different from each other as soils can be, though only

separated by a narrow stream, I have grown Roses which

 "

yd A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

have won the premier prizes at our chief " All-England

shows. On one side of the brook the ground is naturally

a strong, red, tenacious clay ; on the other, a very light,

weak, porous loam, with a marly subsoil.

The first thing to do with a cold adhesive clay is to drain

it, and to drain it well. When water stagnates around the

roots of a plant, they cannot receive the air or the warmth

which are alike essential to their health, nay life. Cut your
drains, with a good fall, straight, and 4 feet deep ; and do
not forget, when you have made them, to look from time
to time, in seasons of wet, whether or no they are doing
their duty. Use tiles, not fagots, which soon, in most cases,

become non-conductors.
Having provided channels of escape for the superabun-

dant moisture, make it as easy as you can, in the next

place, for the moisture to reach them. Trench your

ground, and, by exposing it to atmospheric influence, make
it as porous and friable as you can. Then consider what

additions you may introduce to its improvement. "Any-

thing," writes Morton, in his work upon the Nature and
Property of Soils, ''which will produce permanent friability

in clay soils — such as sand, lime, burnt clay, loose light

vegetable matter, or long unfermented manure —will alter

 SOILS. 77

its texture and improve its quality." Of these, having tried

them fairly, I have found that which is happily the closest

to our hand (like a thousand other privileges and blessings,

had we but eyes to see them) to be the most advantageous

— I mean burnt clay. Some of our modern writers and
lecturers speak of it as of a recent discovery ; but the

Romans knew it, and used incinerated soils two thousand

years before Sir Humphry Davy wrote, — "The process of
burning renders the soil less compact, less tenacious and
retentive of moisture ; and, properly applied, may convert a

matter that was stiff, damp, and in consequence cold, into

one powdery, dry, and warm, and much more proper as a

bed for vegetable life." Let those Rosarians, therefore, who
have heavy tenacious soils, having first tapped their drop-

sical patients by drain and trench, promote their con-

valescence by a combination of ancient and modern,

external and internal, pharmacy ; let them unite the old

custom of cautery, as they burn their clay, with the new

precepts of homoeopathy, similia similibiis citi'antm\ And
with this object let them save everything, as we were wont
to do in our school-days when the Festival of Fawkes drew
nigh, for a bonfire. Keep the prunings of your Rosary,

that new Roses, like the Phoenix, may spring from the
 — —

78 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

funeral-pyre ;
preserve all other prunlngs, decayed vege-

tables, haulm, roots, refuse, rubbish, weeds,

" Since nought so vile, that on the earth doth live,

But to the earth some special good doth give,"

and when you have a goodly oinniiun gatJierum, make

ready your furnace. Arrange your thorns and more in-

flammable material as a base, then an admixture of more

solid fuel from your stores, lightening and condensing alter-

nately, and in the centre disposing some large pikes dc

resistance, such as old tree-stumps, useless pieces of rotting

timber, and the like, which, once fairly on fire, will go

smouldering on for a fortnight. On this heap, well kindled,

and around it, place your clay, renewing it continually as

the fire breaks through. The pile must be watched so that

the flames may be thus constantly suppressed, the clay

burnt gradually, and not charred to brickdust. " The ashes

of burnt soil are said to be best," writes Morton, "when
they are blackest ; black ashes are produced by slow com-

bustion, and red ashes by a strong fire." Mix these ashes

with the parent soil, and then there remains, so far as the

soil is concerned, but one addition to be made, and of this

we will treat presently.

First crossing, if you please, the little bridge which

 SOILS. 79

divides my Rose-gardens, and passing over the narrow

streamlet, from a cold clay soil, fertilised by cultivation, to

a light, porous, feeble loam, best described by a labourer

digging it, when he said, " it had no more natur In it than

work'us soup." Nor was it ever my Intention to try Roses

in this meagre material, until a friend happened one day to

say of It, " No man In England could grow Roses there.''

Then, fired by a noble ambition, or pig-headed perverse-

ness, whichever you please, I resolved to make the experi-

ment. I took a spade as soon as he was gone, for a happy

thought had struck me that this soil might resemble that

boy-beloved confection. Trifle, which, thin, frothy, and

tasteless in the upper stratum, has below a delicious sub-
soil of tipsy-cake and jam. So I found out in my garden,

not far from the surface, a dark, fat, greasy marl, rich as the

nuptial almond-paste, and looking as though the rain had

Avashed into It all the goodness of the upper ground. The
lean and the fat, the froth and the preserves, were soon

mixed for me by the spade aforesaid ; and In this soil,

trenched and exposed to the air for a few weeks afterwards,

I planted my Briers. Then followed the manure, of which

I have yet to speak, and in due course the Roses. These

in their first summer, 1865 (I do not chronicle my success
8o A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

from egotism, but as facts for the encouragement of others),

won the two first prizes at Birmingham, and two seconds

at the Crystal Palace, with very little assistance from their

allies over the water ; and in 1868, from "maiden" stocks

— i.e., from Briers budded in 1867 — I won fourteen first

prizes out of sixteen collections shown, including that which

I consider the champion prize of all, the first awarded to

amateurs at the Grand National Show of the Royal Horti-

cultural Society.

In this case, as with the heavy clay, the remedy lay close

to the disease ; and in very many similar cases it will be

found that, by intermixing the stronger and more tenacious

subsoil with the surface, fertility may be secured. If not in

actual proximity, the element required for a defective soil

— clay, for example, when sand predominates — may be

procured generally at no great distance, and may "be

fetched in a waggon or a wheelbarrow,* in accordance with

ways and means. Let Horticulture in this matter learn a

lesson from her younger sister ; and let the gardener who

* In this present summer (1870) a gardener remarked to a friend of mine,

who had won a first prize for Roses at Newark, " I believe, sir, that you have
got the only garden in all Lincolnshire which could grow such blooms."
" And I brought it there," my friend responded, " in a wheelbarrow.''^
 ; 1

SOILS. 8

is whimpering over his rood of unkindly soil remember

what the farmer has done and is doing, the wide world

over, amid the forest and the fen. And such pusillanimity

is specially comic in the case of a Scotsman or Englishman,

who is surrounded by a thousand proofs of triumphant

cultural skill ; who may walk, from dawn to dusk, among
golden corn, where once the antlered monarch spent his
life, unscared by hound or arrow ; among flocks and herds,
knee-deep in herbage, where fifty years ago the blackcock

crowed amid the purple heather, where

" The coot was swimming in the reedy pond,
Beside the water-hen, so soon affrighted
And where, by whispering sedge, the heron, fond
Of solitude, alighted."

" Richard," thus I spoke to the indolent and obese pro-

prietor of a small freehold in my neighbourhood, who was

complaining to me that his garden, about as highly culti-

vated as Mariana's at the Moated Grange, was viciously

and desperately incapable of producing anything but

" docks " — " Richard, your forefathers have helped to re-

claim the greater part of Sherwood Forest, while their

neighbours were draining the Lincoln fens ; and I should

almost have hoped, taking into account the discoveries of

modern science, that you might, in a favourable season,

82 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

have educed a few potatoes even from the depraved mate-

rial before us." But he didn't seem to see it.

Wherefore I would ask to narrate, in antithesis, and to

take away, as it were, a nauseous flavour — the like fig

which followed the castor-oil of our youth — another small

incident. The " navvy " is not commonly a man of floral

proclivities, but I met with a grand exception a few years

ago in the leader of a gang then working upon one of our

midland lines. When the work was done, and the band
dispersed, he applied for and obtained a gatehouse on the
rail, and to that tenement was attached the meanest
apology for a garden which I ever saw in my life. Know-
ing his love of flowers, I condoled with him at the beginning
of his tenancy; but he only responded with a significant

grunt, and a look at the garden, as though it were a foot-

ball and he was going to kick it over the railway. It

seemed to me a gravel-bed, and nothing more. Twelve

months after I came near the place again —was it a mirage

which I saw on the sandy desert t There were vegetables,

fruit-bushes, and fruit-trees, all in vigorous health ; there

were flowers, and the flower-queen in her beauty. " Why,

Will," I exclaimed, "what have you done to the gravel-

bed }
" " Lor' bless yer," he replied, grinning, " I hadn't
 SOILS. Ss

been here a fortnight afore I szvopped it for a pond !'' He

had, as a further explanation informed me, and after an

agreement with a neighbouring farmer, removed with pick

and barrow his sandy stratum to the depth of 3 feet,

wheeled it to the banks of an old pond, or rather to the

margin of a cavity where a pond once was, but which had
been gradually filled up with leaves and silt ; and this rich

productive mould he had brought home, a distance of 200

yards, replacing it with the gravel, and levelling as per con-

tract. Some other neighbour had given him a cartload of

clay, and the children had " scratted together a nicst bit o'

muck, and he meant stirring up them cottagers at next

show with Roses and kidneys too."

It occurred to me, as I rode home reflecting, that there

was a striking similarity in this case, as in many others,

between the gardener and his ground ; for Will had been

at one time a drinking, poaching, quarrelsome " shack," and

was now a good husband, a good father, and, I believe, a

good Christian ; — the gravel had been converted into loam.

And is there not much resemblance between ourselves and

our soils— the soil without, and that soil within which the

Psalmist calls " the ground of the heart " t No two char-

acters, and no two gardens, exactly alike, but all with the
84 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

same natural propensity to send up wild oats and weeds,

and to send their tap-roots downwards ; all requiring con-

tinuous culture, training, and watchful care ; all dependent,

when man has done his best, upon the sunshine and rains of

heaven. " Soils," writes Loudon, " not kept friable by

cultivation, soon become hardened ;" and so do hearts. But
from ourselves, as from our soils, we may eject the evil,

introducing the good in its place ; we may grow Roses

instead of weeds, if we will. " Upon the same man," writes

Richter, who was a florist as well as a philosopher, and

seldom appeared in the streets of Bayreuth without a
flower in his coat, "as upon a vine-planted mount, there
grow more kinds of wine than one : on the south side some-
thing little worse than nectar, on the north side something
little better than vinegar." But we may level the hill by
humbling our pride, and so lay open the whole vineyard
before the summer sun.

I pass now to the consideration of a subject which I

believe to be the most important of all to those who desire

to grow Roses in perfection.

 CHAPTER VI.

MANURES.

I OPENED noiselessly the other morning, that I might enjoy

a father's gladness, the door of a room in which my little

boy, "six off," was at his play. He was evidently enter-

taining an illustrious visitor, a beloved and honoured guest.

The table, surrounded by every available chair, with a fire-

screen for the front-door, and a music-stool, inverted atop

to represent the main stack of chimneys, was transformed

into a palace of art. The banquet had just commenced, and
the courteous host was recommending to his distinguished

guest (a very large and handsome black retriever, by name

"Colonel") the viands before him. These viands, upon a
cursory glance through the chair-legs, did not strike me as

of an appetising or digestible character — the two pieces de

resistance consisting of a leg-rest and a small coal-scuttle,

and the side dishes being specimens of the first Atlantic

86 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Telegraph Cable, presented to me by Sir Charles Bright,

with a selection of exploded cartridges, sea-shells, ninepins,

and keys. In the vivid imagination of childhood, notwith-

standing, they represented all the luxuries dearest to the

palate of youth ;
and if the Colonel, who, by the by, was in

full uniform, made from the supplement of the Times news-

paper, and was dccore with the Order of the String and

Penwiper, had partaken of a tithe of the delicacies pressed

on him, and according to the order In which they were

served, there must have been inevitably speedy promotion
in his regiment. The entertainment commenced with
cheese, passed on to hasty-pudding and beer, which was
followed in rapid succession by peaches, beef, roley-poley,

hare, more hasty-pudding, honey, apricots, boiled rabbits,

&c. " And, now. Colonel, dear," were the last words I

heard, " you shall have some custard and pine-apple, and

then we'll smoke a cigar."*

* I cannot resist an impulse to record another small incident which oc-

cm"red to "Colonel" soon after the publication of this book. Late one
winter's night, Joe, my footman, heard him growling angrily outside the
stable-yard, and found him standing over the prostrate form of a man, or
rather beast, so drunk that he was muttering responses to the dog, evidently

under the impression that he was being severely reprimanded by some indig-
nant person in authority. " Well, si)-''^ (Joe heard him plead), '^ if I did say
"
so, Fin sure I didn't mean it !
 MANURES. 87

In like manner does the wee golden-haired lassie delight

to do homage to the queen of her little world, her doll,

watching her tenderly, and singing a lullaby which, regard-

ing the condition of those two immense blue eyes, appears

to be quite hopeless ; then decking her with every bit of

finery which she can beg from mammy or nurse, and

waiting upon her with a fond untiring service.

And even so did I, in the childhood of that life which is

always young — do not our hearts foreknow, my brothers, the

happy truth, which old men certify, that the love of flowers

is of those few earthly pleasures which age cannot wither ?

— even so did I, in

" My sallet days,

When I was green in judgment,"

essay, with an enthusiastic though ofttimes mistaken zeal,

to propitiate and to serve the Rose. And specially, as

with my little boy and his large idol, in the matter of food.

I tried to please her with a great diversity of diet. I made

anxious experiment of a multiplicity of manures — organic
and inorganic, animal and vegetable, cheap and costly
home and foreign. I laboured to discover her favourite

dish as earnestly as the alchymist to realise the Philoso-

pher's Stone ; but I differed from the alchymist, the

 /

8S A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Rosarian from the Rosicrucian, in one essential point —

found it!

Where ? Not down among the bones. I tried bones of

all denominations — bones in their integrity, bones crushed,

bones powdered, bones dissolved with sulphuric and

muriatic acid, as Liebig bade ; and I have a very high

admiration of the bone as a most sure and fertilising

manure. For agricultural purposes, for turnips, for grass

recently laid down, or for a starved exhausted pasture,

whereupon you may write your name with it ; and in horti-

culture, for the lighter soils, for the vine-border, for plants

(the Pelargonium especially), it is excellent ; but in the

Rosary, although a magniun (I feel in writing the pun like

the little boy who chalked " No Popery " on Dr Wiseman's

door, half ashamed of the deed, and desirous to run), it is

not the smnniuni bonmn of manures.

Nor up the chimney — though, for Roses on the Manetti

stock, and for Tea-Roses, soot is good manure, and useful

as a surface-dressing for hot, dry soils. Nor among the

autumn leaves, although these also, decayed to mould, are

very advantageous to the Teas, Noisettes, and Bourbons, and

to all Roses grown on their own roots. Sure and great is

their reviving power, which gives back to the ground, ac-

 MANURES. 89

cording to the gracious law of Providence, the strength

which was borrowed from it ; but not so great as that old

lady hoped, who, bringing home a mistaken impression,

after listening to a conversation between two gardeners

on the beneficial influence of leaf- mould on Tea-Roses,

collected for weeks the morning and evening remains of

the teapot, and applied them to her Rose-trees " to trans-

form them," as she told her acquaintance (and I am assured

of the fact by one of them), *'

into tea-scented Chinas next

summer."
Nor, crossing the seas, among those bird-islands of Peru,

Bolivia, Patagonia, in which — barren, rainless, and, as they

seemed to man, useless —the fish-fed fowls of the ocean

were accumulating for centuries a treasure - heap more

precious than gold — millions upon millions of tons of rich

manure, which has multiplied the food of nations through-

out the civilised world, and still remains in immense abund-
ance for us and generations after us. Guano, nevertheless,
is not tJie manure for Roses. Its influence is quickly and

prominently acknowledged by additional size and brightness

of foliage,* but the efflorescence, so far as my experiments

* The Rev. W. F. Radclyffe strongly recommends saltpetre and nitrophos-

phate (blood) manure, as imparting a deeper, richer green to foliage.
90 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

have shown, derives no advantage as to vigour or beauty ;

and even on the leaf the effect is transitory.

Nor in the guano of animal implume —not in the soil

called night. The Romans reverenced Cloacina, the

goddess of the sewers, and the statue which they found of

her in the great drains of Tarquinius was beautiful as

Venus's self; but they honoured her, doubtless, only as a

wise sanatory commissioner who removed their impurities

and, so doing, brought health to their heroes and loveliness

to their maidens. They only knew half her merits ; but in

Olympus, we may readily believe, there was fuller justice

done. Although weaker goddesses may have been unkind

— may have averted their divine noses when Cloacina

passed, and made ostentatious use of scent-bottle and

pocket-handkerchief — Flora, and Pomona, and Ceres would
ever admire her virtues, and beseech her benign influence

upon the garden, the orchard, and the farm. But the ter-

restrials never thought that fcex in'bis might be lux orbis,

and they polluted their rivers, as we ours, with that which

should have fertilised their lands. And we blame the

Romans very much indeed ; and we blame everbody else

very much indeed ; and we do hope the time will soon be

here when such a sinful waste will no longer disgrace an

 —

MANURES. 91

enlightened age ; but beyond the contribution of this oc-

casional homily, it is, of course, no affair of ours. Each

man assures his neighbour that the process of desiccation

is quite easy, and the art of deodorising almost nice ; but

nobody " goes in." The reader, I have no doubt, has with
me had large experience of this perversity in neighbours,

and ofttimes has been perplexed and pained by their

dogged strange reluctance to follow the very best advice.

There was at Cambridge, five-and-twenty years, an insolent,

foul-mouthed, pugnacious sweep, who escaped for two terms

the sublime licking which he ''annexed" finally, because no

one liked to tackle the soot. There were scores of under-

graduates, to whom pugilism was a thing of beauty and a

joy for ever, who had the power and the desire to punish

his impudence, but they thought of the close wrestle,

they reflected on the " hug," and left him. To drop

metaphor, there is no more valuable manure ; but it is,

from circumstances which require no explanation, more

suitable for the farm than the garden, especially as we have
a substitute, quite as efficacious, and far more convenient
and agreeable in use.

No, not " burnt earth." I spoke as earnestly as I could

of the value of that application in my last chapter (p. 77),

92 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

because it is impossible in many cases to exaggerate its

worth ; but I alluded at the same time to another indis-

pensable addition which must be made to the soil of a

Rose-garden, and now I will tell you what it is : I will tell

you where I found the Philosopher's Stone in the words of

that fable by ^sop, which is, I believe, the first of the

series, and which was first taught to me in the French

language, — ''
Un coq, grattant siir tin fiimier, troiivait par
hazard tine pierre precieiise ;'' or, as it is written in our

English version, " A brisk young cock, in company with

two or three pullets, his mistresses, raking upon a dung-

hill for something to entertain them with, happened to

scratch up a jewel." The little allegory is complete :

I was the brisk young cock, my favourite pullet was the

Rose, and in a heap of farmyard manure I found a trea-

sure.

Yes, here is the mine of gold and silver, gold medals and

silver cups for the grower of prize Roses ; and to all who
love them, the best diet for their health and beauty, the

most strengthening tonic for their weakness, and the surest

medicine for disease. " Dear me !

" exclaims some fastidious

reader, "what a nasty brute the man is! He seems quite

to. revel in refuse, and to dance on his dunghill with de-
 MANURES. 93

light!" The man owns to the soft Impeachment. If the

man had been a Roman emperor he would have erected

the most magnificent temple in honour of Sterculus, the

son of Faunus, that Rome ever saw. Because Sterculus,

the son of Faunus — so Pliny tells — discovered the art and

advantage of spreading dung upon the land ; and he should

have appeared in the edifice dedicated to him graven larger

than life in pure gold, riding proudly in his family chariot,

the citrrtis Stercicrosus {Anglice, muck-cart), with the agri-

cultural trident in his hand. As it is, I always think of

him with honour when I meet the vehicle in which he loved

to drive —have ever a smile of extra sweetness for the wide-

mouthed waddling charioteer, and am pained at heart to

find the precious commodity fallen, or, as they say in

Lancashire, " slattered," on the road. Ah ! but once, that

fastidious reader will be pleased to hear, the man brought

himself to sore shame and confusion by this wild passionate

affection. Returning on a summer's afternoon from a

parochial walk, I inferred from wheel-tracks on my car-

riage-drive that callers had been and gone. I expected

to find cards in the hall, and I saw that the horses had
kindly left theirs on the gravel. At that moment, one of
those
94 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

'*
Grim spirits in the air,

Who grin to see us mortals grieve,

And dance at our despair,"

fiendishly suggested to my mind an economical desire to

utilise the souvenir before me. I looked around and lis-

tened ; no sight, no sound, of humanity. I fetched the

largest fire-shovel I could find, and was carrying it bounti-

fully laden through an archway cut in a high hedge of yews,

and towards a favourite tree of " Charles Lefebvre," when I

suddenly confronted three ladies, who '*

had sent round the
carriage, hearing that I should soon be at home, and were

admiring my beautiful Roses." It may be said, with the

strictest regard to veracity, that they saw nothing that day

which they admired, in the primary meaning of the word,

so much as myself and fire-shovel ; and I am equally sure

that no Rose in my garden had a redder complexion than

my own.

And now, to be practical, what do I mean by farmyard

manure —when, and how, should it be used ?

By farmyard manure I mean all the manures of the

strawyard, solid and fluid, horse, cow, pig, poultry, in con-

junction. Let a heap be made near the Rosarium, not

suppressing the fumes of a natural fermentation by an
 MANURES. 95

external covering, but forming underneath a central drain,

having lateral feeders, and at the lower end an external

tank, after the fashion of those huge dinner-dishes whose
channels carry to the **
well " the rich gravies of the baron

and the haunch (here that fastidious reader collapses, and

is removed in a state of syncope), so that the rich extract,

full of carbonate of ammonia, and precious as attar, may

not be wasted, but may be used either as liquid manure In

the Rosary, or pumped back again to baste the beef.

How long should it remain in the heap before it is fit for

application to the soil ? The degree of decomposition to

which farmyard dung should arrive before It can be deemed

a profitable manure, must depend on the texture of the soil,

the nature of the plants, and the time of its application.*

In general, clayey soils, more tenacious of moisture, and

more benefited by being rendered incohesive and porous,
may receive manure less decomposed than more pulverised
soils require. Again, the season Avhen manure is applied Is

also a material circumstance. In spring and summer the

object is to produce an immediate effect, and It should

therefore be more completely decomposed than may be
necessary when It Is laid on in autumn, for a crop whose
* See the article on Agriculture, Encyclopedia Britannica^ ii. 300.
96 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

condition will be almost stationary for several months. It

was my custom for many years to apply a good covering

of long fresh manure to my Rose-trees towards the end of

November, and to dig it in about the end of March ;

and I

am still of opinion that for Rose-trees on their own roots,

especially the more tender varieties, such as Teas and

Bourbons, and for Roses on the Manetti stock, this system

is advantageous. The straw acts as a protection from frost,

and the manure is gradually absorbed, to the enrichment

of the soil and nourishment of the roots. But I have since

found, that as my Roses are, for the most part, on the Brier

(of which I am the faithful admirer, despite recent condem-

nations from my learned brothers, of which I shall speak

more fully hereafter), and do not require such protection,

except when recently transplanted, I obtain a more satisfac-

tory result by digging in the manure, well decomposed, at

the beginning of winter, and by giving a surface-dressing,

when it seems most required, in the spring.

A very effective surface-dressing was communicated to

me some years ago by Mr Rivers, and he has since published

it, as follows :
" The most forcing stimulant that can be

given to Roses is a compost formed of horse-droppings

from the roads or stable" (he says nothing about a fire-

 MANURES. 97

shovel), " and malt or kiln dust, to be obtained from any

malt-kiln, equal quantities. This, well mixed, should then

be spread out in a bed one foot thick, and thoroughly satu-

rated with strong liquid manure, pouring it over the com-

post gently for, say, two days — so that it is gradually

absorbed. The compost is then fit for a summer surface-

dressing, either for Roses in pots, in beds, or standard Roses.

It should be applied, say, in April, and again in May and

June, about an inch thick, in a circle round the tree, from

12 to 1 8 inches in diameter. This compost is not adapted

for mixing with the soil that is placed among the roots,

but is for a summer surface-dressing only ; and cai^e mnst

be taken that it is not placed in a heap or ridge after it has

been niixed^ for then fermentation is so violent that the smell

becomes intolerable^

So powerful is this confection, that I have found one

application quite sufficient ; and this I apply, when the

Rose-buds are formed and swelling, towards the end of

May, or, in a late season, the beginning of June. I wait

for the indications of rain, that the fertilising matter may

be at once washed down to the roots ; and it never fails to

act as quinine and Guinness to the weakly, and as generous

wine to the strong. During the extraordinary drought of
98 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

the summer in 1868, I watched day after day— nay, week

after week— with a patience worthy of that deaf old gentle-

man who listened for three months to catch the ticking of

a sun-dial, or of him who undertook the tedious task of

teaching a weather-cock to crow ; and at last, feeling sure

of my shower, wheeled barrow after barrow with my own

hands, not seeming to have time to call for help, over the

little bridge, and distributed it as a Lord Mayor turtle to

recipients more greedy than aldermen. Soon the big rain

came dancing to the earth, and when it had passed, and I

smoked my evening weed among the Rose-trees, I fancied

that already the tonic had told. At all events, it is written

in the chronicles of the Rose-shows how those Roses sped.

If only one application of manure is considered to be

expedient, I would advise a liberal supply of farmyard

dung well decomposed, and that this should be dug in, or,

still better (in the case of light soils particularly), left upon
the surface, after the Rose-trees are pruned in March. If

not dug in, I should myself be inclined to defer the fruition

of this powerful diet for a month or so ;

that just as the

lanky schoolboy, outgrowing his strength, is placed upon a

regimen of boiled eggs and roast beef, Allsopp and Bass, so

the Rose-trees may have "good support," these nursing-

 MANURES. 99

mothers of such beautiful babes, when they require it most.

*'
It is believed," writes Morton, *'
by observers of nature,

that plants do no injury to the soil while they are pro-

ducing their stems and leaves, and that it is only when the

blossom and the seed require nourishment that the plants

exhaust the soil."

Under no circumstances must manure be applied, exter-

nally or internally, when the ground is saturated with wet.

And now majora canamiis ! Let us wash our faces, and

part our hair down the middle, and go in, with a bow and
a curtsey, as little children to dessert, among the great

warriors and counsellors of Queen Rose. Let us hear what

our chief English Rosarians say (would that my informa-

tion included the teaching of those Rose-loving brothers

over the Border, for whom, as for all true gardeners, I

have so much regard !) on this, which I believe to be the

most important topic which will occur for our considera-

tion.

Mr Rivers, whom I have just quoted, and to whom all

will readily give precedence, not only for " that good grey

head, which all men know," but for what he has done in

the Rosarium, writes :

" I have found nightsoil, mixed with
the drainings of the dunghill, or even with common ditch
 —

100 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

or pond water, so as to make a thick liquid, the best pos-

sible manure for Roses, poured on the surface of the soil

twice in winter, from i to 2 gallons to each tree ; December

and January are the best months : the soil need not be

stirred till spring, and then merely loosened 2 or 3 inches

deep with the prongs of a fork. For poor soils, and on

lawns, previously removing the turf, this will be found most

efficacious. Brewers' grains also form an excellent surface-

dressing ; they should be laid in a heap two or three weeks

to ferment, and one or two large shovelfuls placed round
each plant, with some peat-charcoal to deodorise them, as

the smell is not agreeable."

I will quote in alphabetical sequence the other distin-

guished public Rosarians, who have expressed their

opinions, or proved their skill at all events, in the matter.

These are Mr Cant of Colchester ; Mr Cranston of Here-

ford ;
Mr Francis of Hertford ; Mr Keynes of Salisbury ;

Mr Lane of Berkhampstead ; Mr Mitchell of Piltsdown ;

Mr George Paul, the representative of Messrs Paul & Son,

Cheshunt ; Mr William Paul, Waltham Cross ; Mr Turner

of Slough, and Messrs Wood of Maresfield. There is, of

course, a very large number of other nurserymen, who grow

Roses most extensively and in their fullest perfection
 MANURES. lOI

such as Smith of Worcester, the two firms of Dickson at

Chester, Harrison of Darlington, Perkins of Coventry,

Frettingham of Nottingham, &c. — one or more near all our

cities and towns ; but I have selected those who are our
principal prize-men, and whose treatises and catalogues are
before me.

Mr Cant says :
" In planting Roses, a hole should be

made about i8 inches deep, and large enough to contain

half a wheelbarrowful of compost ; two-thirds of this

should be strong turfy loam, and one-third well-decom-

posed animal manure. These should be thoroughly mixed

together."

Mr Cranston writes in his Ctdtiiral Directions for the

Rosey which may be followed by amateurs with a sure con-

fidence :
" I have found, after repeated trials for some years,

that pig-dung is the best of all manures for Roses ;

next

nightsoil, cow-dung, and horse-dung. These should stand

in a heap from one to three months, but not sufficiently

long to become exhausted of their ammonia and salts.

Pig-dung should be put on the ground during winter or

early spring, and forked in at once. In using nightsoil,

mix with burnt earth, sand, charcoal-dust, or other dry sub-

stance. Apply a small portion of the mixture to each

 —

102 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

plant or bed during winter, and let it be forked in at once.

Soot is a good manure, especially for the Tea-scented and

other Roses on their own roots; so are wood-ashes and

charcoal. Bone-dust or half-inch bones forms an excellent

and most lasting manure. Guano and superphosphate of

lime are both good manure for Roses, but require to be

used cautiously."

Mr Keynes of Salisbury recommends " a good wheel-

barrowful of compost —two-thirds good turfy loam, and

one-third well-decomposed animal manure." He adds

and the words of one whose Roses, in a favourable season,

cannot be surpassed in size or colour, should be remem-

i bered practically
— " It is difficult to give the Rose too good

a soil.

Mr Lane of Berkhampstead writes thus :

" The best

method of manuring beds is to dig in a good dressing of

stable or other similar manure, this being the most safe

from injuring vegetation in any soil, and it never does more

good to Roses than when it is used as a surface-dressing.

When placed, about two inches deep, over the surface in

March, the ground seldom suffers from drought, but this is,

perhaps, by some considered unsightly."

Mr George Paul, " the hero of a hundred fights," advises

 MANURES. 103

that " in planting the ground should be deeply trenched,

and well-rotted manure be plentifully added. If the soil be

old garden-soil, add good loam, rich and yellow ; choose

a dry day for the operation, and leave the surface loose.

Stake all standards, and mulch with litter, to protect the

roots from frost." Well does this young champion sustain

the ancient honours of his house, having achieved no less

than forty-four first prizes at our principal exhibitions in

the summer of 1868.

Mr William Paul, in his interesting work, TJie Rose-

Garden, gives, in the introduction, the results of his experi-

ments with manure. "In the summer of 1842," he writes,

"six beds of Tea-scented Roses were manured with the

following substances: i, bone-dust; 2, burnt earth; 3,

nitrate of soda ; 4, guano ; 5, pigeon-dung ; 6, stable

manure, thoroughly decomposed. The soil in which they

grew was an alluvial loam. The guano produced the

earliest visible effects, causing a vigorous growth, which

continued till late in the season ; the foliage was large and

of the darkest green, but the flowers on this bed were not

very abundant. The shoots did not ripen well, and were

consequently much injured by frost during the succeeding

winter. The bed manured with burnt earth next forced

104 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

itself into notice ; the plants kept up a steadier rate of

growth, producing an abundance of clear, well-formed

blossoms ; the wood ripened well, and sustained little or no

injury from the winter's frost. The results attendant on

the use of the other manures were not remarkable ; they

had acted as gentle stimulants, the nitrate of soda and

bones least visibly so, although they were applied in the

quantities usually recommended by the vendors. . . .

I think burned and charred earth the best manure that can
be applied to wet or adhesive soils."

Mr Turner of Slough does not show his cards, but when

he comes to play them on the green cloth or baize of the
exhibition-table, no man deals more fairly, knows the game
more thoroughly, holds more trumps, or scores the honours
more frequently.

Messrs Wood of Maresfield, perhaps the largest growers

of the Rose in the world, commend a mixture of well-

seasoned animal manure, with the top -spit of an old

pasture, deep trenching, thorough draining, and a free use

of the pruning-knife the first year after planting.

Concluding this long chapter, I would earnestly assure
the novice in Rose-growing that there is only one exception

(and that in Egypt) to the rule, " Ex nihilo nihil fit." If he

 MANURES. 105

really means to make the Rose his hobby, and to enjoy the

ride, he must feed him liberally and regularly with old oats
and beans. The Rose cannot be grown in its glory with-

out frequent and rich manure ; and again I recommend

that the best farmyard dung be dug in towards the end

of November, if the ground is dry, and that the surface-

dressing prescribed by Mr Rivers, or another slighter

supply of farmyard manure, be administered in May or

June. The latter should remain on the surface. The

offence which they may cause to the eyes and nostrils of

the Rosist will be more than recompensed to him by the

brighter beauty and by the sweeter perfume of the Rose.
And if neighbours, who are not true lovers of the Rose,

expostulate, and condemm the waste, quote for their edifi-

cation those true words of Victor Hugo in Les Miserables,

" the beautiful is as 7iseful as the useful, perhaps more soT

We have found our situation, we have prepared our soils :

we will speak next of the arrangement of the Rosary, and

then of the Rose itself.
 CHAPTER VII.

ARRANGEMENT.

Every gardener must be an infidel — I am, and I glory in

the fact — on the subject of infidelity. The proofs and the

precepts of natural and revealed religion are brought so

frequently and impressively before him, that he cannot

believe in unbelief He takes a seed, a bulb, a cutting

(who made them ?) ; he places them in the soil which is

most congenial (who made it ?) ; the seed germinates, the

bulb spindles, the cutting strikes ; he tends and waters

(but who sends the former and the latter rain ?) ; and the
flower comes forth in glory. Does he say, with the proud
Assyrian, " By the strength of my hand I have done it, and
by my wisdom".? Does he not stand the rather, with a

reverent wonder, to consider the Lilies (the Auratum, it

may be, the glowing Amaryllid, or the lovely Eucharis, in

robes pure and white as a martyr's), until the very soul

 ARRANGEMENT. 10/

within him rises heavenward, and MaiiiLs Tiice fecerunt is his

psalm of praise ?

And the truths of Revelation, the histories and the pro-

phecies of the Older Testament, the miracles and parables

of the New, are taught as constantly and as clearly to the

gardener in his daily life. In our gardens always

" There is a book, who runs may read,

Which heavenly truth imparts " ;

ever reminding us of that Eden wherein were all things

pleasant to the eye and good for food ; of Gethsemane, and

of that garden where our crucified Lord was laid. What is

our love of flowers, our calm happiness in our gardens, but

a dim recollection of our first home in Paradise, and a

yearning for the Land of Promise ! Here in the wilderness

we love to reclaim these green spots from the brier and

thorn ; to fence and to cleanse ; to plant and sow ; to sit

at eventide, when work is done, every man under his vine

and under his fig-tree, with thankfulness and hope.

With hope, because these our gardens — scenes though
they be of brightest beauty to our eyes, and sources of our

purest joys — do not satisfy, are not meant to satisfy, our

heart's desire. Perishable as we ourselves, for the grass

withereth, the flower fadeth, they are, moreover, like all our
I08 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

handiwork, deformed by fault and flaw. Did you ever

meet a gardener, who, however fair his ground, was ab-
solutely content and pleased ^ Did you never hear " O si

angulus ille !
" from the lord of many fields .''
Is there not

always a tree to be felled or a bed to be turfed .''

Does not
somebody's chimney, or somebody's ploughed field, persist

in obtruding its ugliness .''

Is there not ever some grand
mistake to be remedied next summer .''
Alas ! the florist

never is, but always to be, blessed with a perfect garden ;

and to him, as to all mankind, perfect happiness is that

''gay to-morrow of the mind, which never comes."

These imperfections and mistakes, of course, arise in our

gardens mainly from our own ignorance or indolence ; and
as sterility, feebleness, and premature decay, are caused not
by tree, plant, weather, soil, but by wrong treatment,
position, neglect ; so all unsightly combinations, poverty or

excess of objects brought together, rigidity, monotony, un-

gracefulness, originate not from the materials at our dis-

posal, but from the manner in which we dispose them. And

in this matter of ai^rangemcnt we are at the present day

conspicuously weak. Never was the gardener so rich in

resources. Our collectors, hazarding their lives, and losing

them in their work of love, have gained us treasures from
 ARRANGEMENT. IO9

every clime. Sadly, like some cemetery tree, does the

beautiful Douglas Pine remind us of him whose name it

bears, who sent it to adorn our homes, and who, searching

for fresh prizes, perished miserably, falling into a pit dug
by the Sandwich Islanders for the capture of wild bulls,

and gored to death by one of them. The lovely Lycaste

speaks to us sorrowfully of George Ure Skinner ; and the

most striking of the Marantas (Veitchii), the velvety Begonia
Pearcei, with its golden flowers, the exquisite Gymnos-

tachium, and splendid Sanchezia, of Richard Pearce, —both

of whom died in their harness. These and others have
amplified our shining stores ; while our florists at home, by
selection, culture, cross-breeding, and hybridising, have
made admirable improvements and large additions in every

department of their art. The gardener, nevertheless, with

all this wealth and skill, fails signally, in my eyes, as to the

laying out of his garden. He fails, because he has to a

great extent abandoned the English or natural system for

the Italian and Geometrical, because he must have a sensa-

tional garden in spring, summer, and winter. His ancestors

—poor floral fogies !
— looked upon their gardens as quiet

resting-places, fair scenes of refreshment and of health ; and

wandering amid these " haunts of ancient peace," they
I 10 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

loved the cool grot for contemplation made, or the sunny-

walk through the glossy evergreens in which the throstle

sang. They welcomed their flowers as He sent them who

" hath made everything beautiful in his time ;
" they did

not upbraid Nature, nor essay to wake her when she slept

her winter sleep ; they forgave her deciduous trees. They

followed her in all things as their teacher. They copied
her lines, which were rarely straight, rarely angular ;

and her surfaces, which were rarely flat. Said to me a

house-painter, whom I watched and praised as he was

cleverly graining one of my doors in imitation of oak,

" Well, sir, I must say I do think myself, that I'm following

up Natur close," and he ran his thumb-nail up a panel

swiftly, as though he would catch her by the heel. So did

they reproduce her graceful features. " It is the peculiar

happiness of the age" (this was written in 1755) "to see

just and noble ideas brought into practice, peculiarities

banished, prospects opened, the country called in, nature

rescued and improved, and art decently concealing itself

under her own productions." "I am now," wrote the

Czarina to Voltaire in the year 1772, "wildly in love with

the English system of gardening, its waving lines and gentle

declivities ; " and so was all the gardening world. Sixty

 —

ARRANGEMENT. HI

years later, In my own childhood, there were In the garden,

before me as I write, and now little more than one sub-

divided flower-bed those bowers and meandering walks

many a pleasant nook, where the aged might rest, young

men and maidens sigh their love, and happy children play.
Ah, what delicious facilities for ''
I spy" and for " hide-and-

seek," where now there Is but scant concealment for the

furtive hungry cat ! What lookings into eyes, what ap-

"
proximations of lips, where now it would be " bragian

boldness to squeeze a body's hand ! I look through the

window, and I see the place where, under drooping

branches, we were kings and queens ; where we entertained
ambassadors with surreptitious food ; where I was crowned
with laurel (the only bit of reality) as the great poet of my
day ; and where, for brilliant service, I was knighted scores
of times, on my return from India, with the handle of our

garden-rake ! I see the place — it was hidden behind the

yew-trees then —where we were so often shipwrecked upon
" Desert Island," and where my youngest sister would
never be induced to have her face adequately grimed for

the performance of man Friday ! I look — but I can see no

more ! "A flood of thoughts comes o'er me, and fills mine
eyes with tears." The playmates of my youth —where are
112 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

they ? O doleful memories ! O blissful hopes ! O dread-

ful earthly darkness! O dazzling heavenly light! The

morning cometh, as also the night.

But what do I see, as the mist clears } A garden which,

like a thousand others, has obeyed the command of im-

perious Fashion, — Away with your borders, your mounds,

and your clumps ! Away with walks and with grottoes,

nooks, corners, and light and shade ! Down with your

timber ! To the rubbish-heap with your lilacs, laburnums,

and blossoming trees ! Stub, lay bare, level, and turf;

then cover the whole by line and measure with a geo-

metrical design. Do you require examples } Copy your

carpet, or the ornaments on your pork-pie. Then purchase
or provide — for the spring. Bulbs by the sack ; for the

summer. Pelargoniums by the million ; for the winter, baby

Evergreens and infant Conifers —brought prematurely from

t/ie nursery into public life, like too many of our precocious

children — by the waggon-load ; introducing, among the

latter, narrow little walks of pounded cockle-shells, broken

glass, gypsum, brick-dust, sheep's trotters, &c. &c.

I am well aware that the geometrical system, especially

when it is combined with terraces, staircases, balustrades,

and edgings of stones, is very effective and appropriate

 —

ARRANGEMENT. II3

around our palaces, castles, and other stately homes. For

these it forms a beautiful floor and fringe. It prevents too

sudden a transition from architecture to horticulture.* With

the pleasure-grounds around opening upon the park, and

with the general landscape in the distance beyond, the

amalgamation of art and nature is excellent. Nor do I

deny for a moment that in all gardens, if introduced in

modest and due proportion, it is the most becoming frame-

work for our summer flowers ; but my complaint is, that

this giant Geometry has taken possession of our small

gardens not as an ally, but as an autocrat — ejecting old

tenants and dismissing old servants, like some heartless

conceited heir, extruding them disdainfully, as the usurping

cuckoo thrusts the eggs from a sparrow's nest. Just as that

sensational system of gardening, which goes by the name of

" Bedding-Out," has expelled in so many instances our

beautiful herbaceous plants and our lovely flowering shrubs,

so the geometrical style has destroyed too frequently a

* "His" (Sir C. Barry's) "idea was, that the definite artificial lines of a

building should not be contrasted, but harmonised, with the free and careless
grace of natural beauty. This could only be effected by a scheme of architec-
tural gardens, graduated, as it were, from regular formality in the immediate
neighbourhood of the building itself, through shrubberies and plantations, less

and less artificial, till they seemed to melt away in the unstudied simplicity
of the park or wood without." Meuioir of Sir C. Bar?y, by his Son, p. 113.

H
 —

I 14 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

more natural grace, wear^-Ing the eye instead of refreshing

it. Some may Hke to see the hair pulled back from a win-
some face : give me ripples of light in the wavelike braid,

and reliefs of shade in the glossy clustering curls.

True art hides itself, and every man in laying out a

garden should remember the precept, A7^s est ce/a7'e arte7/i.

He should, moreover, cause to be painted on his case of

mathematical instruments, and printed largely on the cover

of his sketch-book, those two lines, written by a true gar-

dener and poet (must not every true gardener be a poet,

though It may be of songs without words i^)

" He wins all points, who pleasingly confounds,

Surprises, varies, and conceals the bounds."

But what, it may be asked, has all this to do with the

Rosary ? And I answer. Everything ; because nowhere is

the formal, monotonous, artificial system of arrangement

more conspicuously rampant. It almost seems. In some

cases, as though the owners had copied the methodical
Frenchman, who, having received an assortment of Rose-
trees of various heights from the nursery, planted them all

at the same distance above the ground, that he might

preserve the unities of an even surface. Does not a dead

level, bearing the old pattern of stars and garters, generally
 ARRANGEMENT. II5

encircle the Rose-temple, over which the disgusted right-

minded Rose-trees always object to grow? It looks like a

dismal aviary from which the birds have flown ; but with a
little bright paint and gilding externally, and a loud barrel-

organ within, it might form a brilliant lucrative centrepiece

for a merry-go-round at a fair. Strange to say, the Rose-

temple, in its most awful form, is to be seen, where all else

is so tastefully designed, at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham.

It would be a gay idea in gasometers, but for Roses it is

grim despair.*
When the Rose is grown for exhibition exclusively, the

geometrical system in its simplest form, and minus the

temple, is desirable, as being most convenient to him who

purposely sacrifices beauty of arrangement as regards the

general appearance, the tout ensemble, of his Rose-garden,

that he may attain perfection as to size and colour in the

individual flowers. He cannot afford space for numerous

varieties, which, lovely, distinct, and indispensable in the

general collection, are not suitable for the exhibition stage.

He admires the Gallicas and Mosses, Chinas and Bourbons,

* Since this was written, a tasteful tempest has blown down part of the
superstructure, thus suggesting a great improvement ; i.e., the removal of all

the heavier work, and the retention of the lighter and more graceful only.
Il6 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

earnestly, but has only room for these in his heart. He

must have all his trees so disposed that they may be readily

surveyed, approached, and handled. Specimens of the

same variety must be planted together, that he may quickly
compare and select. Time is most precious on the morn-
ing of a show ; and returning to the boxes with a bloom in

each hand and a couple between one's teeth, it is a sore

hindrance to remember another tree at the furthest point

of the Rosary which possibly carries the best bloom of all.

Taste in arrangement consists with the exhibitor in the

harmonious grouping of his Roses, not in the gracefulness

of his ground or of his trees. He appeals not to the general

public, but to the connoisseur ; not to the court, but to the

judge.

In a Rose-garden not subject to any such restraint —not

the drill-ground of our Queen's Body-Guard, but the holi-

day assemblage of her people — no formalism, no flatness,

no monotonous repetition, should prevail. There should

the Rose be seen in all her multiform phases of beauty.

There should be beds of Roses, banks of Roses, bowers of

Roses, hedges of Roses, edgings of Roses, pillars of Roses,

arches of Roses, fountains of Roses, baskets of Roses, vistas

and alleys of the Rose. Now overhead and now at our

 ARRANGEMENT. II7

feet, there they should creep and cHmb. New tints, new
forms, new perfumes, should meet us at every turn. Here
we come upon a bed of seedlings so full of interest and of

hope. Here is the sunny spot where we gather, like Virgil's

shepherd, the first Rose of spring, or

" Rosa quo locorum

Sera moretur,"

the last of autumn. Art is here as the meek admiring

handmaid of Nature, gently smoothing her beautiful hair,

checking only such growth as would weaken her flowing

ringlets, but never daring to disfigure with shams and

chignons —with pagodas, I mean, and suchlike tea-garden

trumpery. Art is here to obey, but not to dictate —to work
as one who counts such service its own reward and honour.
If before the Fall, before the earth brought forth brier or

thorn, man was put into a garden to dress It and to keep it,

with his will and with his might must he labour now in that

plot of ground where he fain would realise his fond Idea of

Eden. He must work hard, but only as one who copies

some great masterpiece — not as one who designs, but re-

stores. He must keep order, but only as replacing an

arrangement which he has himself disturbed. Thus and
thus only he may hope to make himself a garden
Il8 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

'*
Where order in variety we see,

And where, though all things differ, all agree."

Were it my privilege to lay out an extensive Rose-garden,

I should desire a piece of broken natural ground, sur-

rounded on all sides but the south with sloping banks,

"green and of mild declivity," on which evergreen shrubs

should screen and beautify by contrast the Roses blooming

beneath ; and in the centre I should have, at irregular

intervals, Rose-clad mounds high enough to obstruct the

view even of Arba, great among the Anakims, which would

enable me to surprise, to vary, and to conceal, according to

the golden rule which I have before quoted. On the level

from which these mounds arose would be the beds and

single specimens ; at the corners, my bowers and nooks.
All the interior space not occupied by Roses should be

turf
— "nothing," writes Lord Bacon, "is more pleasant
to the eye than green grass kept finely shorn " — and
this always broad enough for the easy operations of

the mowing - machine, and for the trailing garments

(they don't trail now, but who can tell what La Mode
may ordain next summer.?) of those bright visitors, the

only beings upon earth more beautiful than the Rose

itself.
 ARRANGEMENT. IIQ

And who can be jealous ? Who can grudge them the

universal homage which even in the queenly presence they

always claim and win ? More than once, I must confess,

has a remonstrance risen to my lips which I have not dared

to utter. I remember sitting on a summer's eve contem-

plating my Roses in the soft light of the setting sun, and
in the society of a sentimental friend, more than ever senti-

mental because a daughter of the gods, divinely fair, had

just left us for the house. We sat still and pensive, until

at last I broke a long silence with the involuntary exclama-

tion, " Aren't they lovely ?

" "Lovely!" he replied ;
" I /laU

'em. She called that Due de Rohan a duck, and that

Senna Tea Vaisse, or whatever his name is " (he knew it as

well as I did) '^a darling. I tell you what, old fellow, if

either of these worthies could appear in the flesh, there is

nothing in the world I should like so much as a tete-a-tete

with him in a 24-foot ring. I flatter myself that I could

favour him with a facer which he couldn't obtain in France.

As for that General Jacqueminot, shouldn't I like to meet

him in action," here he pulled his mustache fiercely, "and

to roll him over on Rupert }

"
— his charger. I bade him
light a weed, and hope ; but he didn't seem to relish hoping.

Towards the end of the next summer he came to see me

120 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

again, with the daughter of the gods in his brougham, and

on the opposite side, in the lap of its nurse, a new " duck,"

far dearer to his bride than any rosebud on earth.

The inner walks should be grass, but there must be an

outer promenade of gravel, smooth and dry for the thinnest

boots, when the turf is damp with rain or dew, and our

Queen wears her diamonds of purest water, as when, in the

days of Mary and Anna,

" The plentiful moisture encumbered the flower,

And weighed down its beautiful head."

I would have the approaches to a Rosary made pur-

posely obscure and narrow, that the visitor may come with

a sudden gladness and wonder upon the glowing scene, as

the traveller by rail emerges from the dark tunnel into the
brightness of day and a fair landscape ; or as some dejected
whist-player finds, at the extremity of wretched cards, the

ace, king, and queen of trumps ! I should like to conduct

the visitors to my Rosarium between walls of rock-work,

thickly set with those unassuming but exquisite Alpine
plants, of which Mr Robinson has just given such a com-

plete and charming history,* or through high fern-covered

* Alpine Floiocrs. London : Murray.

 ARRANGEMENT. 121

banks ; and, opening a door at the end of our avenue, to

dazzle him into an ecstasy. He should feel as Kane the

explorer felt, when after an Arctic winter he saw the sun

shine once more, and " felt as though he were bathing in

perfumed waters."
Although water offered itself in a fair running stream for

introduction into the Rose-garden, I should hesitate timidly

as to its admission. Charming as it would be to see the

Roses reflected, like Narcissus, in such a mirror —to muse

upon beauty, like Plato beneath the planes which grew by

the waters of Ilissus —we should simultaneously strengthen

the cruel power of our fiercest enemy, frost. Let us con-

tent ourselves with cisterns for soft water, with pumps,

syringes, and gutta-percha tubes.

Let us now consider, collectively and individually, the

various families of this our royal flower, that we may invite

those members whom we may esteem most worthy to be

guests at our feast of Roses.

 CHAPTER VIII.

SELECTION.

Take a hot schoolboy into a fruiterer's shop, where the

cheeks of the peach and the Ouarrenden pippin are glowing

like his own, where the bloom still lingers upon grape and
plum, and where the " Good Christian " pear of Williams

(would that all who assure us of their sanctity were as free

from sourness, as fruitful, melting, and juicy!) yields to his

inquiring thumb. Bid him survey the scene, a pomological

Selkirk, and then proceed to fruition. Or take young
Philippos, a few years older, to some great mart of horses.

Introduce him to the proprietor, with his pleasant smiling

face, ruddy (from early rising, doubtless), his cheek and

chin close shaven (few men nowadays shave so closely),

hair clipped like his horses', fox galloping over bird's-eye

neckerchief, cut-away coat with gilt buttons, and drab

adhesive pants. Let him hear how this generous, guileless
 SELECTION. 123

man has collected, without regard to toil or money, the

best horses in all Europe, solely for the pleasure of dis-

tributing them at nominal prices among his favourites and

friends. Oh, ecstasy !
*'
the young gentleman " is per-

mitted to know that he is himself a member of that blissful

band —a Knight of Arthur's table. The good dealer has

"just such another young un of his own," and will forthwith

exhibit to his counterpart a splendid series of steeds, on

which his lad has won the principal steeplechases, and led

the clippingest runs of the season. How their coats shine

as the neat clothing glides smoothly from their glossy

quarters ! How they snort as they leave their stalls ! How

proudly they elevate (I disdain that puny monosyllable,
cock) their trim-cut, well-combed tails ; and how genially
the good dealer whispers to the young gentleman, with a
kindly nudge and wink, ''
that's about all you'll let the field

see of him, if you buys him, and gets a start" ! And sup-

pose at this juncture you also whisper in the other ear,

*'
try them, and take your choice."
Or go with his pretty sister to some jeweller's glittering

store. Let him display to eyes far brighter than his

diamonds, and with a tender grace of manipulation which

tells how costly is his ware, casket after casket of lustrous

124 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

gems. Then Invite her to select her suite. Or take her to

some gay emporium —woe to the man who shall cry ''
shop
"

therein, for fifty pairs of angry scissors would find swift

way to his heart !

—where, behind acres of plate-glass, and
upon miles of counter, the rich thick silk stands up in

pyramids, and the delicate aristocratic satin gleams like an

opal. Ask the shopmen (I beg pardon, the aides-de-camp,

or whatever may be their modern title) to educe their
newest, most recherche' robes, and beseech of Venus to
choose.

Will there not be In these cases a delicious perplexity,

an ecstasy of amazement, an embarrassment of riches }

Imagine to yourself this happy hesitation, and you will

know something of my present sweet uncertainty. How-

am I to begin my selection of Roses .^ It seems as though,
gazing upon an illuminated city, I was asked to point out

the brightest candles ; as though, where fire-flies gleamed

by the million, and humming-birds glowed by the thou-
sand, I was ordered to transfix with the entomological pin

the brightest specimens of the one, and to adjust upon

the ornithological wires the most exquisite examples of the

other.

As to any scientific arrangement, ethnological, genea-

 SELECTION. 125

logical, or physiological classification, I am helplessly, hope-

lessly, incapable. I have as " poor brains " for these studies

as Cassio for strong drinks. The very words make my

head ache, and I long to break them up as one breaks up,

in wintry days, some big black coal with a poker. " I am

no botanist," as the young Oxonian pleaded to the farmer
who reproved him for riding over wheat. I confess that

I failed miserably in an attempt to understand the rudi-

ments of his science, as set forth in Dr Lindley's School

Botany. I honour the botanist, but I do not envy, because,

strange as It may seem, he is very rarely an enthusiastic

gardener ; because I never remember to have seen a

scientific botanist and a successful practical florist under

the same hat. Wherefore I am content, when I put on my

own " Christy," made for me by one who loves Roses, and

grows them well, to confess meekly that it covers a skull

void and empty of scientific treasures, but the property, I

trust, of a true florist.

But how am I to begin with the Roses } I fancy that

I hear a hiss or two, a shuffling of Impatient shoes, as when

too much preliminary fiddling goes on before the play. And

here, positively. In the very crisis and nick of time, my
doubt is dissolved ; the knot is cut sr; gu^w rvyji;, upon the
126 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

razor-edge of good-luck, and by an incident which sounds

like a miracle. TJic Rose makes answer for itself. Yes,

biting my quill, and beginning to think that the more

I bite the nearer I draw to the stupidity of the bird which
grew it, I hear an intermittent tapping on the panes of a

window near. I am not startled, because this identical

tapping has been going on for a good many years, when-

ever winds are high ; but as I look up and see the cause, it

seems to bring new sounds to my ears —a spirit raps dis-

tinctly on the glass, " Begin zvitJi ns, the

Climbing Roses."

I obey at once the legate of my Queen. I lose no time

in stating that the best Climbing Rose with which I am
acquainted is Gloire de Dijon, commonly classed with the

Tea-scented China Roses, but more closely resembling the

Noisette family in its robust growth and hardy constitu-

tion. Planted against a wall having a southern or eastern

aspect, it grows, when once fairly established, with a

wonderful luxuriance. I have just measured a lateral on
one of my trees, and of the last year's growth, and found it

to be 19 feet in length, and the bole of another tree at the

base to be nearly 10 inches in circumference. The latter

 —

. SELECTION. 127

grows on the chancel-wall of my church, and has had two

hundred flowers upon it in full and simultaneous bloom ;

nor will the reader desire to arraign me for superstitious

practices before a judicial committee when he hears that to

this Rose I make daily obeisance, because — I only duck to

preserve my eyesight.* The two trees alluded to are on
their own roots, but the Rose thrives stoutly on the Brier
and the Manetti, budded and grafted, wherever Roses grow.
Its flowers are the earliest and latest ; it has symmetry,
size, endurance, colour (five tints are given to it in the

Rose-catalogues, buff, yellow, orange, fawn, salmon, and it

has them all), and perfume. It is what cricketers call an

" all-rounder," good in every point for wall, arcade, pillar,

standard, dwarf en masse^ or as a single tree. It is easy to

cultivate, out of doors and in. It forces admirably, and

you may have it, almost in its summer beauty, when

Christmas snows are on the ground. With half-a-dozen
pots of it, carefully treated, and half-a-dozen trees in your

* This tree has just passed through a severe ordeal, during the recent restora-

tion of my church. As it was necessary to rebuild the greater part of the wall

on which it grew, I dared not hope its preservation ; but the architect, Mr
Christian, was an admirer of Roses, and the clerk of the works, Mr Dick, was
an admirer of Roses, and under their auspices the dear old favourite has been
replaced in safety.
128 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

garden, you may enjoy It all the year round ; and if ever,

for some heinous crime, I were miserably sentenced, for the

rest of my life, to possess but a single Rose-tree, I should

desire to be supplied, on leaving the dock, with a strong

plant of Gloire de Dijon.

As to treatment, although this Rose, like some thorough-

bred horse, will do its work with little grooming and scanty
fare, it well repays that generous diet which I have pre-
viously prescribed. In pruning, take away all weakly wood,
and you may then deal with the strong as you please. If

you want to increase the height of your tree, ''

cut boldly,"

as said the Augur, and low. If you desire short flowering

laterals, you may have them, a dozen on a shoot, or from

as many " eyes " as you like to leave on it.

I am inclined to award to Climbing Devonlensis the

second prize in its class. To this offspring of, or, as we
technically term it, " sport " from, the lovely Tea-scented

Rose, Devoniensis, we may truly say,

O matre pulchra
Filia pulchrior !

for it has all the beauty of the mother — form, complexion,

sweetness — without that tendency to rapid decline which

the parent exhibits in our chilly climate. A tree kindly

 SELECTION. 129

sent to me by Mr Curtis, of the Devon Nursery, Torquay,

made shoots 10 feet in length the first summer after plant-

ing, and now covers a large space on a wall 18 feet high.

It blooms here even earlier than Gloire de Dijon, and I

gathered perfect flowers from it during the month of No-

vember last.

Keep a sharp look-out, when pruning, for wood diseased

or decayed, because, although the Rose gave ample proof
of its hardihood by surviving the trying winter and spring

of 1S66-6/, the ends of its shoots and its young laterals are

liable to be injured by frost ; and all crippled limbs and

unhealthy flesh should, of course, be amputated.
There are two Roses, I am well aware —two sisters of this

same ''most divinely tall" family — more beautiful than

those which I have preferred before them. When we held

our third National Rose-show in the Crystal Palace at

Sydenham — the first of those exhibitions which have since

been so popular in that grand creation of a gardener's

genius — I remember that some of us were made almost

angry by the excessive share of admiration received by one
of these Roses. An anxious eager crowd jumped and
jostled to get a view of it, reckless of each other's corns.

I heard a remark from one visitor to another, a short man

130 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

behind him, who seemed, I must say, about to clamber up

the speaker's back, — " Pardon me, sir, but may I remind
you that we are not playing at leap-frog ?" What were
they all struggling to see ? There were long lines of lovely

Roses —why this pressure always at this special spot ? It

was just as when, in our Royal Academy, and on the first

days of exhibition, the visitors all make for one particular

corner, because there hangs, so the Times has told them,
the picture of the year. And what was tJie Rose ? It was
Cloth-of-Gold Noisette — a box of it, sent by Mr W. Cant,
from the neighbourhood of Colchester. Well, the most

jealous could not dispute its supreme beauty. It was cer-

tainly the belle of the ball. In its integrity, it is, I believe,

the most glorious of all Roses. No true Rosarian ever

forgets the first perfect bloom he sees of it. " Even at this

distance of time," writes Mr Rivers in i Z6y, " I have not

forgotten the delight I felt on seeing this Rose in full

bloom at Angers in 1843. Its flowers w^re like large

golden bells." Why, then, have I not given it precedence }

Simply because, were such a compliment offered, the Rose

would scarcely ever be there to receive it. Because in this

climate it is so rarely realised, that I do not remember to

have seen it, fidl-grown, more than three or four times in
 SELECTION. 131

my life. Puny personifications and dreadful imbecilities

arrogating the name I have met with frequently, but the

grand gold goblet, to hold nectar for the gods, is seen but

on state occasions —a chalice for the coronation of kings.

It is a ''
shy bloomer," " wants a warm wall," " good for the

conservatory," they tell us who know it best. And yet (so

capricious is beauty) I have seen noble specimens of this

flower upon the walls of a cottage five miles from my home '

and the gentleman to whom the cottage belonged was

never, I believe, more happy than when he came to dine

with me, wearing in his coat a huge bud which he had

begged from his tenant, and which resembled in size the

Qgg of a turkey, or rather, in my eyes, of a roc.

Alas! this tree perished years ago. Its fate was the
common lot of its race — to be cut down by cruel frost.

And yet I would advise amateurs to do as I do, persevere

in growing it. One year's harvest will be recompense

enough for the ploughing and sowing of a decade. If other

Roses boast of their fecundity, this may answer, as the

queen of beasts to the fox, " My children are few, but they

are lionsr Try it on a south wall ; try it on verandah and

arcade (I have seen it flowering freely on the latter) ; try

it budded on the Celine Hybrid Bourbon, which is also

132 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

most congenial for Climbing Devoniensis ;

try it on the

Banksian and Manetti stocks ; try it on its own roots,

protecting it during the winter months with some good

thick surface-dressing. I do not recommend matting, or

other material, w^hich keeps light and air from the plant.

A sickly unnatural growth is often caused thereby, which

renders the plant more powerless than ever to resist its

enemies — insects and vernal frost.

The other Rose referred to is Marechal Kiel. Since the

time when, a baby in floriculture, I first began to ''take

notice" of Roses, more than twenty years ago, three new

stars of special brightness have glittered in our firmament

— Gloire de Dijon, Charles Lefebvre, and Marechal Niel.

The latter is, I think, the greatest acquisition, because we

had, previous to its introduction, no hardy Yellow Rose,
realising, as this does — in the wonderful beauty of its

flowers, their size, shape, colour, fragrance, longevity, abun-

dance, in the amplitude of its glossy leaves, and the general

habit of the plant — our every desire and hope. We pos-

sessed some approximation to Gloire de Dijon in our Tea

and Bourbon Roses. Charles Lefebvre was a development

of General Jacqueminot; but of a hardy Golden Rose, more

precious and more welcome a thousand times than those
 —

SELECTION. 133

Golden Roses which popes have sent to favoured kings, we

saw no harbinger. The beautiful old Yellow Provence was
all but extinct. I have never seen it, except in the gardens

of Burleigh
— "Burleigh House by Stamford town." The
few splendid petals of the Persian Yellow only increased

our sacra fames auri —the egg-cup made us long for the

tankard of gold. Solfaterre had not depth of colour, and

its flowers were faulty in shape ; Cloth-of-Gold was not

meant to be worn out of doors, and was quickly tarnished

by tough weather ; and even the Marechal's own mother,

Isabella Gray, had displayed such feeble charms that no
one mourned her sterility. Suddenly, unexpectedly, she

produced a paragon. I have not placed it at the head of

the list, for the sole reason that I have not yet perfectly

satisfied myself as to its capacities in this particular depart-

ment — that is, as a Climbing Rose. I have not fully proved

it, and I shall make no statement in this work which my
own experience has not taught me. Having grown the
Rose, since its distribution, both in beds and on a wall

and this, I rejoice to say, in the fullest phase of its beauty

— I believe it to be perfectly hardy, and likely to be the

king of the climbers ; but until it has passed unscathed one

of our severest winters, and then covered a large space with

134 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

its exquisite Roses, I will say no more. A climbing Rose-

tree is the one which should be least accessible to destruc- .

tive influence, seeing that the sad signs of decay and death

are more painfully and prominently displayed upon it, and

the harm done less quickly repaired. The frost of Christ-

mas Eve, i860, killed Rose-trees to the ground which had

covered my house for years. Would Marechal Niel abide

such an ordeal as that ? There is good reason for the anti-

cipation in the following statement, which appeared in the

Gardeners Oironicle of January 19, 1867. The writer, Mr

Godwin of the Rosarium, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, reports :

<'
The frost here, in the valley of the Dove, on the nights of

the 2d and the 14th, equalled in intensity that of the

memorable Christmas Eve of i860, when the thermometer

fell some 6° below zero ; and at present it appears to have

done its work nearly as effectively. The tender tribes of

Noisette, Bourbon, and Tea Roses on the low grounds

appear to be all killed. We are, however, delighted to see

our old and valued friend, Gloire de Dijon, entirely un-

scathed ; and, better still, Marechal Niel, the best of the

Yellows, seems none the worse for the trying ordeal to

which he has been subjected." And again, in the same

publication. May 25, 1867, the editor, referring to a bloom
 SELECTION. 135

of this Rose exhibited at Nottingham, remarks :

" This

flower was of the richest golden yellow, and measured 5

inches in diameter, the petals being beautifully cupped and

symmetrically arranged. It is most gratifying to hear that

this magnificent Rose is perfectly hardy, is an excellent
grower, and blooms, when well established, in all situa-

tions."

There seemed to be at first some hesitation among our

Rose-merchants as to the propriety of a union between this

delicate beauty and that rough, wild vagabond, the Jolly-

Dog Rose ; and it was " sent out " generally budded or
grafted upon the Manetti, or recently struck on its own
roots, about the size of a toothpick. We have since dis-

covered that, as fair damsels love stalwart knights, this

Rose grows and blooms most vigorously when budded

upon the Brier. This is the best stock for it, so far as my
experience goes ; but there is another with which it mates
most happily, and of this I had last season a somewhat

curious proof. Be it known, then, and apropos of mates,

that the lady whom, on an interesting occasion, I endowed
with all my worldly goods, does not avail herself of my
matrimonial munificence with regard to my show Roses,
but contents herself during the exhibition-season with the
136 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

produce of certain trees exclusively appropriated to her.

One morning, towards the end of May, I listened with

amused incredulity to her announcement, that she " had

just cut a beautiful bloom of the Marechal;" and being
perfectly sure that there was no tree of that variety in her

collection, and no expanded flower on my own, I ventured

to ask, with affectionate sarcasm, which of her plants had

distinguished itself for life by this grand supernatural

victory ? The prompt answer was — " Gloire dc Dijon : go

to my room and look !

" I went, expecting to see some

abnormal specimen of the flower, and I found in all its

loveliness, Marechal Niel ! Thence to the branch from

which it came, and then the mystery was explained. I had

mentioned to my gardener, in the preceding summer, some
remarks which I had read from Mr Rivers the younger,

recommending the Gloire as a stock for the jNIarechal. He

had tried the recipe, as I now advise my readers to try it,

and had first perplexed and then pleased me with the

prompt success of his enterprise.

The Banksian Rose is also a most genial stock for the

Marechal ; and if any of my readers are the happy pro-

prietors of the former, under glass, I advise them by all

means to bud the latter upon it. A gentleman residing

 SELECTION. I3;7

near Darlington has kindly sent me some interesting parti-

culars as to the success of this combination. In July 1867,

Mr Spence, a nurseryman, budded M. Niel upon the Bank-

sian Rose in his greenhouse. In 1868, he cut 120 fine

blooms from the tree, and sold them at Newcastle-on-Tyne
for 5s. per dozen, and also sold 500 buds to nurserymen,
reserving a large supply for himself. The present length
of the stock is 9 feet ; the circumference 2 J inches ; the
length of the scion is 40 feet, and the circumference 3 Inches.

But in my own county, in Nottinghamshire, I am proud

to say, has been produced tJie specimen, pai" excellence, of

this magnificent Rose. Mr Henry Gadd, gardener to Lord

Middleton, at Wollaton Hall, near Nottingham, is the
artist of this masterpiece, and he has favoured me with the
following account of it. Marechal Niel, a dormant bud on
the Brier, was planted in a cool conservatory in February

1866, and In its first season made a growth of 15 feet. In

1867 it again grew with fresh vigour, and two shoots were

selected and trained, right and left, upon iron rods, 12

inches from the glass. These soon reached the ends of

the house, 35 feet in length, and were stopped. In 1868-69

the Rose bloomed beautifully; but this year, 1870, has

seen the climax of its glory in more tJian 1000 blooms,

138 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

700 of which were open and opening simultaneously. This

Rose-tree is planted in a rich loam, of which a consider-

able portion is charred to destroy wireworm, intermixed

with rotten manure, road-sand, and oyster-shells. Liquid

manure is given, liberally and frequently, to the roots.

Lamarque, the parent of Cloth-of-Gold, well deserves a

place on some sunny wall, growing very rapidly, and being
one of the earliest Roses to charm us with its refined and
graceful flowers. These are large and full, the outer petals

of a soft pure white, the inner of a pale straw-colour.

Among the new Roses of this year, 1870, we have a

Lamarque with yellow flowers, which, so far as I can judge

from a small plant, is likely to be a valuable addition.

None of the Roses which I have just described are
classified in the catalogues or by writers on the Rose
among the Climbers ; but I have ventured so to consider
and to commend them, for the obvious reason that they are

as capable of climbing as Jack's Bean-stalk, and that they

produce far more beautiful Roses than those which have
been hitherto selected, and almost exclusively designated,
as Climbing Roses. The fact is, that Roses generally may
be induced to climb, if planted in rich soil against a wall,

facing south or east. In such a sunny site, the development

 SELECTION. 139

of the tree, once thoroughly estabhshed and settled down

to its work, is marvellous. Not so rapid, of course, nor so

extensive in longitude or latitude, as with the more nomad

and wandering tribes, but such as to astonish those

Rosarians who have only seen a less favoured growth, and

to satisfy in time almost any requirements as to the space

which has to be covered. In half-a-dozen summers many

of the Hybrid Bourbon, Hybrid China, and Gallican Roses,
will reach the eaves of an ordinary dwelling, as I have

proved with Charles Lav/son and with Coupe d'Hebe ; and

in a decade the side of a good-sized house might be decor-
ated with such a grower as Blairii 2. The bloom is early,

ample, and magnificent ; but as it is brief, and there is no

aftermath, I would only advise these Roses to be introduced

where mural space is superabundant.

Many of the Hybrid Perpetuals would also, I am assured

by the experiments which I have made, attain grand pro-

portions if grown upon walls. I have possessed, and seen
elsewhere, many proofs — for example, in General Jacque-

minot, in my namesake, Reynolds Hole (so named, as a

kind compliment, by my worthy friend John Standish),
and in Triomphe de I'Exposition. Souvenir de la Mal-
maison, Bourbon, also spreads itself high and wide upon a
140 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

southern wall. In all these cases I should prefer to plant

Rose-trees upon their own roots, if I could have them

strong and clean : in the last case this condition is insepar-

able from a successful issue.

It must, however, be borne in mind, that in the major-

ity of cases there is neither the place nor the patience for

these specimens. Climbing Roses are required, as a rule,

to do their work quickly ; and we will therefore proceed

to consider those varieties which have been selected by

the Rose-merchants, and proposed to us in their cata-

logues, for this purpose — the Ayrshire, the Evergreen, the

Banksian, the Boursault, the Multiflora, and the Hybrid

Climbing.

The Ayrshire and Evergreen Roses — it should be, Ever-

gi'eeji, if the zveather permit —have many claims upon our

grateful admiration. If we have an ugly, red-faced, staring

wall, which seems to glory in its ugliness, they will hide its

deformities more quickly than any other Rose or any other

creeper with which I have acquaintance. Only give them
a good start, as you give an Irishman ''jist a hint" of

whisky before you send him on an errand ; and, however

adverse the position or the aspect, off they go like lamp-

lighters. With their shining leaves, and their pretty clus-

 — "

SELECTION. 141

ters of white pink-tinted flowers, they will flourish where

no others can grow — in the waste places of the earth, in

damp dismal corners, under trees and up them, if you wish.

Upon the blank wall of two new rooms, having a western

aspect, I planted Rampant sempervirens. Owing to the

proximity of another wall and of intermediate shrubs, he

was not even gladdened occasionally with a few kindly
smiles from the setting sun ; and though I gave him plenti-
fully good soil and good manure, I left him hoping against
hope. The first year he did little. I thought he was dying

in his dreary dungeon, but he was only planning his escape;

and out he bolted the next summer, making shoots like

salmon-rods, some more than 20 feet long. ''

Rampant
must have had adult baptism, and was well named by his

sponsors, always reminding one of a Lancashire anecdote,

how a poor client waited upon one Lawyer Cheek of Man-

chester, with a long bill in his hand, and sighed, as he put
down the brass on the table, " They dunna call thee Cheek

for nought."

Other members of these two families are alike successful

in surmounting hardships e.^., among the Ayrshires, Dun-
dee Rambler, Queen of Belgians, Ruga (with its faint odour
of the ancestral Tea, which intermarried, it is said, with the
142 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Roses of Ayr), and Thoresbyana — raised, a few miles from

my home, at Thoresby ; and among the Evergreens, Ade-

laide d'Orleans, Felicite Perpetuelle (who would not desire

to have a rose so named upon his house ?) — Myrianthes,

and the two Princesses, Marie and Louise.
These Roses are also most appropriate for covering

bowers in the Rosarium, or arched entrances leading

to it. They are very effective upon the banks and

slopes which I have recommended at page Ii8, flooding

them, as it were, with a white cascade of Roses ; and

budded upon tall standards of the Brier, they may be soon

trained into Weeping Roses —into fountains of leaves and

flowers.

Would that Burns had gazed and written upon the lovely
little Banksian Rose ! He would not have esteemed the

wee modest daisy one iota the less — he was too true a
florist for that ; but he would have painted for us in

musical words a charming portrait of this pocket, or rather

button-hole, Venus — this petite migjioniie, which, singly,

would make a glorious bouquet for Queen Mab's coachman,

or, en groiipe, a charming wreath for a doll's wedding, such

as I remember to have attended once in my childhood,

when, horribile dictu ! the bride upon her way to the altar
 SELECTION. 143

fell prone from our rocking-horse (a nuptial grey), and

broke her bridal nose. The Banksian Rose is indeed

"A miniature of loveliness, all grace

"
Summed up and closed in little ;

and both the Yellow and White varieties —the latter having

a sweet perfume, as though it had just returned from a visit

to the Violet —should be in every collection of mural Roses.

The plants should be on their own roots, and those roots

should be well protected during the winter months. It

cannot be warranted perfectly hardy, but with careful

mulching there is scarcely one frost in a lifetime which will

kill it. It may be injured even to the ground, but it will

come up again with wondrous rapidity. A tree of mine,

which half covered my house, perished in 1860-61, but it

was not sufficiently guarded, because I thought it safe ; and

*'
'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have

loved at all."

Under favourable circumstances, the growth of this Rose

is most luxuriant. A French writer on Roses tells us of a

tree at Toulon which covered a wall 75 feet in breadth and

15 to 18 in height, and which had fifty thousand flowers in

simultaneous bloom ; and specimens may be seen in our

own gardens and conservatories which repress any unbe-

144 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

lief. The trees should be pruned when they have flowered

in summer, so that a fresh growth of laterals may be well

ripened before winter, and bloom in the ensuing spring.

Rather more than twenty years ago, Mr Fortune sent

over a batch of Climbing Roses from China, and from one

of them, named Fortune's Yellow, great expectations rose.

It was described by a Rosarian at Seven Oaks as being

" nearly as rampant as the old Ayrshire, quite hardy,

covered from the middle of 'Ma.y with large loose flowers of

every shade — between a rich reddish buff and a full coppery

pink — and rambling over a low wall, covering it on both

sides, about 20 feet wide and 5 feet high." ^Ir Fortune

himself described it as most striking in its own country,

with flowers " yellowish salmon, and bronze-like ;

" but it

did not succeed in my garden, and as I find it in only one

of the catalogues, I fear it has all but succumbed to our

ung-enial climate.

Although the Boursault Rose is called, from its habitat,

Rosa Alpina, it certainly has not the agility in climbing

which entitles the Roses previously discussed to member-

ship in the Alpine Club. The old crimson Amadis is very

beautiful when the evening sun is low, and the soft light

rests upon its glowing flowers, and the blush variety is large
 SELECTION. 145

and lovely (albeit the floral cottager was right who told me
that he '* considered them ^ostsjlothery'') ; but Ichabod is

soon written on flower and leaf, and the habit of growth is

anything but graceful, " Gracilis " itself forming no excep-

tion. They may be trained both to climb and droop, but
they have long ceased to perform in my Rosarium either

of these evolutions. There are better Roses.

Nor am I acquainted, so numerous are the candidates

having stronger claims, with any garden which has space to

spare for the Multiflora, or for the Hybrid Climbing Roses.

They are disappearing from the lists (as fair ladies do

when no combatant wears their glove in his helmet) ; and
I sigh to count the happy, happy years which are gone
since I laid "the Garland," as an Immortelle, upon the

tomb of " Madame D'Arblay."

K
 —

CHAPTER IX.

SELECTION — [continued)

Descending now from roseate heights, and ere we reach

the perfumed plains below, we must halt to gaze upon our

Pillar Roses,

some rising singly here and there, like the proud standards

of victorious troops ; some meeting in graceful conjunction,

saluting each other like our forefathers and foremothers in

the stately minuet —bowing themselves, like tall and supple

cavaliers, into arches of courtesy, with keystones of cocked

hats. In both phases these Pillar Roses are beautiful addi-

tions to the Rosarium, enabling us, like the Rose-mounds

previously commended, to enliven, with a pleasing diversity,

that level which is described as dead. But with reference

to the first, I must offer to amateurs a respectful caution

that to grow single specimens in isolated positions, where

 — —

SELECTION. 147

they will invite, and ought to satisfy, special criticism

knowledge of habit, and experience in pruning, will be

indispensable. Melancholy results must inevitably ensue

from ignorance or inattention ; and I have shuddered to
see examples of both in long lanky trees, without any

lateral shoots, flowerless and leafless for three-fourths of

their height, reminding one of those shorn disgusting

poodles, profanely termed by their proprietors " lions," as

they stand upon their execrable hind legs to beg. But not
upon them — not upon the helpless object — but on the bar-
barous owner, we must expend our noble rage ; upon those
who have brought innocent loveliness to the whipping-post,

or rather the pillory, and compelled her to look the w^ords

which St Simeon Stylites moaned

'*
Patient on this tall pillar, I have borne
Rain, wind, frost, heat, hail, damp, and sleet, and snow."

The best plan of growing these Roses, which a long ex-

perience has taught me, is this : To prepare and enrich

your soil as I have advised in Chapters VI. and VII., and

then to fix firmly therein the pillar which is to support the

trees. Of what material is this pillar to be ? —wood or

iron ? The former commends itself to the eye (and the

pocket) at once ; and I well remember the satisfaction with

148 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

which I surveyed an early experiment with larch poles,

well charred and tarred, driven deep into the ground, and

looking from the very first so very rustic and natural. The
Rose-trees grew luxuriantly, and for three or four summers
I esteemed myself invincible in the game of pyramids.

Then one night there came heavy rain, attended by a hur-

ricane, and when I went out next morning, two of my best

trees were lying flat upon the ground, with their roots

exposed (the poles, having decayed near the surface, had

snapped suddenly) ; and several others were leaning like

the tower at Pisa, some hopelessly displaced, and others

deformed and broken. Fallen, and about to fall, they

looked as though their liquid manure had been mixed too

strong for them, and had made them superlatively drunk.

Shortly afterwards I had another disaster, caused by a

similar decay —the top of a pole, in which two iron arches

met each other, giving way to a boisterous wind, and so

causing a divorcement between Brennus and Adelaide

d'Orleans, long and lovingly united. I would therefore

advise, not dwelling upon other disadvantages resulting

from the use of wood —such as the production of fungi,

and the open house which it provides for insects —that the

supports for Pillar Roses be of iron. Neatly made and

 SELECTION. 149

painted, tastefully and sparingly posed, they are never

unsightly ; and, enduring as long as the trees themselves,

they will in the end repay that first outlay which makes

them, for some time, an expensive luxury.

The height and thickness of these single rods will be

determined by the position to be occupied, from 5 to 8 feet

above the ground being the most common altitudes, and

the circumference varying from i| to 3 inches. Below
the surface, their tripod prongs must be deeply and securely

fixed from i foot to 18 inches in the soil, so as to bear any

weight of flowers and foliage, and defy all the royal artillery

of ^olus. For arches, the rods may be 7 or 8 feet from

the ground, and 8 or 9 feet apart.

The ground and supports being prepared, a selection

may be made from the list subjoined of varieties, vigorous

and beautiful (as the recruiting-sergeant picks out for the

Guards the more robust examples of humanity) ; and these,

whether on their own roots, or worked upon Brier or

Manetti stocks, according to their habit and the character

of the soil, should be planted in November, and safely tied

to their rods. Tarred twine is the best material for the

latter purpose, being cheap, durable, and to be had in dif-

ferent thicknesses, according to the strength required.

 —

I50 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Prune closely in the following March, removing three-

fourths of your wood, so as to insure a grand growth in the

summer, which, moderately shortened in the succeeding

spring, should furnish your pillar, from soil to summit, with

flowering lateral shoots. By the time your tree has at-

tained the dimensions required, your observation will have

taught you how, for the future, to prune it so that you may
be sure of an annual bloom, cutting away all weakly wood,
and regulating the general growth with an eye both to form

and florescence. As with a vine, only put a strong cane

into a rich border, use the knife courageously, and be sure

of grapes.

As single specimens of Pillar Roses, the following may be

tried with confidence :

Anna Alexicff* free in growth, in foliage, and flowers —the latter of a fresh
pure rose-colour, which makes the tree very distinct and charming.
Auguste Mie, an old favourite, having well-shaped globular flowers, of a deli-

cate pearly-pink complexion, and blooming freely both in summer and

autumn.
Baronne Frevost, another of the few old favourites still claiming a place in the
Rosary. The flowers are very large, fragrant, and of a true rose-colour.
Colonel Rougemont, closely resembling the Baroness, and in some points
superior, is of a more weakly condition, and therefore less adapted for a
Pillar Rose.

* All the Roses in this list, except Gloire de Bourdeaux, Gloire de Dijon,

and Jaune Desprez, are of the Hybrid Perpetual family.

 —

SELECTION. 151

Caroline de Sansaks, with outer petals of a pale flesh-colour, deepening to-

wards the centre, is a very lovely Rose, and still among the best of our light-

coloured varieties.
Coinfe de Nanteuil^ from its abundance, depth, and arrangement of petal, is

quite one of our best show Roses, although its complexion — bright rose on
the tree— " rt?^^ z'^," as the French term it — does not pass through the

ordeal of exhibition so triumphantly as its grand and graceful form.

Diichesse de Cambaccres, of robust habit (if her Grace will pardon the expres-
sion), profuse and continuous in bloom ; makes an admirable Pillar Rose.

So do the two other Graces, namely :

Duchess of Norfolk* with her bright deep crimson flowers, her large and glossy
leaves, and
Duchess of Sidherland, introduced by Monsieur Laffay in 1839, but still fresh,

fair, and fragrant ; and though surpassed as a model flower, a beautiful ad-

dition to the Rose-garden.

Eugene Appert is very effective for the purpose under consideration, being con-
spicuous for the intensity of its glowing crimson hues, and its dark-green
lustrous leaves.
General Jacqiieminot, for so many summers the Rose of our gardens, is still a
glory and grace, its petals, soft and smooth as velvet, glowing with vivid
crimson, and its growth being free and healthful. I well remember the time
when we welcomed this conquering hero, in his brilliant uniform, as being
invincible ; but development in Roses is no theory, as in certain schools of

theology, but a sure reality, and the General must now pale his ineffectual

fire in the presence of such Roses as Charles Lefebvre. As a Pillar Rose,

notwithstanding, he is not surpassed.

Gloire de Boiirdeaux is a Tea-Noisette, or rather it is classified among the Teas,

and is a Noisette. It has been known latterly in the catalogues as Belle de

Bourdeaux — Bacchus, as I suppose, having expostulated with Flora, and con-

vinced her that the real glory of Bourdeaux is its wine — its Lafitte, Latour,

* This Rose grows wonderfully on the Manetti, and I received some years
ago from Messrs Wood of Maresfield two specimens, which had made, in their

first summer, shoots 15 feet long from the *' bud."

 —

152 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

and La Rose, of another description. Its numerous flowers are interesting

individually, from the striking contrast between the colours on either side
of the petals, these being of a bright rosy lilac without, and within of a pale
silvery flesh-colour ; and en masse, effective and showy. It "grows like a

willow," to use a gardener's phrase, much resembling in habit

Gloire de Dijon, described among the Climbers, but excellent in every phase.

Like Phyllis, it "never fails to please ;" unlike Phyllis, it is never "coy."
JaiDic Desprez, Noisette. — Phoebus, what a name ! Little thought poor Mon-
sieur Desprez, when he sent out his seedling in the pride of his heart, that it

would associate his name throughout the Rose-loving world with jaundice

and bilious fever. Yellow Desprez, moreover, is not yellow, but buff or
fawn colour, deliciously fragrant, of beautiful foliage, blooms freely in

autumn, and makes, with careful culture, a pretty Pillar Rose.

Jean Goujon, a handsome, healthful giant, with grand, well-shaped flowers of

a deep rose-colour, well deserves a place in the front rank of Queen Rosa's
Grenadier Guards.
Jules Margottm bears the honoured name of one who has enriched our Rose-
gardens with many a precious treasure — Mons. Margottin of Bourg-la-Reine,
near Paris ; and no column could declare his praises so suitably, or per-

petuate his fame so surely, as a pillar of this lovely Rose. I would rather
that a pyramid of its sweet bright flowers bloomed above my grave, than
have the fairest monument which art could raise. But " there's time enough
for that," as the young lady observed to her poetical lover, when he promised
her a first-class epitaph.

La Reme, once Queen of the Hybrid Perpetuals, is still a most royal Rose ;

and, with the attention which royalty has a right to expect, will give magni-
ficent blooms in a genial — that is, in a hot sunny — season. In wet or cold
summers the immense buds do not open kindly. It is not, in fact, to be
relied upon, like

La Ville de St Denis, which, faithful as she is fair, and bounteous as she is

beautiful, always gladdens us with flowers of exquisite symmetry, and of a

deep fresh rosy pink.
Leopold PretJiier well deserves his title — I do not mean as Roi des Beiges, but as
a Rose de la pretyiiere qualite zxs\ox\g the deep-red varieties. There is a lovely
 . —

SELECTION. 153

tinge of violet in its large symmetrical flowers, which makes it specially-

charming.
Lord Raglan is somewhat uncertain, but in his happiest mood superb, super-

lative. A sunbeam in a goblet of Burgundy may give you some idea of his

mingled hues — crimson, purple, and glowing red ; but all words of mine are
powerless. So let him go, and we will drink the Burgundy in honour of
those most winsome dames
Madatne Boll, whose foliage alone, with the dew on it, is worth a getting up
at sunrise to see, but having flowers to correspond of an immense size, ex-

quisite form, and of a clear bright rose-colour.

Madame Boutin, one of our most certain and charming Roses, of a light cherry
crimson, or cerise hue, and of perfect shape ; well described in a French
catalogue as '''
Men faite, beau rouge, cerise vi/y
Madame Cleinence Joigneaux —Were I asked to point out a Rose-tree which I

considered a specimen of healthful habit and good constitution, I know of

none which I should prefer before M. C. J., with its long, strong, sapful,

shoots, its broad, clear, shining leaves, and its grand, cupped, carmine
flowers.

Marechal Vaillant well merits his baton for distinguished conduct in the gar-
den ; and, in his bright crimson uniform, is never absent from his post, nor
ever fails to distinguish himself when the wars of the Roses are fought in the

tented field.

Oriflamme de St Louis, somewhat loose and tattered in its folds (petals), as

ancient standards are, but of a brilliant, dazzling {cblonissant) scarlet, suffused

with a peculiar blue violet tint. In complexion, at all events, a son worthy
"
of his sire, being '
' issue de la Rose General Jacqtteminot.
Souvenir de la Reine d^ Angleterre, one of the largest Roses in cultivation, and,
though seldom supplying the symmetrical blooms which are required for the

keen eye of a censor, a beautiful and effective Pillar Rose. The colour of its

flower is a soft rosy pink.

Triomphe de V Exposition is another Rose to be admired in our gardens as
a tree rather than scrutinised at our shows as a flower. It bears an abun-

dance of bright crimson and charming Roses, of good shape, but of medium
size.
 —

154 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

There are, doubtless, several other Hybrid Perpetual

Roses which may be grown as successful specimens of the

Pillar Rose, but I have only enumerated those which I

have proved. Charles Lefebvre, Francois Lacharme, and

Madame Rivers, for example, have been commended by

some Rosarians for the purpose, but they have not suc-

ceeded with me in that special department, though, of course,

I grow them abundantly, and shall presently speak their

praise. Again, I have not included among the single speci-
mens certain varieties, as beautiful perhaps as any which are
there, but more appropriate to form centrepieces of beds ;

to be placed at the back of beds, or on either side of walks

with other Roses ; because, only blooming once, they are

wont to look conspicuously dreary, in solitude and separa-

tion, when their summer flowers have fallen. No Rose-
trees can be more admirably adapted for the pyramidal
form, owing to their luxuriant growth and bloom, than

Blairii 2, a perplexing title (transposed to " Bleaiy Eye" by a cottager of my

acquaintance), until we receive the explanation that the Rose was one of two
seedlings raised by Mr Blair of Stamford Hill, near London. No. I, though
once eulogised (see Sweet's British Flcnver-Gardeii, vol. iv. p. 405) as "this
splendid Rose," is worthless ; but No. 2, with its large globular flowers, the
petals deepening from a most delicate flesh-colour without to a deep rosy
blush within, is a gem of purest ray serene. A bloom of it, cut from the tree
before it was fully expanded, in the intermediate state between a bud and a
 —

SELECTION. 155

Rose, and tastefully placed with a frond of Adiantum, (Cuneatum, Sanctee

Catherinre, or Tenerum) in her back hair — I beg pardon, her back snakes
would make even a Fury good-looking. It belongs to the Hybrid China
family, as does

Brenmis, far more happy as a Climbing Rose than when, scaling with his Gauls
the Tarpeian rock, he woke up the geese who woke up the Romans to repel

him headlong, and to save their capital. It is a most free-growing, free-

blooming variety, with large deep carmine flowers.
Chai'les Lawson, a hybrid from the Isle de Bourbon Rose, makes a noble speci-
men, producing magnificent blooms of a bright glowing pink abundantly
in all seasons. This glorious Rose well deserves all those adjectives expres-
sive of beauty which, I begin to fear, my readers will regard as wearisome
and vain repetitions. I can only plead that the epithets are true, and cry
" Excuse tautology !" as I once heard a parrot scream for the best part of a
summer's day.
Chenedollc, Hybrid China, is a veiy attractive garden Rose. Not "an article

which will bear the closest inspection " of anatomical eyes, but adding gi-eatly

to the general effect of the Rosarium with its vivid crimson flowers.

Coupe d''Hebt\ Hybrid Bourbon, is perhaps a size smaller than we should have
expected Hebe's cup to be, considering the requirements of such inflam-
matory personages as Jupiter, Mars, and Bacchus. Probably, when the gods

set up a butler, as they did on the dismissal of Hebe, and in the person of
Ganymede, they may have enlarged their goblets ; but it was a fashion of
the ancients, including our own grandfathers, to take their wine from egg-

cups and extinguishers of glass. Be this as it may. Coupe d'Hebe is

undoubtedly one of our most graceful and refined Roses, exquisite in form
and in colour, the latter a silvery blush. Referring to a list of the Roses

which I grew in 1851, I find that, of 434 varieties, 410 have been disannulled
to make way for their betters ! Of the two dozen which are in office still,

three-fourths are climbing or decorative Roses, and six only of sufficient

merit to pass the ordeal of exhibition — namely, Blairii 2, Cloth-of-Gold,

Devoniensis, La Reine, Souvenir de Malmaison, and Coupe d'Hebe.
There was another
Genej-al Jacqueminot, a Hybrid China Rose, in high favour at that time ; and
156 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

though he cannot compete with his modem namesake, his regimentals being
neither so well made nor so brilliant, he is still a very handsome hero, and
forms, with his vigorous branches and fine large purple-crimson flowers, a
fine Pillar Rose. So does
Jnno, H. C, a Rose which, like the goddess, may justly complain of neglect,
appearing in few gardens, and well deserving a place in all. I must allow
that Juno is sometimes "inconstant;" nor does the sorrowful fact surprise

us, foreknowing the provocations of her husband Jupiter ; but she is,

generally, all that a good Rose ought to be, and then most divinely fair.

We have so few Roses of her pale delicate complexion, that, until we are
favoured with more Perpetuals of the Caroline de Sansales style, Juno is a
most valuable Rose, large and full, and, in her best phase, an effective flower
for exhibition.

Paul Pen-as, H. B., is another valuable Rose in this section, of robust growth,
and producing plentifully its well-shaped blooms, of a light rose-colour.
Paul Rica lit, H. B., was once the swell of the period, the D'Orsay in our beau

vionde of Roses ; and though no longer a leader of fashion, he is still a very

attractive member of society. Upon the tree, its large, closely-petalled, rich

crimson flowers are most beautiful ; but it is not reliable as a show Rose,
expanding rapidly, and too often displaying a lai'ge "eye," on his arrival at
the exhibition, as though astonished by the splendour of the scene.

Mr W. Paul, In the Rose-Garde?i, commends the Moss

as a Pillar Rose. In rich soil It has the vigorous growth

required, but It Avould be difficult, I think, to induce the

flowering laterals, which should beautify at regular interv^als

the pillar or pyramidal Rose-tree. The only satisfactory

specimen which I have seen or heard of was one of that

very beautiful variety called Lanei.

Arches and arcades are graceful, because natural, forms,

quas Natiira sua sponte suggcrit, as we read in our Oxford

 SELECTION. i^j

Logic, in which to grow varieties of the Rose having lono-,

lissom, drooping branches. All the Climbing Roses selected

in the preceding chapter, except the Banksian, which must

have a wall, are admirable for the purpose — the Ayrshire

and Sempervirens being the first to fulfil their mission,

covering the framework in two or three summers with their

white clustering Roses and deep-green glossy leaves. Of

the Noisettes, Gloire de Dijon, Marechal Niel, and Solfa-

terre, are sure successes ; Cloth-of-Gold and Lamarque

doubtful. M. Niel is specially adapted for this form of

Rose - growing, from the pendulous habit of its glorious

golden blooms. Walking beneath, you are privileged to

see them with all their charms displayed ; and never yet
was arch of triumph reared to compare with this in beauty.

All the summer Roses which I have selected for pillars,

omitting Paul Ricaut, are equally to be commended for

arches also, and soon meet each other upon them when
generously and judiciously treated. To the latter I would
add Triomphe de Bayeux, Hybrid China, a variety of
remarkable vigour, with delicate flowers, resembling those

of a Tea -scented Rose, and invaluable in the bud for

bouquets and button-holes.

These arches and arcades might be introduced with a
 ! —

158 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

pleasing effect in other places away from the Rosarium

in those plantation-walks, for example, which are attached

to many of our country residences ; and these Climbing

Roses might be planted by landlords of generosity and

taste, so as to make unsightly buildings ornamental, and

to render many a plain cottage more cheerful and home-

like. I should like to see them more frequently at our

railway stations —and why not upon our railway bridges

and embankments ? How striking and beautiful thereon

would be such a torrent of white Roses as I have seen at

Sawbridgeworth, covering the bank which slopes to the

road from the house of the great Rose king

Coming down from the Climbers to the

Tall Standards,

I take leave to say that, although where windows and walls

are otherwise inaccessible, a long spider-broom in the hands

of an efficient housemaid deserves the admiration with

which we watched it in our youth, few persons would think

of cutting it in twain, and of setting the upper half in a

garden of Roses. Yet have I seen objects suggestive of

such an operation in some of those remarkably tall stan-

dards which are still extant, but which, were I Czar and
 ;

SELECTION. 159

Autocrat of all the Roses, would soon find themselves, like

other foolish Poles, in exile. Their appearance is unhappy

there is no congruity between stock and scion, no union

between horse and rider —an exposition, on the contrary, of

mutual discomfort, as though the monkey were to mount
the giraffe. The proprietors, it would seem, have been mis-
led by an impression that the vigour of the Brier would be

imparted to the Rose, whereas the superabundance of sap

has been fatal. Food, continuous and compulsory, which

it could not assimilate or digest, has induced a sickly

surfeit ; and the wretched Rose is stupefied, and looks so,

with a determination of blood to the head. Granting a

success, which I have never seen but once (in a glorious

tree of the old Hybrid China Ftdgens), the process of

fruition would be laborious. Only from a balloon, a bal-

cony, a bedroom window, could we supervise and fully

appreciate such sublimities ! Are we then to discard

entirely those standard trees described to us in the cata-

logue as " extra tall " 1 Is Briareus the giant to be again

buried beneath Mount Etna — /. e., the rubbish-heap 1 Cer-

tainly not. He may do us good service, kindly treated,

and be made to look most imposing in our gardens

holding a fair bouquet of Roses in each of his hundred

l60 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

hands. I mean that the vigorous Briers, from 6 to 8 feet

in height, may be converted into

Weeping Rose-Trees,
which, properly trained, are very beautiful. Buds of the
Ayrshire and Evergreen Roses, of Amadis and Gracilis,

Boursaults, or of Blairii 2, Hybrid China, should be in-

serted, in three or four laterals, at the top of such standards

as have been selected for their health as well as their height.

Closely pruned the following spring, they may be trans-

planted from the nursery, or from the private budding-

ground, in the autumn, and the removal must be effected

with every possible care and attention. I would advise

that these tall specimens be moved somewhat earlier than

the usual time for transplanting, so that, when firmly

secured in their place, and freely watered, they may be

induced to make roots, and gain some hold of the ground

before the winter begins. A strong iron stake, set side

by side with the stem, and surrounding it just below the

junction of the buds with a semi-globular framework, the

whole apparatus resembling a parasol with a quadruple

allowance of stick, will be the best support for the tree

(fixed deeply in the ground, of course, as directed for the

 —

SELECTION. l6l

Pillar Roses), and will enable the amateur to dispose the

branches at regular intervals, so that they will finally form

a fair dome of Roses — such a floral fountain as may have

played in the fancy of our Laureate, when he wrote
*'
The white Rose weeps, she is late."

And now we have passed through the Rose-clad walls

through the Rose-wreathed colonnades and courts of the

outer palace — into the anteroom of that presence-chamber

where we shall see, in brilliant assemblage, the beauty and

the chivalry of the Queen of Flowers. We will pause a

while that we may arrange simultaneously our nerves and

our court costume, the former troubled by a horrible sus-

picion that every eye is gazing derisively upon our black-

silk legs ; and then let us enter, to make, if that abominable

sword permit, our loyal and devout obeisance.

 —

CHAPTER X.

GARDEN ROSES.

Soox after the publication of my last chapter,* I received

from a furio-comic amateur the following epistle :

Sir, — I wish to be informed what the Two in Whist you mean by leaving
me on the i st of April, vlt. , in a ridiculous costume and a crowded anteroom,
quietly proposing to keep me there for a month. My legs, sir, cannot be
included among "varieties suitable for exhibition." They have, on the con-
trary, been described too truly by a sarcastic street-boy as "bad uns to stop a

pig in a gate," and you might at least have clothed them in the black velvet
trousers recently and reasonably introduced. Moreover, I hate anterooms.
They remind me of disagreeable epochs — of waiting in custom-houses for lug-

gage, which was not, perhaps, quite what moral luggage should be ; of dreary
dining-rooms belonging to dentists, where, surveying with nervous rapidity the
photographic album, and wondering over the portrait of Mrs Dentist, how that

pretty face could have wed with forceps, lancet, and file, I have heard kicks
and groans from the ^^
drawing-room 2^0^^^'' " oh-ohs " from the chair which
I was about to fill. They recall to memory rooms scholastic, in which I lis-

tened for the approach of lictor and fasces, and from which, though mounted
and with my back turned to the enemy, I had no power to flee. They bring
to recollection rooms collegiate, sombre, walled with books, where with other

* In the Gardener.
 GARDEN ROSES. 1
63

rebels I have waited to see that proctor, who hardly knew in the meek, respect-
ful, gown-clad undergraduate of the morn, the hilarious Jehu he met yester-eve
in a tandem and a scarlet coat. Again, sir, I repeat that I hate anterooms,
I hate waiting, I hate crowds, I hate black-silk stockings, and I am yours
irascibly, Rose Rampant.

I hasten at once, with many apologies, to the pacification

and relief of my disciple ; and seeing that he Is much too

hot and ruffled — I don't mean about the wrists, but Inwardly

— for immediate presentation, I propose to cool him a little

in the fresh pure air, taking him with me to the summit of

a breezy slope, which he, being of a rampant nature, will

rejoice to ascend, and then showing him, when pleasantly

and kindly " we've climbed the hill together," all tJie Roses !

Just out of Interlachen, the tourist on his way to Lauter-

brunnen Is Invited by his courier or his coachman to leave

the main road, and, walking up the higher ground on the

right, to survey from the garden of a small residence, which

was used when I saw it as a pension or boarding-house, one

of the most lovely views In Switzerland —the two lakes of

Thun and Brienz. So would I now Invite the amateur

to survey and to consider the Roses In two divisions. I

would describe those, In the first place, which are desirable

additions to the Rosarium, either as enhancing the general

effect from the abundance or colour of their flowers, or as

 —

1 64 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

having some distinctive merit of their own, and which, not

being suitable for exhibition, I would designate as Garden

Roses ; and I would then make a selection of the varieties

which produce the most symmetrical and perfect blooms

that is to say, of show Roses.
And I advise the amateur, beginning to form a collec-

tion, to appropriate unto himself a good proportion of those

Roses from the first division, which, being of a more robust

growth than many of the show varieties, are more likely to

satisfy and to enlarge his ambition. I hardly think that I

should have been a Rosarian had not the wise nurseryman

who supplied the first Roses which I remember, sent strong

and free-blooming sorts ; and I have known many a young

florist discouraged who attempted, without experience, the

cultivation of plants which required an expert, or who had

received from some inferior or shortsighted purveyor weakly

and moribund trees. Wherefore, writing with the hope that

I may in some degree promote and instruct that love of

the Rose from which I have derived so much happiness,

I exhort novice and nurseryman alike, as ever they hope

to build a goodly edifice, to lay a deep and sure foundation.

Let the one order robust varieties, and the other send
vigorous plants.
 —

GARDEN ROSES. 1
65

Then, should the educated taste of the amateur lead him

to prefer the perfection of individual Roses to the general

effect of his Rosary —should he find more pleasure in a

single bloom, teres atque rotunda, than in a tree luxuriantly

laden with flowers, whose petals are less gracefully disposed

— If, like young Norval, he has heard of battles, and longs

to win his spurs — then must these latter lusty, trusty,

valiant pioneers make way for the vanguard of his fighting

troops. Let him not disband them hastily. If, surveying

the Roses of these two divisions, and having grown them
all, I were asked whether I should prefer a Rose-garden

laid out and planted for its general beauty — for its inclu-

siveness of all varieties of special Interest —or a collection

brought together and disposed solely for the production of
prize flowers —whether I would live by Brienz or by Thun,
I hardly know what would be my answer. Let the amateur
begin with a selection from both, and then let him make
his choice. A choice, if he Is worthy of that name, he will

have to make, as Increase of appetite grows with that It

feeds on, and demands new ground to be broken up for Its

sustenance. It is hardly possible, for the reasons which I

have given at page 115, to grow the two conjointly : and to

grow them separately — that is, to have both a beautiful

1 66 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Rose-garden and a garden of beautiful Roses — requires the

XYirria ':r\ovrov^ the

Magnos Senecae prsedivitis hortos,

the ground and the gold, which few can spare. They who
can —who have both the desire and the means, the en-
thusiasm and the exchequer — should have some such a

Rosary as I have suggested in the chapter on Arrangement,

together with a large budding-ground annually devoted,

fresh Briers or Manetti on fresh soil, to the production of

show Roses. As a rule, the amateur who becomes a keen

exhibitor will eliminate the varieties which he cannot show;

and the amateur who studies fou^ ensemble —the complete-

ness of the scene, diversity, abundance — will rest satisfied

with his exhibition at home. He will grow, of course, the

more perfect Roses, enumerated hereafter as Roses suit-

able for exhibition ; but not requiring them in quantity,

he will have ample room to combine with them those

varieties which, though their individual flowers are not

sufficiently symmetrical for the show, have their own special

grace and beauty — the garden Roses, which I now propose

to discuss.
 GARDEN ROSES. 167

He must not omit the blushing, fresh, fragrant Pro-

vence. It was to many of us the Rose of our childhood,

and its delicious perfume passes through the outer sense

into our hearts, gladdening them with bright and happy
dreams, saddening them with lone and chill awakings. It

brings more to us than the fairness and sweet smell of a

Rose. We paused in our play to gaze on it, with the touch

of a vanished hand in ours, with a father's blessing on our

heads, and a mother's prayer that we might never lose our

love of the pure and beautiful. Happy they who retain or

regain that love ; and thankful am I that, with regard to

Roses, the child was father to the man. Yes, I was a

Rosarian cBt. vied IV; and in my seventh summer I pre-

sided at a " flower-show" — for thus we designated a few

petals of this Provence Rose or of some other flower placed

behind a piece of broken glass, furtively appropriated when

the glazier was at dinner, and cutting, not seldom, our

small fingers (retribution swift upon the track of crime),

which we backed with newspaper turned over the front as

a frame or edging, and fastened from the resources of our

natural gums.

And now, can any of my readers appease Indignation and

1 68 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

satisfy curiosity by informing me who first called the Pro-

vence Rose "Old Cabbage," and why?* For myself, "I

should as soon have thought of calling an earthquake gen-

teel," as Dr Maitland remarked, when an old lady near to

him during an oratorio declared the Hallelujah Chorus to

be "very pretty." It must have been a tailor who sub-

stituted the name of his beloved esculent for a word so full-

fraught with sweetness, so suggestive of the brave and the

beautiful, of romance and poesy, sweet minstrelsy and

trumpet-tones. The origin of the title Provence is, I am

aware, somewhat obscure. Mr Rivers thinks that it cannot

have been given because the Rose was indigenous to Pro-

vence in France, or our French brethren would have proudly

claimed it, instead of knowing it only by its specific name,

Rose a cent fmillcs ; but we may have received it, neverthe-

less, from Provence, as Provence, when Provincia, received

it — Rosa centifolia — from her Roman masters, and may have
named it accordingly ; or we may have had it direct from

Italy, as stated in Haydn's Dictionary of Dates. Be this as

it may, we have all the rhyme, and enough of the reason, to

* I am, sub rosd, well aware that (as Miller writes in his Dictionary) the

Cabbage Rose is so called "because its petals are closely folded over each

other like cabbages."

 GARDEN ROSES. 1
69

justify our preference for the more euphonious term, and I

vote " Old Cabbage " to the pigs.

The Rosarian should devote a small bed of rich soil, well

manured, to the cultivation of this charming flower, grow-

ing it on its own roots, and pruning closely.

The Double Yellow Provence Rose, of a rich, glowing,

buttercup yellow as to complexion, and prettily cupped as

to form, full of petal, but of medium size, has almost dis-

appeared from our gardens, and I have only seen it at the

Stamford shows, sent there from beautiful Burleigh. Al-

though common at one time in this country, it seems never

to have been happy or acclimatised. " How am I to burst

the Yellow Rose.^" was a question often sent to the horti-

cultural editor. All sorts of manoeuvres, and all sorts of

manures, were tried. Mrs Lawrence writes, that a tree of

this Rose was planted against an east wall at Broughton

Hall, in Buckinghamshire, Avith a dead fox placed at its

roots, by her father. She adds, fortunately, that he " was

a great sportsman," or posterity would certainly have sus-

pected papa of being what posterity calls a vulpicide. " In

many seasons," writes the Rev. Mr Hanbury, in his ela-

borate work upon Gardening, published just a century ago,

" these Roses do not blow fair. Sometimes they appear as
 —

I/O A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

if the sides had been eaten by a worm when in bud ; at

other times the petals are all withered before they expand

themselves, and form the flower. For this purpose, many

have recommended to plant them against north walls, and
in the coldest and moistest part of the garden, because, as
the contexture of their petals is so delicate, they will be

then in less danger of suffering by the heats of the sun,

w^hich seem to wither and burn them as often as they ex-
pand themselves. But I could not observe without wonder

what I never saw before i.e., in the parching and dry

summer of 1762, all my Double Yellow Roses, both in the

nursery-lines and elsewhere, in the hottest of the most

southern exposures and dry banks, everywhere all over my

whole plantation, flowered clear and fair." Here, in my
opinion, the latter paragraph contradicts and disproves the
former, showing us that so far from the Yellow Provence

Rose being burned and withered by the sun, we have only

now and then in an exceptional season sunshine sufficient

to bring it to perfection. And for this reason we will leave

it—
*'
If she be not fair for me,
What care I how fair she be ?"

More kindly and gracious is the Miniature or Pompon

 GARDEN ROSES. I/I

Provence, always bringing us an early but too transient

supply of those lovely little flowers which were the "baby

Roses" and the "pony Roses" of our childhood. They
may be grown on their own roots in clumps among other
Roses, or as edgings to beds, De Meaux and Spong being

the best varieties. The amateur is supposed to be already

in possession of another Lilliputian treasure, the Banksian

Rose, commended to him when we discussed the Climbers ;

and I must here appropriately introduce him to one more

tiny belle. Miss Ernestine de Barente, Hybrid Perpetual

Rose, a darling little maid, with bright pink cheek and

quite "the mould of form." The Miniature China (Rosa

Lawrenceana or Fairy Rose) is more adapted for pot

cultivation.*

A few varieties from the Hybrid Provence section are

valuable in the general collection, having those lighter tints

which are still infrequent, being of a healthful habit, and

growing well either as dwarfs or standards. Blanchefleur

is a very pretty Rose, of the colour commonly termed

* Twenty years ago these fascinating little fairies were numerous. We had,
among Hybrid Perpetuals, Clementine Duval, pale rose ; Coquette de Mont-
morency, cherry and violet; Pauline Buonaparte, white; Pompone de St Rade-
gonde, carmine ; and many others.
 —

1/2 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

French white i.e., EngHsh white with a slight suffusion of

pink ; Comte Plater and Comtesse de Segur are of a soft

buff or cream colour, the latter a well-shaped Rose ; Prin-

cesse Clementine is a rara avis in terris, but not a bit like

unto a black swan, being one of our best white Roses ; and
Rose Devigne is large and beautiful and blushing. These
Roses, having long and vigorous shoots, should not be

severely cut, or they will resent the insult by " running to

wood" — excessive lignification, as I once heard it termed,
and burst out laughing, to the intense disgust of the

speaker.

And now I am not entirely exempt from the fear, that

with some such similar derision the reader may receive

a fact which I propose to submit to him. It is, neverthe-

less, as true an incident in my history as it may be a

strange statement in his ears, that, once upon a time, some
nine or ten summers since, I was driven out of London by
a Rose ! And thus it came to pass : Early in June, that
period of the year which tries, I think, more than any
other, the patience of the Rosarian, waiting in his garden
like some lover for his Maud, and vexing his fond heart

with idle fears, I was glad to have a valid excuse for

spending a few days in town. To town I went, transacted
 —

GARDEN ROSES. 1 73

my business, saw the pictures, heard an opera, wept my

annual tear at a tragedy (whereupon a swell in the con-

tiguous stall looked at me as though I were going to drown

him), roared at Buckstone, rode in the Park, met old

friends — and I was beginning to think that life in the

country was not so very much " more sweet than that of
painted pomp," when, engaged to a dinner-party, on the

third day of my visit, and to enliven my scenery, I bought

a Rose. Only a common Rose, one from a hundred which

a ragged girl was hawking in the streets,* and which the

swell I spoke of would have considered offal —a Moss-
Rosebud, with a bit of fern attached. Only a twopenny
Rose ; but as I carried it in my coat, and gazed on it, and
specially when, waking next morning, I saw it in my water-

jug — saw it as I lay in my dingy bedroom, and heard the

distant roar of Piccadilly instead of the thrush's song — saw
it, and thought of my own Roses — it seemed as though
they had sent to me a messenger, whom they knew I loved,

to bid me ''come home, come home." Then I thought

of our dinner - party overnight, and how my neighbour
* " Poor Peggy hawks nosegays from street to street,

Till — think of that, who find life so sweet

She hates the smell of Roses !"

—Hood.
174 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

thereat, a young gentleman who had nearly finished a fine

fortune and a strong constitution, had spoken to me of

a mutual friend, one of the best and cheeriest fellows alive,

as " an awful duffer," " moped to death," " buried alive in

some dreadful hole " (dreadful hole being a charming place

in the country), because he has no taste for stealing or

being robbed at races, can't see the Avit of swearing, and

has an insuperable partiality for his own wife. And I

arose, reflecting ; and though I had taken my lodgings and

arranged my plans for three more days in London, I went

home that morning, with the Rosebud in my coat.

Ah, my brothers ! of the many blessings which our

gardens bring, there is none more precious than the con-

tentment with our lot, the deeper love of home, which

makes us ever so loath to leave them, so glad to return

once more. And I would that some kindly author who

knew history and loved gardens too, would collect for us in

one book (a large one) the testimony of great and good

men to the power of this sweet and peaceful influence — of

such witnesses as Bacon and Newton, Evelyn and Cowley,

Temple, Pope, Addison, and Scott. Writing two of these

names, I am reminded of words particularly pertinent to

the incident which led me to quote them, and which will

 GARDEN ROSES. 1 75

be welcome, I do not doubt, even to those gardeners who

know them best.

"If great delights," writes Cowley, "be joined with so

much innocence, I think it is ill done of men not to take

them here, where they are so tame and ready at hand,

rather than to hunt for them in courts and cities, where

they are so wild, and the chase so troublesome and dan-

gerous. We are here among the vast and noble scenes of

nature, we are there among the pitiful shifts of policy ; we

work here in the light and open ways of the divine bounty,
we grope there in the dark and confused labyrinths of
human malice ; our senses here are feasted with the clear

and genuine taste of their objects, which are all sophisticated

there, and for the most part overwhelmed with their con-

traries. Here is harmless and cheap plenty ; there guilty

and expensive luxury."

And Sir William Temple, after a long experience of all

the gratifications which honour and wealth could bring,

writes thus from his fair home and beautiful garden at

Moor Park :
" The sweetness of air, the pleasantness of

smells, the verdure of plants, the cleanness and lightness of

food, the exercises of working or walking, but above all the

exemption from cares and solicitude, seem equally to favour

 — ;

1/6 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

and improve both contemplation and health, the enjoyment

of sense and imagination, and thereby the quiet and ease

both of the body and mind." And again he speaks of "the

sweetness and satisfaction of this retreat, where, since my

resolution taken of never entering again into any public
employments, I have passed five years without ever going

once to town, though I am almost in sight of it, and have a

house there ready to receive me."
Even so to his garden may every true gardener say, as

Martial to his wife Marcella :

" Romam tu mihi sola facis,"

" You make me callous to all meaner charms."

" Let others seek the giddy throng

Of mirth and revehy
The simpler joys which nature yields
Are dearer far to me."

And let there be, by all means, among those joys included

a bed of the Common Moss-Rose — a " well-aired " bed of

dry subsoil, for damp is fatal — in which, planted on its own
roots, well manured, closely pruned, and pegged down, it

will yield its flowers in abundance, most lovely, like

American girls, in the bud, but long retaining the charms

of their premiere jeimesse before they arrive at rosehood.

 GARDEN ROSES. I77

When the soil Is heavy, the Moss-Rose will grow upon the

Brier ; and I have had beautiful standards of Baron de

Wassenaer, a pretty cupped Rose, but wanting in sub-

stance ; of Comtesse de Murinais, a very robust Rose as to

wood, but by no means so generous of its white petals ;

of

the charming Cristata or Crested, a most distinct and at-

tractive Rose, first found, it is said, on the walls of a con-

vent near Fribourg or Berne, which all Rosarians should

grow, having buds thickly fringed with moss, and these

changing in due season to large and well-shaped flowers of

a clear pink colour ; of Gloire des Mousseuses, the largest

member of the family, and one df the most beautiful pale

Roses ; of Laneii, for which, on its introduction, I gave

half-a-gulnea, and which repaid me well with some of the

best Moss-Roses I have grown, of a brilliant colour (bright

rose), of a symmetrical shape, and of fine foliage, free from

blight and mildew, those cruel foes of the Rose in gene-

ral and the Moss-Rose in particular ; of Luxembourg, one

of the darker varieties, more remarkable for vigour than

virtue ; of Marie de Blois, a Rose of luxuriant growth, large

in flower, and rich in moss ; of Moussue Presque Partout,

a singular variety, curiously mossed upon its leaves and

shoots ; and of Princess Alice, nearly white, free-flowering,

M
178 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

and much like Comtesse de Murinals. But, as a rule, they

soon deteriorate on the Brier, and the amateur will best

succeed in growing them as I have advised with reference

to the Common Moss. Celina and White Bath I have not

included in the preceding list, never having grown them as

standards; but they deserve attention — the first for its

exquisite crimson buds, the second as being our only really

white Moss-Rose, but of very delicate habit.

Of the Moss-Roses called Perpetual, and deserving the

name as autumnal bloomers, Madame Edouard Ory and

Salet are the only specimens which I have grown success-
fully in my own garden, or admired elsewhere. The former
is of a carmine, the latter of a light rose, tint.

All the Roses which I have selected in this chapter are

desirable in an extensive Rose-garden. To amateurs of

less ample range or resources I would commend, as the

most interesting, the Common and Miniature Provence,
with the Common and the Crested Moss.
 —

CHAPTER XI.

GARDEN ROSE ^—{coii timied)

I COMMENCED my selection of garden Roses —that Is, of

Roses which are beautiful upon the tree, but not the most
suitable for exhibition— with the Provence and the Moss,
because these were the Roses which I loved the first. They
had but few contemporaries alike precious to our eyes and
noses in the garden of my childhood ; — the York and
Lancaster, the Alba, the Damask, the Sweet Brier, the old

Monthly ; and these also shall suggest, if you please, our

route through the land of Roses.

First, then, with reference to the York and Lancaster

thus called because it bears in impartial stripes the colours,

red and white, of those royal rivals who fought the Wars of

the Roses —although I cannot commend its flimsy flowers,

as gaudily and as scantily draped as the queen of a ballet

or burlesque, I must claim a place in the Rosary for a few

l80 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

variegated Roses very superior to their prototype. CEillet

Parfait is so truly named, that a skilful florist, seeing a cut

bloom of it for the first time, would only be convinced by

a close inspection that it was not a Carnation but a Rose.
With a clear and constant variegation of white and crim-
son stripes, it is marvellously like some beautiful Bizarre";

and Perle des Panachees, white and rose, is almost as

effective as another gay deceiver. CEillet Flammande

and Tricolor de Flandres, though not so striking and
distinct —their triple colours, white, lilac, and red, being

somewhat dingy and confused — are always curious, and

sometimes pleasing. These variegated Roses are easily

cultivated, growing freely on the Brier with liberal treat-

ment and moderate pruning. They are affiliated in

the catalogues to the family of Gallicas. But what are

Gallicas ?

" Gallica," responds the intelligent schoolboy, "is a Latin

adjective, feminine gender, and signifying French." But

can the intelligent schoolboy, or the still more intelligent

adult, inform us why the Latin for French should be ap-

plied to this particular section only of the multitudinous

Roses sent to us from France ? " They who send," it may

be answered, " make a special claim, for they call them
 — —

GARDEN ROSES. l8l

*
Rosiers de Provins/ and Provins surely is in France,

department Seine-et-Marne." Yes ! but with every grate-

ful recognition of the debt which we owe to French

Rosarians, it is well known that in this instance the claim

cannot be proved. The birthplace of the Rose called

Gallica is unknown, disputed, like the birthplace of Homer.

" It is from Asia," says one ;
" it is the Rose of Miletus,
mentioned by Pliny." " It was first found," writes a

second, *'
upon Italian soil." " It came from Holland,"
cries Tertius, " beyond a doubt, and Van Eden was the
man who introduced it."*

But I have asked this question with an ulterior view. It

is time, I think, for some alterations in the nomenclature

and classification of the Rose. When summer Roses

Roses, that is, which bloom but once —were almost the only
varieties grown, and when hybridisers found a splendid
market for novelties in any quantities, new always and
distinct in namey the subdivisions yet remaining in some

*
The French Roses, so called, have all been derived from the original
Tuscany. Van Eden and others of Haarlem raised all the early varieties in
Holland; and the first man in France who succeeded in raising new varieties
from them was Descemet, who resided at St Denis. Vibert bought his stock,
and continued the raising of seedling Rose-trees. Horticultural Magazine,
i. 282.
1 82 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

of our catalogues were interesting, no doubt, to our fore-

fathers, and more intelligible, let us hope, than they are to

us. Let us believe that it was patent to their shrewder

sense why pink Roses were called Albas, and Roses whose

hues were white and lemon were described as Damask.

Let us suppose that they could distinguish at any distance

the Gallica from the Provence Rose, and that when they
heard the words Hybrid China, instead of being reminded,

as I am, of a cross between a Cochin and a Dorking fowl,

they recognised an infinity of distinctive attributes which

estrange that variety from the Hybrid Bourbon in the

most palpable and objective form. Though it may be

difficult for us to understand why the Persian Yellow,

brought to England from Persia by Sir H. Willock, should

have been promptly described as an Austrian Brier* —and
we are a trifle perplexed to comprehend whence the latter,

discovered first in Italy, derived its appellation — let us be

sure that it was all plain, and clear as the light, to them.

But now that these summer Roses are no longer para-

mount — rapidly disappearing, on the contrary, before the
superior and more enduring beauty of those varieties which

* The two Rose-Trees, it is true, are very similar in habit, but the nomencla-
ture is "just a muddle a'toogether."
 GARDEN ROSES. 1 83

bloom in summer and autumn too ; now that several

divisions formerly recognised are gone from the catalogues,

and others include but two or three able-bodied Roses on
their muster-roll — it would be advisable, I think, to ignore

altogether these minor distinctions, and to classify as sum-

mer Roses all those which bloom but once. Not without
a painful sigh can we older Rosarians witness the removal

of our old landmarks — not without a loyal sorrow do we

say farewell to friends who have brightened our lives with

so much gladness ; but we cannot long remember our

losses, surrounded as we are by such abundant gains, and

the tears of memory must pass away as quickly as the dew

in summer. We ring out the old with funeral bells ; we
ring in the new with a merry peal. Pensive upon our for-

mer favourites, and poring over ancient lists, we are as

wanderers in some fair burial-ground, half garden and half

graves (would that " God's acre " were always so reading
!),

mournfully the names of the departed. Let us rejoice the

rather to leave the shade of melancholy boughs for the

sunlit ground, which is garden all of it, and let us return

to the summer Roses, demanding and deserving admission.

The white and red Roses of my childhood have long left

the garden in which they grew. I see the former some-

 — —

184 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

times by old farmhouses and in cottage plots, wildly vigor-

ous as a gypsy's hair, and covering huge bushes with its

snowy flowers profusely, like a Guelder Rose, recalling the

suggestion of the elder Pliny, that once upon a time the

land we live in was named, after its white Roses, Albion

ob albas rosas* But the latter, the Damask, with its few

rich velvety-crimson petals, is a memory, and that is all.

Nor do I ask a restoration in either case ; only that they

may be replaced by better Roses —the White by Blanche-

fleur, very pretty, although the blanche is decidedly a

French white ; by Madame Hardy, a true white, and a

"
well-formed Rose, but, alas ! "green-eyed," like ''jealousy

—envious, it may be, of Madame Zoutman, who, though

not of such a clear complexion, is free from ocular in-

firmities ; or, with more reason, of Princesse Clementine,

before described (see p. 172) as one of our best white

Roses ; by Princesse de Lamballe, which most resembles

the Alba of my boyhood, producing an abundance of
Roses, distinct and pretty, but undersized ; and by Tri-
omphe de Bayeux, whose praise has been sung at p. 157,

supi^a.

* "Albion insula sic dicta ab albis rupibus quas mare alluit, vel ob rosas
albas, quibus abundat." Hist. Nat., iv. 1 6.
 GARDEN ROSES. 1
85

These white Roses are no candidates (though candidatce)

at our severe competitive examinations ; but they are

dehghtful members of our Rose community, beautiful in

themselves, and enhancing greatly the beauty of others.

We must not be fastidious because they are of medium

size in some cases and not purely white in others, re-

membering that their colours are still the most rare of all,

and that their flowers are plenteous always. They are

easily cultivated on the Brier, the Manetti, or their own

roots.

In place of the dark crimson, which we called the Dam-

ask, Rose, the amateur is advised to substitute Boule de

Nanteuil, D'Aguesseau, Frederic 11. , General Jacqueminot

(Hybrid China), Grandissima, Ohl, Paul Ricaut, Shake-

speare, and Triomphe de Jaussens. These are noble Roses,
of healthful growth, fine foliage, and ample bloom. They
make grand heads on standards of medium height, moder-
ately pruned, and immoderately manured. It seems to
me but a few summers since these were our finest show
varieties, the belles of our Court balls : and now, seen in

the zenith of their glory upon the trees, they are not to be

surpassed in size or richness of colour, but they have not

the perfect symmetry of our more recent Roses, and they

 —

1 86 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

are but poor travellers, becoming restless in hot summer

nights, and throwing off their petals, as feverish dreamers

their counterpane and blanket and sheet

Intermediate between these light and dark varieties

neither blondes nor brunettes, Minnas nor Brendas —and

in place of the blush and pink Roses which bloomed in our

gardens together with those I have described, such as ''

the

Celestial," the blush Boursault, and others, — I commend

for the general ornamentation of the Rose-garden all the

Pillar Roses described at p. 154-156, especially Blairii 2,

Charles Lawson, Coupe d'Hebe, Juno, and Paul Perras.

Low on bushes, high on poles, or midway on the Brier,

these Roses are alike effective, charming. To these I

would add La Ville de Bruxelles, having bright pink

flowers of a compact form, and so complete my selection

of .summer Roses for the general collection.

" Wait a moment," it may be said ;
" do you mean to tell

us that such Roses as Blairii 2 and Charles Lawson are only

garden Roses, and not good enough for exhibition ?

" Yes,

I do mean to tell you that it is with these Roses as with

those which we discussed before them. If you could bring

the British public to them, they would be rewarded with

the highest distinctions, but the process of conveying them

 —

GARDEN ROSES. 1
8/

to the British public takes the exquisite freshness from

Charles Lawson's beauty, and too often produces in the

junior Miss Blair a transition from the blushing graceful-

ness of girlhood into the rubicund stoutness of middle age.

Again and again, charmed by their loveliness overnight, I

have given them a place in my boxes : as often I have been

obliged to confess that the impulse of the evening did not

satisfy the morning's reflection. On this subject I shall

have more to say ; meanwhile let us sniff

The Sweet-Brier ; and let no Rosarian lightly esteem this

simple but gracious gift. " You are a magnificent swell,"

said a dingy little brown bird, by name Philomela, to a

cock-pheasant strutting and crowing in the woods, "but

your music is an awful failure." So may the Sweet-Brier,

with no flowers to speak of, remind many a gaudy neigh-
bour that fine feathers do not constitute a perfect bird, and
that men have other senses as well as that of sight to

please. Not even among the Roses shall we find a more

delicious perfume. The Thurifer wears a sombre cassock,

but no sweeter incense rises heavenward.

In one of our most beautiful midland gardens there is a
circular space hedged in, and filled exclusively with sweet-

scented leaves and flowers. There grow the Eglantine and

 —

1 88 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

the Honeysuckle, the GiUiflower, the Clove and Stock,

Sweet- Peas and Musk, Jasmine and Geranium, Verbena

and Heliotrope —but the Eglantine to me, when I passed

through "The Sweet Garden," as it is called, just after a

soft May shower, had the sweetest scent of them all. It is

an idea very gracefully imagined and happily realised, but

suggested by, and still suggesting, sorrowful sympathies,

for the owner of that garden is blind.*

The Austrian Brier is a Sweet-Brier also ; and though

not so fragrant in its foliage as our own old favourite, it

brings us, in the variety called Persian Yellow, a satis-

factory recompense — namely, flowers of deepest, brightest

yellow, prettily shaped, but small. This Rose is almost the

earliest to tell us that summer is at hand, first by unfolding

its sweet leaves, of a most vivid refreshing green, and then

by its golden blooms. It grows well on the Brier, but is

preferable, when size is an object, on its own roots, from

which it soon sends vigorous suckers, and so forms a large

bush. In pruning, the amateur will do well to remember

the warning

* The blind Squire of Osberton is dead, but I retain this description of his
Sweet Garden, hoping that the idea may be realised elsewhere, for the com-
fort and refreshment of others similarly afflicted.
 GARDEN ROSES. 1
89

" Ah me ! what perils do environ

The man who meddles with cold iron !"

seeing that if he is too vivacious with his knife, he will

inevitably destroy all hopes of bloom. Let him remove

weakly wood altogether, and then only shorten by a few
inches the more vigorous shoots.

We will pass now from garden Roses, which bloom but

once, to those which are called Perpetual, which,

" Ere one flowery season fades and dies,

Design the blooming wonders of the next."

What a change in my garden since, forty years ago, the

*'
old Monthly " and another member of the same family,
but of a deep crimson complexion (Fabvier, most probably),

were the only Roses of continuous bloom ! and now among

3000 trees not more than 30 are summer Roses. All the
rest Perpetuals, or rather, for I must repeat it, called Per-

petuals by courtesy, seeing that many of them score in

their second innings, and but few resume their former glory

in autumn. They are, nevertheless, as superior for the most

part in endurance as in quality to the summer Roses, and

they supply an abundance of the most beautiful varieties

both for the purpose now under consideration, the general

ornamentation of the Rosary, and for public exhibition.
1 90 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Before we skim their cream as garden Roses, let us re-

member with admiration the ancestral cow. For who shall

despise those old China Roses, which have brightened more

than any other flower our English homes, smiling through
our cold and sunless days like the brother born for adver-

sity, and winning from the foreigner, as much perhaps as

any of our graces, this frequent praise, ''Your land is the

garden of the world." The Frenchman, for example, as I

can remember him in my boyhood, who had been travelling

on the straight, flat, hedgeless, turfless roads of France, in

a torpid, torrid, dusty diligence, was in an ecstasy as he sat

upon the Dover mail, and went smoothly and cheerily, ten

miles per hour, through the meadows and the orchards, the

hop-yards and the gardens, of Kent. But nothing pleased

him more than the prettiness of the wayside cottage, clothed

with the Honeysuckle and the China Rose, and fragrant

with Sweet-Brier, Wallflower, Clove, and Stock.

I may not urge the restoration of this village beauty to

the modern Rose-garden, but in the mixed garden and in

the shrubbery the constant brave ''

old Monthly," the last

to yield in winter, the first to bloom in spring, is still de-

serving of a place. He, at all events, is no more a Rosarian

who sees no beauty in this Rose, than he a florist who does
 GARDEN ROSES. I9I

not love the meanest flower which grows. Nor must he

neglect some other old favourites in this family — such as

Cramoisie Superieure, honestly named, glowing and brilliant

as any of our crimson Roses, and forming a charming bed,

or edging of a bed, especially in the autumn ; and Mrs
Bosanquet, always fair, and good as beautiful —the same,

like a true lady, in an exalted or a low estate, on a standard

or on the ground, alone or in group, composed, graceful,

not having one of its pale pink delicate petals out of place.

Both of these Roses thrive well in pots, but they are most
attractive, I think, on their own roots out of doors, in a bed
of rich light mellow loam, pruned according to vigour of

growth, and pegged down when their shoots are supple, so

as to present a uniform surface.

When speaking of the Moss-Rose generally, I anticipated

the little which I had to say of the Moss Perpetual (p. 178),

and, passing on to the Damask Perpetual, have but two

Roses to commend, and these only where space is unlimited

and the love of Roses voracious. A tender sadness comes

to me thus speaking of them, a melancholy regret, as when

one meets In mid-life some goddess of our early youth, and,
out upon Time ! she has no more figure than a lighthouse,

and almost as much crimson in her glowing countenance as

192 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

there Is In its revolving light ; and we are as surprised and

disappointed as was Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe when he

met Mrs SIddons at Abbotsford, and " she ate boiled beef,

and swilled porter, and took snufT, and laughed till she

made the whole room shake again." I do not mean that

these Perpetual Damasks are too robust and ruddy, but

that they charm us no more as when Mr Lee of Hammer-

smith introduced Rose du Roi to a delighted public, and

the Comte, who presided over the gardens in which the

Rose was raised at St Cloud, resigned his office In disgust

because the flower was not named after himself, Lelicur —

a most ungracious act, seeing that it was by the King's
(Louis XVII I.) desire that the Rose had Its royal title, and

that the honour of originating the variety was due (no un-
common case) to Suchet, the foreman, and not to Lelieur,

the cJief. Mogador, which was subsequently raised from

Rose du Roi, was a decided Improvement, and Is still very

effective in a bed, from its vivid crimson tints ; but very few

of those amateurs who may pay me the compliment of

furnishing their Rosaries with the varieties which I com-

mend the most, will, I think, have room, when I have com-

pleted my catalogue, for the Damask Perpetual Rose.

It can vie no more with that section, the most perfect

 "

GARDEN ROSES. I93

and extensive of all, which we will next consider, so far as

its garden Roses are concerned — viz., the Hybrid Perpetual,

a family so numerous and so beautiful withal, that two of

our most fastidious Rosarians, ejecting from a select list

every flower which has not some special excellence, give us

the names *of 1 20 varieties as being sans 7'eprocJie, " I have

inserted in this list," says Mr Rivers, " Roses only, whether

new or old, that are distinct, good, and, above all, free and
healthy in their growth ; the flowers are all of full size,

fine shape, and perfection in colour ; in short, any variety

selected from it even at random will prove good, and well
worthy of cultivation." " Roses suitable for Exhibition

is the heading of Mr George Paul's list ; and no exhibitor

has proved so oft or so convincingly a knowledge of what

to show, and how to show it. But I am anticipating this

part of my subject, and, returning to our garden Roses, re-

commend the following selection : Anna Alexiefl", Auguste

Mie, Baronne Prevost, Caroline de Sansales, Duchesse de

Cambaceres, Duchess of Norfolk, Duchess of Sutherland,

Eugene Appert, General Jacqueminot, Oriflamme de St
Louis, Souvenir de la Reine d'Angleterre, and Triomphe de
I'Exposition, which have been already described as Pillar

Roses (p. 150-153), and are equally praiseworthy upon the

N
194 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

standard or the bush. Of these, Baronne Prevost and

General Jacqueminot make magnificent beds upon their

own roots, and so does Geant des Batailles, who, though

no longer, as I remember him, commander-in-chief, is still

a handsome and efficient aide-de-camp. To these I must

add Alphonse Damaizin, a rich deep crimson Rose ;

Anna de Diesbach, one of our largest, loveliest Roses,

quite a necessity in every garden, and generally included

among show Roses, but somewhat too deficient in the num-

ber of its pink petals to endure the ordeal ; Charles Mar-

gottin, bright carmine, all but an exhibition Rose ; Duke

of Edinburgh, a glorious flower, holding his own w^ith any
of the Jacqueminot tribe on the tree, but succumbing

rapidly to heat ; Mademoiselle Bonnaire, very precious for

its delicate colouring, white deepening to a central pink,

and passing fair in the bud, but rarely large enough for

show ; Madame Hector Jacquin, of exquisite form, its

petals, silvery rose, overlapping each other with a regular

and perfect grace, but not enduring much heat or loco-

motion ;
Madame Knorr, an excellent and reliable tree-

Rose, bright pink, and prettily shaped, but soon losing its

freshness ;
President Willermorz, a bright, fresh, carmine,

free-blooming Rose ; Princess Mary of Cambridge, gracious

 GARDEN ROSES. 195

of her smiles as her royal namesake ; Thyra Hammerich,

light flesh -colour, making a very pretty ''head" on a
standard ; and Triomphe de Paris, valuable as an early
bloomer, and a handsome purple-crimson Rose.

Of the Bourbons, although two only now attain public

honours, there are several which are valuable additions to a

general collection of Roses. Acidalie is extremely pretty,

nearly white, and blooming bountifully in a genial season,

when other Roses are scarce, that is, in the later autumn.

Although it grows vigorously both upon stocks and per se,

when the soil and the summer are propitious, it is but a

fine-weather sailor, and " like that love which has nothing

but beauty to keep it in good health, is short-lived, and apt

to have ague-fits." I advise the amateur, consequently, to

remember Acidalie in the budding season, so that he may

always have a duplicate in reserve. Armosa is a charming

little Rose, neat in form, and bright pink in complexion.

Bouquet de Flore, an old favourite, still claims a place for

its carmine flowers ; and Catherine Guillot, with Louise

Odier, having both the beauty and the family likeness of

Lawrence's " lovely sisters," are as two winsome maids of

honour in waiting upon the Bourbon Queen — dethroned,
it is true, by more potent rivals, but still asking our loyal
196 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

love for Its sweet, abundant, fawn-coloured flowers. The

Rev. H. Dombrain, In the flesh, Is a true Rosarian, a trusty,

genial writer, an accomplished florist, as all florists know ;

and In the flower he is one of our best Bourbon Roses. Not

so beautiful, of course, as his daughter, Marguerite Dom-

brain, H.P. (of whom more anon), but an early, reliable,

vigorous, bright carmine Rose. Were the Roses sentient,

as I sometimes think they are, this one would have their

special regard and honour. Mr Dombrain has been, as it

were, the consul for French Roses in England, and more

than any other man has made known the merits of the

new-comers, and so insured for them a kindly welcome.

Of the Tea-Roses, those which are hardy are suitable for

exhibition, and none of them, except Gloire de Bourdeaux,

which has more of the Noisette character, and which has
been described at p. 151, 152, can be considered as garden

Roses. Madame Falcot and Safrano would be valuable

additions, but they only withstand our severest winters in

southern or sheltered localities. Reve d'Or, a new variety

of similar habit and bloom, appears to have a more vigor-

ous constitution, and likely to be a valuable Rose.

Of the Noisette, Jaune Desprez, Lamarque, and Solfa-

terre, have been selected as Climbing or Pillar Roses, and

 GARDEN ROSES. I97

have been previously discussed. They are available as

standards also, the best for that purpose being Solfaterre.

I have found Narcisse to be hardy in all winters save that

of 1860-61 ; and its lovely Roses, white, deepening to a

primrose centre, claim a place in every Rosarium. The

time will soon be here when Celine Forestier and Triomphe

de Rennes will take their place, a high one, among garden

Roses, but in our present scarcity of yellow flowers they are

valuable as exhibition varieties.

And now, my reader, as when eating our strawberries in

early youth, boys by their mothers', girls by their fathers'

sides, we reserved the largest to the last ; or as when, in

later years, we loved something more dearly even than

strawberries — making with the Yorkshire rustic our tender

confession, " I loikes poi, Mary ; but, oh Mary, I loikes you

better nor poi !
"
—we, meeting in mixed company, reserved
for our beloved the final fond farewell — or meeting, not in

mixed company, found that the sweetest which was, alas !

the parting kiss ; even so have I reserved for my conclusive

chapters the Roses which I love the best — those Roses

which are chosen for their more perfect beauty, like the

fairest maidens at some public fete, to represent the sister-

hood before a wondering world.

 CHAPTER XII.

CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS.

When that delightful young officer of her Majesty's Guards

paid a guinea, no long time ago in London, to the great

spiritualist, medium, or whatever the arch-humbug called

himself, of the season, and when, after a lengthened com-

munication with the spirit of his departed mother, he looked

at his watch, and courteously apologised for his abrupt

exodus, "but he had promised to lunch with the lady in

question punctually at two o'clock," he completely demol-

ished the baseless fabric of my little dream, how charming

it would be to have an hour's table-talk with some of our

old Rosarians.

I am with them, nevertheless, and without humbug, in

spirit many a time, honouring their memories, and always

re<^ardine them with a thankful filial love. I like to think

of them among their Roses, as I wander among my own,

 "

CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS. 1 99

mindful how much of my happiness I owe, humanly speak-

ing, to their skill and enterprise, remembering them as we
Rosarians of to-day would fain be remembered hereafter,

when our children's children shall pluck their snow-white

Madame Furtado,
"Pure
As sunshine glancing on a white dove's wings,"

and shall wish we were there to see. I like to think of Lee

of Hammersmith complacently surveying those standard

Rose-trees which he introduced from France in the year

18 18, which were the first ever seen in England, and which

he sold readily (it was reported at the time that the Duke
of Clarence gave him a right ro}'al order for lOOO trees) at

one guinea apiece. I like to imagine the elder Rivers look-

ing on a few years later, half pleased and half perplexed,

as Rivers the younger, now grey with age, but young in

heart as ever, budded his first batch of Briers, and the old
foreman who had served three generations boldly protested,
— " Master Tom, you'll ruin the place if you keep on plant-
!

ing them rubbishy brambles instead of standard apples

I fancy the pleasant smile on Master Tom's handsome face,

knowing as he did that instead of the Brier would come up

the Rose, that his ugly duckling would grow into a noble
200 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

swan, and that there were other trees besides Golden Pippins

which were productive of golden fruit. Then I wonder what

those other heroes of the past, Wood of Maresfield, Paul of

Cheshunt, and Lane of Berkhampstead, would say to their

sons and grandsons, could they see the development of the

work which they began —the Roses, not only grown by the

acre instead of by the hundred, but in shape, and in size,

and in colour, beautiful beyond their hope and dream. I

picture to myself Adam Paul's delight at the " 72 cut Roses,

distinct," with which George has won the first prize at " the
;
National " and the admiration which would reproduce
'*
Brown's Superb Blush " on his countenance, after whom
that Rose was named, could he behold those matchless
specimens in pots, with which Charles Turner, his succes-

sor, still maintains against all comers the ancient glories of

Slough.

Of the old Rosarians, Mr Lee of Hammersmith was the

first who obtained the medals of the Royal Horticultural

Society for Roses exhibited at Chiswick, and at the

monthly meetings in Regent Street. These Roses were

shown singly upon the bright surface of japanned tin cases,

in which bottles filled with water were inserted, the dimen-

sions of the case being 30 inches by 18. In 1834, Mr

 CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS. 201

Rivers won the two gold medals for Roses shown at Chis-

wick, introducing a new and more effective arrangement, by

placing the flowers in fresh green moss —a simple, graceful,

natural combination, unanimously accepted by the exhib-
itors of Roses from that day to this. These prize blooms
from Sawbridgeworth, the advanced-guard of a victorious
army, were shown in clusters or bouquets of five, six, and
seven Roses, and were the best specimens which skill and
care could grow of the varieties which then reigned supreme
— Brennus, George IV., Triomphe d'Angers, Triomphe de
Guerin, &c. What a royal progress, what a revelation of

beauty, has Queen Rosa made since then ! In that same

year Mr Rivers published his first, and tJie first, Descriptive

Catalogue of Roses. It enumerates by name 478 varieties.

How many of them, think you, are to be found in his list

for 1869? Eleven! — eight of them Climbing Roses, two

Moss, one China —but none of them available for exhibition.

Will it be so with our Roses, when thirty-five years have

passed } I believe, I hope so. I believe that our sons will

see the Rose developing its perfections more and more to

reverential skill, and I hope that the sight may bring to

their hearts our love and happiness, for it cannot bring

them more. The Roses of to-day exhaust all our powers

 " — ;

202 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

of admiration, our finite appreciation of the beautiful. The

Roses of to-morrow can do no more. The Rosarian may
" raise " hereafter flowers large enough to cradle cupid

" Within the petals of a Rose,

A sleeping love 1 spied ;

but he cannot have a higher delight surveying them than

Rivers enjoyed over his George IV., one fine June morning,

more than thirty years ago.*

Mr Wood of Maresfield, who had learned the art of Rose-

growing in sunny France, was the next valiant knight who

made his bow to the Queen of Beauty, and won high honour
in her lists. Then followed Mr Adam Paul of Cheshunt,

and then Mr Lane of Berkhampstead. These were the

heroes of my youth, and when I joined the service, a raw

recruit, in 1846, the four last named — Rivers, Wood, Paul,

Lane —were its most distinguished chiefs. But our warfare

in those days was mere skirmishing. We were only a con-
tingent of Flora's army — the Rose was but an item of the
general flower-show. We were never called to the front
we were placed in no van, save that which took us to the

* See his AiJiateiir's Guide, ninth edition, p. 32. I may here express my
gratitude to Mr Rivers for a copy of his first catalogue, and for the dates and
facts, which I have repeated, concerning the old Rosarians.
 CONCERNING ROSE- SHOWS. 203

show. And yet, then as now, whatever might be its posi-

tion, the Rose was the favourite flower ; then as now, the

visitor, oppressed by the size and by the splendour of

gigantic specimen plants, would turn to it and sigh, " There

is nothing, after all, like the Rose."

Year by year my enthusiasm increased. I was like An-

drew Marvel's fawn, when
" All its chief delight was still
"
On Roses thus itself to fill ;

and my Roses multiplied from a dozen to a score, from a

score to a hundred, from a hundred to a thousand, trees.

They came into my garden a very small band of settlers,

and speedily, after the example of other colonists, they

civilised all the former inhabitants from off the face of the

earth. Nor were they content with the absolute occupation

of that portion of my grounds in which they were first

planted. The Climbing Roses peeped over the wall on one

side, and the tall Standards looked over the yew hedge on

the other, and strongly urged upon their crowded brethren

beneath (as high and prosperous ones had urged before

upon their poorer kinsfolk, pressing them too closely) an

exodus to other diggings, to " fields fresh and pastures

new." So there was a congress of the great military chiefs,

204 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Brennus (Hybrid China), Scipio (Gallica), Marechal Bugeaud

(Tea), Duke of Cambridge (Damask), Tippoo Saib (Gallica),

Generals Allard, Jacqueminot, Kleber, and Washington (all

Hybrid Chinas), Colonel Coombes, Captain Sisolet, &c. ;

and their counsel, like ]Moloch's, was for open war. They
said it was expedient to readjust their boundaries. They
unanimously advised an immediate raid upon the vegetable
kingdom which adjoined their own. They discovered that

they had been for years grossly insulted by their neighbours

(Aimee Vibert was almost sure that a young potato had

winked his eye at her), and the time for revenge was come.
No, not revenge, but for enlightenment and amelioration ;

seeing that these blessings must inevitably attend their

intercourse with any other nation, and that, consequently,

an invasion, with a touch of fire and sword, was beyond a

doubt the most delightful thing that could happen to the
barbarians over the way. Geant des Batailles (Hybrid
Perpetual) waved the standard of Marengo (ditto), and they
sallied forth at once. They routed the rhubarb, they carried
the asparagus with resistless force, they cut down the rasp-

berries to a cane. They annexed that vegetable kingdom,

and they retain it still.

Yes, everything was made to subserve the Rose. My

 CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS. 205

good old father, whose delight was in agriculture, calmly

watched the robbery of his farm, merely remarking, with a
quaint gravity and kindly satire, that, " not doubting for a

moment the lucrative wisdom of applying the best manure

in unlimited quantities to the common hedgerow brier, he
ventured, nevertheless, to express his hope that I would
leave a little for the wheat."

Simultaneously with this love of the Rose, there deepened

in my heart an indignant conviction that the flower of

flowers did not receive its due share of public honours. I

noticed that the lovers of the Carnation had exhibitions of

Carnations only, and that the worshippers of the Tulip

ignored all other idols. I saw that the Queen of Autumn

refused the alliance of each foreign potentate, when
she led out her fighting troops in crimson and gold gor-

geous. The Chrysanthemum, alone in her glory, made the

halls of Stoke Newington gay. Even the vulgar hairy

Gooseberry maintained an exhibition of its own ; and I

knew a cottager whose kitchen was hung round with copper

kettles, the prizes which he had won with his Roaring
Lions, his Londons, Thumpers, and Crown-Bobs. Was the

Queen of Summer, forsooth, to be degraded into a lady-in-

waiting ? Was the royal supremacy to be lost ? No — like
206 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

" Lars Porsenna of Clusium,

When by his gods he swore,
That the great house of Tarquin
Should suffer wrong no more " —
I vowed that her Majesty should have her own again, and
in a court of unparalleled and unassisted splendour should

declare herself monarch of the floral world.

Carrying out this loyal resolution, I forthwith suggested

in the pages of TJie Florist (April 1857), to all Rose-

growers, amateur and professional, " that we should hold

near some central station a Grand National Rose-
Show— a feast of Roses, at which the whole brotherhood
might meet in love and unity, to drink, out of cups of

silver, success to the Queen of Flowers." And I must con-

fess that, when I had made this proposal to the world, I

rather purred internally with self-approbation. I felt con-

fident that the world would be pleased. Would the world

send me a deputation } Should I be chaired at the London

flower-shows .''
Perhaps I should be made a baronet. For
some days after the publication of the magazine I waited
anxiously at home. I opened my letters nervously, but the

public made no sign. Had it gone wild with joy, or were

its emotions too deep for words } Weeks passed and it still

was mute. I was disappointed. I had thought better of

 CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS. 20/

mankind, but I was disappointed, even as that dog of

Thompson's, whose sad story is told in these parts as a

warning to the over-sanguine. He heard one morning the

sound of famihar footsteps approaching at the hour of food.

He said to himself, " What jolly dogs are we !

" he rushed
towards the door, jumping and frisking, for he tJiongJit they
were bringing him his breakfast ; and . . . they took him
otit and hanged him.
The suspense in both cases was extremely disagreeable,
but I had this advantage, that mine was too brief to be

fatal. I had power to cut the knot, and I exercised it by

writing to our chief Rosarians the simple question, " Will

you help me in establishing a National Rose-Show V Then

were allmy doubts and disappointments dispelled, and the
winter of my discontent made glorious summer ; for the

answers which I received, as soon as mails could bring them,

might be summed up in one word, **

Heartily." The three

men, the triumviri, whose sympathy and aid I most desired

— Mr Rivers, king of Rosists, Mr Charles Turner, prince of

florists, and Mr William Paul, who was not only a successful

writer upon the Rose, but at that time presided, practically,

over the glorious Rose-fields of Cheshunt —promised to

work with me ; and the rest to whom I wrote (not many at

208 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

first, because too many captains spoil the field-day, and too

many huntsmen lose the fox) assented readily to all I asked

from them. I was quite happy, quite certain of success,

when I had read these letters ; and I remember that in the

exuberance of my joy I attempted foolishly a perilous ex-

periment, which quickly ended in bloodshed — I began to

whistle in the act of shaving !

Shortly afterwards we met in London, as members of her

Majesty Queen Rose's Council. The council-chamber
(Webb's Hotel, Piccadilly) was hardly so spacious, or so
perfectly exempt from noise, as became such an august as-

sembly, but our eyes and our ears were with the Rose. We
commenced with a proceeding most deeply interesting to

every British heart — we unanimously ordered dinner. Then

we went to work. We resolved that there should be a

Grand National Rose-Show, and that we would raise the

necessary funds by subscribing £^ each, as a commence-

ment, and by soliciting subscriptions. That the first show

should be held in London about the ist day of July 1858.

That the prizes, silver cups, should be awarded to three

classes of exhibitors — namely, to growers for sale, to

amateurs regularly employing a gardener, and to amateurs

not regularly, &c. We then discussed minor details, and
 CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS. 209

having agreed to reassemble when our financial prospects

were more clearly developed, we parted.

And I thought, as I went rushing down the Northern
Line, what a joyous, genial day It had been. Personally

unknown to my coadjutors, we had been from the moment

our hands met as the friends of many years. So It Is ever

with men who love flowers at heart. Assimilated by the

same pursuits and interests, hopes and fears, successes and

disappointments —above all, by the same thankful, trustful

recognition of His majesty and mercy Who placed man in

a garden to dress it —these men need no formal introduc-

tions, no study of character to make them friends. They

have a thousand subjects in common, on which they rejoice

to compare their mutual experiences and to conjoin their

praise. Were It my deplorable destiny to keep a toll-bar

on some bleak, melancholy waste, and were I permitted to

choose In alleviation a companion, of whom I was to know

only that he had one special enthusiasm, I should certainly

select a florist. Authors would be too clever for me. Artists

would have nothing to paint. Sportsmen I have always

loved ; but that brook, which they will jump so often at

night, does get such an amazing breadth —that stone wall

such a fearful height — that rocketing pheasant so Invisible —
o
210 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

that salmon (in Norway) such a raging, gigantic beast, that,

being fond of facts, my interest would flag. No ;

give me
a thorough florist, fond of all flowers, in gardens, under
glass, by the brook, in the field. We should never be

weary of talking about our favourites ; and, you may

depend upon it, we should grow something.

In all sobriety, I often wish that we, who, in these loco-

motive days, frequently find ourselves in our great cities,

especially when our exhibitions are open, might have better

opportunities from time to time of gratifying our gregarious

inclinations. Why, for example, should not the Horti-

cultural Club in London have a permanent building like

other clubs, of course on a scale proportioned to its income,

where we might write our letters, read our newspapers, and

(dare I mention it T) smoke our cigars, with every probabil-

ity that we should meet some genial friend } Only let our

present earnest secretary, Mr Richard Dean, direct, as now,

and there would be no fear of failure. Not only in London,
but in Edinburgh, in Dublin, in Paris, I would have a horti-

cultural club, where gardeners (a title which every man is

proud of, if he feels that he has a right to claim it) might

assemble in a fraternal spirit, as brethren of that Grand
Lodge whose first master wore an apron of leaves, and
 !

CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS. 211

whose best members were never yet ashamed if their own

were of purple baize. As time went on we might have
a library of horticultural, botanical, geological, and chemi-

cal books. We might have pictures, after the manner

of our dear old '^
Garrick " in King Street, of some famous
chiefs who had conferred real benefits upon the garden-

ing world. How glad we should be, for instance, to see a

good likeness of ''

the Doctor," and of quaint old Donald
Beaton
" My dear fellow," said to me a young person, whom,
after going through his admirable gardens and houses, and

hearing his professions of interest, I had mistaken for a

florist, and to whom I had incautiously revealed my club

aspirations, " you surely don't suppose I should meet my

gardener !" And he wore an expression of horror, as though
I had asked him to join a select party of lepers and ticket-

of-leavers. " Calm yourself," I made answer ;

" there is no

fear of collision. You would not be elected, I assure you."

Fancy a fellow pretending to be fond of art, and wincing at

the idea of meeting an artist. More than this, he who

knows and reverences the gardener's art (and I would admit

no other to our club) must be a gentleman. He may not,

in some few instances, be aware that to leave out the h in

212 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

horse-radish, or to sound the same in honour, is an offence

less pardonable than profane swearing ; there may even be

an isolated case of ignorance, that to eat peas with a knife

is one of the deadly sins ; — but, nevertheless, if he loves his

flowers, he must be in heart a gentleman. But we have

lost our way to the Rose-show.

We went back to our homes. We appealed for subscrip-

tions to the lovers of the Rose, and they responded, as I

knew they would. They responded until our sum total

nearly reached ;^200. We published our schedule of prizes,

amounting to ;^I56. We engaged St James's Hall, an

expensive luxury, at 30 guineas for the day, but just then

in the first freshness of its beauty, and therefore an attrac-

tion in itself. We secured the services of the Coldstream

band —a mistake, because their admirable music was too

loud for indoor enjoyment. We advertised freely. We

placarded the walls of London with gorgeous and gigantic

posters. And then the great day came.

The late Mr John Edwards, who gave us from the first

most important help, and who was the best man I ever saw

in the practical arrangements of a flower-show, appeared,

soon after daybreak, on the scene. He found the Hall
crowded with chairs and benches, just as it was left after a
 — 3

CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS. 21

concert the night before. Early as it was, he had his stafif

with him —carpenters and others ; and when I arrived with

my Roses, after a journey of 120 miles, at 5.30 A.M., the

long tables were almost ready for the baize. Then came
the covered vans which had travelled through the summer
night from the grand gardens of Hertfordshire, and the

"four-wheelers," with green boxes piled upon their roofs,

from all the railway stations. And then the usual con-

fusion which attends the operation of " staging " — ex-

hibitors preferring their "own selection" to the places duly

assigned to them, running against each other, or pressing

round Mr Edwards with their boxes, as though they had

something to sell — vociferating like the porters at Boulogne,

who, having seized your portmanteau, insist on taking your
body to their hotel. He, however, was quite master of the
situation, and upon his directions, clearly and firmly given,
there followed order and peace.
And there followed a scene, beautiful exceedingly. I

feel no shame in confessing that when the Hall was cleared,

and I looked from the gallery upon the three long tables,

and the platform beneath the great organ, glowing with the
choicest Roses of the world, the cisterns of my heart o'er-

flowed
214 A LOOK ABOUT ROSES.

" The pretty and sweet manner of it forced

The waters from me, which I would have stopped,

But I had not so much of man in me,
And all my mother came into mine eyes,

And gave me up to tears."

" Half the nurseries of England," as Dr Lindley wrote,

" poured their treasures into St James's Hall." There were

twenty boxes from Sawbridgeworth alone. There were

glorious collections, large and lovely, from Cheshunt and

Colchester, Hertfordshire and Hereford, Exeter and Slough.

But I had brief time, as secretary and supervisor, that day

for " idle tears," or other private emotions. Had I been

editor of Notes and Queries, the Field, and the Queen con-

jointly, I could not have had more questions put to me.

Had I possessed the hundred hands of Briareus, not one

would have been unemployed. Then the censors reported

their verdicts ; the prize-cards were placed by the prize-

Roses; and then came

The momentous question, Would the public indorse our

experiment } Would the public appreciate our show t

There was a deficiency of ^loo in our funds, for the ex-

penses of the exhibition were ;^300 ; and as a matter both

of feeling and finance I stood by the entrance as the clock

struck two, anxiously to watch the issue.

 CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS. 215

No long solicitude. More than fifty shillings — I humbly

apologise — more than fifty intelligent and good - looking
individuals were waiting for admission; and these were
followed by continuous comers, until the Hall was full. A
gentleman, who earnestly asked my pardon for having
placed his foot on mine, seemed perplexed to hear how
much I liked it, and evidently thought that my friends were
culpable in allowing me to be at large. Great indeed was
my gladness in seeing those visitors —more than 2000 in

number —but far greater in hearing their hearty words of

surprise and admiration.

" No words can describe," so wrote Professor Lindley in

the Gardeners Chronicle a few days after the show, *'

the

infinite variety of form, colour, and odour which belonged

to the field of Roses spread before the visitor. At the sides

were crowds of bunches, daintily set off by beds of moss;

in the middle rose pyramids, baskets, and bouquets. In

one place, solitary blossoms boldly confronted their cluster-

ing rivals ; in another, glass screens guarded some precious
gems; and in another, great groups of unprotected beauties

set at defiance the heated atmosphere of the Hall."

Yes, they defied this adversary ; they defied and defeated
with their deHcious perfume the foul smell which at that
 2l6 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

time invaded London from the Thames ; but there was one

opponent, one only, whom they could not subdue. They

had to fight that day, not only the wars of the Roses, the

civil war for supremacy among themselves, but they had to

meet a rival, against whom they concentrated all their

powers in vain.

A few months before the Rose-show, I made the ac-

quaintance, afterwards the dearest friendship of my life, of

John Leech, the artist ; and in the first of two hundred pre-
cious letters which I now possess from his pen, he etched

the prevision of a combat between Flora and Venus, which

subsequently appeared, more correctly but less prettily de-

lineated, in Punch, with the explanation infra^ which I

wrote, on his request.

* In the days of the Great Stench of London, the Naiades ran from the
banks of Thamesis, with their pocket-handkerchiefs to their noses, and made a
complaint to the goddess Flora, how exceedingly unpleasant the dead dogs
were, and that they couldn't abide 'em— indeed they couldn't. And Flora
forthwith, out of her sweet charity, engaged apartments at the Hall of St
James's, and came up with 10,000 Roses to deodorise the river, and to revive

the town. But Venus no sooner heard of her advent than (as if to illustrate the
dictum of the satirist, " Women do so hate each other") she put on her best
bonnet, and went forth in all her loveliness to suppress " that conceited flower-
girl,"who had dared to flirt at Chiswick, the Regent's Park, and the Cr}'stal
Palace, with her own favoured admirer, Mars. So, awful in her beauty, she
came in a revengeful glow, and Flora's Roses grew pale before the Roses on
 CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS. 21/

Returning to realities — at the close of the exhibition it

was my happy privilege to distribute the thirty-six silver

cups which had been specially designed for the occasion,

and were, as I need hardly say, prettily and profusely en-

graved with Roses. The winners were — (of nurserymen)
Messrs Paul of Cheshunt, Mr Cranston of Hereford, Mr
Cant of Colchester, Mr Francis of Hertford, Mr Turner of

Slough, and Mr Hollamby of Tunbridge Wells : and (of

amateurs) Mr Giles Puller of Youngsbury, Captain Maunsell

and Rev. G. Maunsell, Thorpe Malsor; Mr R. Fellowes and

Rev. R. Fellowes, Shottesham; Mr Worthington, Cavendish

Priory; Rev. H. Helyar, Yeovil; Mr Mallett, Nottingham ;

Mr Sladden, Ash; Mr Fryer, Chatteris; Mr Walker, Ox-

ford ; Mr Hewitt, and Mr Blake of Ware. Two cups were

awarded to my own Roses, the process of presentation

being " gratifying, but embarrassing," as Mrs Nickleby re-

marked when her eccentric lover would carve her name on

his pew.

So ended the first National Rose-Show.* It was, as one

of its best supporters, and one of our best Rosarians, the

the cheeks of Aphrodite, and the poor goddess went back to her gardens, and
the pocket-handkerchiefs went back also to the noses of the unhappy Naiades.
* A local show, which consisted almost exclusively of Roses, was held in the

Athenaeum at Birmingham in July 1843.

2l8 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Rev. Mr Radclyffe, wrote of it, " successful beyond all anti-

cipation " and I went to bed that night as tired, as happy,

;

and I hope as thankful as I had so much good cause to be.

The Second National Rose-Show was held in the follow-

ing year, June 23, 1859, at the Hanover Square Rooms, the

former site not being available ; and again we had the best
Roses of England, a goodly company, and prosperous
issues. The general effect, although the introduction of
pot-Roses broke gracefully the monotonous surface of the

cut flowers, was inferior to that produced in the more genial

summer of 1858, and in the more ample and ornate accom-
modations of St James's Hall. But it was now more
evident than ever, that although we had toned down our
music by substituting strings and reeds for brass, no room
in London was large enough for the levees of the Queen of
Flowers. Next year, accordingly, after a correspondence

and arrangement with the directors,

The Third National Rose-Show was held (July 12, i860)

in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham."^ Here was a throne-

room meet for her Majesty, and 16,000 of her lieges came
to do her homage. Naturally and wisely, the Crystal Palace

* The Crystal Palace Company state in their advertisements that their Rose-
show was the first of the series. It was, as we have narrated, the third.
 —

CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS. 219

Company resolved, upon this, to have a Rose-show of their

own. Long may it prosper !

The Fourth National Rose-Show was held under the

auspices of the Royal Horticultural Society in their gardens

at South Kensington, July 10, 1861, and there it has since

flourished in all its first strength and beauty. I was very

grateful to find such a genial soil and excellent supervision
for a plant which was growing rather too large for me
that is, to transfer to abler hands a work which, with all its

gratifications, interfered at times unduly with my other

engagements. Moreover, to tell you all the truth, in the

happy spring-tide of 1861 I had a correspondence which

occupied all my time, upon a subject which occupied all

my thought—a subject more precious, more lovely even

than Roses — was going to be married

I May. in

Have I created in thy breast, O amateur, a desire to win

honour at Queen Rosa's tournaments ? Have you an ambi-

tion to see upon your sideboard cups of silver encircled by
the Rose ? Listen, and I will now tell you what Roses to

show, and how to show them.

 CHAPTER XIII.

ROSES FOR EXHIBITION.

As he who can ride exchanges his pony for a cob, and his

cob for a hunter, and, having achieved pads and brushes,

where hounds are slow, fences are easy, and rivals few, longs

for a gallop at racing speed over the pastures and the

" Oxers " of High Leicestershire, for a run with Tailby or

the Ouorn — as every man with a hobby (I never met a man

without one) is desirous to ride abroad, and witch the
world with noble horsemanship, — so the Rosarian, enlarg-

ing his possessions and improving his skill, has yearnings,

which no mother, nor sisters, nor people coming to call,

can satisfy, for sympathy, for knowledge, for renown. He

is tired of charging at the quintain, which he never fails

to hit, in the silent courtyard of his home : he will break

a lance for his ladye in the crowded lists. And who loves

maiden so fair as his 1 What mean these braggart knights,

 ROSES FOR EXHIBITION. 221

his neighbours, by praising their Rosas, so pale, so puny, in

comparison ? Their voices to his ear are harsh, irritating ;

they are as disagreeable as the crowings of contiguous cocks

to the ears of the game bantam ; and he feels it to be his

solemn duty to roll those knights in the dust.

I offer my services as his esquire, and my advice as a

veteran how to invert and pulverise his foes. By foes I mean

those miserable knights who presume to grow and to show
Roses without a careful study of these chapters. Not
thinking exactly as we do, they are of course heretical and
contumacious. They must be unhorsed. Then, perhaps,
lying peacefully on their backs in the sawdust, they may
see the error of their ways, and come to a better mind.
They may rise up, sorer and wiser men, and, meekly seeking
the nearest reformatory, may gradually amend and improve,
until at last they become diligent readers of this book, and

respectable subjects of the Queen of Flowers. Be it mine,

meanwhile, to teach the virtuous amateur how to buy a

charger, and how to ride him, what Roses to show, and how
to show them, first reminding him that he must have a good
stable, good corn, and good equipments in readiness for his

steed — must be armed before he competes with those

weapons which I have named before as essential to success,

222 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

and which I must once more ask leave to commend. He

must have an enthusiastic love of the Rose, not the tepid
attachm.ent which drawls its faint encomium, " She's a

nicish girl, and a fellow might do worse," but the true

devotion, which sighs from its very soul, " I must, I will

win thee, my queen, my queen !

" He must have a good

position, a home meet for his bride. He must have for his

Roses a free circulation of air, a healthful, breezy situation,

with a surrounding fence, not too high, not too near, which

shall break the force of boisterous winds, temper their bit-

terness ere they enter the fold, and give sJiclter but not

shade to his Roses. He must have a good garden-soil, well

drained, well dug, well dunged. And having these indis-

pensable adjuncts, he may order his Show-Roses.

" Thanks, dear professor," here exclaims the enraptured
pupil (I am mocking now with a savage satisfaction those

dreadful scientific dialogues which vexed our little hearts in

childhood); "your instructions are indeed precious — far

more so than the richest jam, than ponies, than cricket, or

than hide-and-seek ; but may we interrupt you for a mo-

"
ment to ask, What is your definition of a Show-Rose }

" Most gladly, my dear young friends," replies the kind

professor (anxiously wishing his dear young friends in bed,

 —

ROSES FOR EXHIBITION. 223

that he might work at his new book on beetles), " will I

inform a curiosity so honourable, so rare in youth. I pro-

pose, therefore — avoiding all prolixity, repetition, tautology,

periphrasis, circumlocution, and superfluous verbosity — to

divide the subject into forty-seven sections," &c. &c. &c.

Leaving him at it, let us be content to know that a Show-

Rose should possess
1. Beauty of form — petals, abundant and of good sub-
stance, regularly and gracefully disposed within a circular

symmetrical outline.

2. Beauty of colour — brilliancy, purity, endurance. And,

3. That the Rose, having both these qualities, must be
exhibited in the most perfect phase of its beauty, and in the

fullest development to which skill and care can bring it.

Of course I do not presume, reverting to the shape of a

Show-Rose, to propose stereotyped definitions or uniform

models. On the contrary, I am well aware that whether

the surface of a Rose be globular, cupped, or expanded,

and whether its petals be convex or concave, a perfect

gracefulness of form is attainable. My own ideal is the

globular —the outer petals regularly overlapping each other,

and surrounding an abundance of central leaflets of a

deeper, ruddier tint, as seen, for instance, in Blairii 2, before

224 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

it expands to its full Rosehood. But I should never desire

to show all my Roses of this form, however varied by

colour, size, or foliage, knowing how much I should lose for

lack of contrast and diversity.

With reference to colour, I would explain that I mean by

endurance a colour which will best bear the journey to the

exhibition, and the heat of the exhibition hall. I have kept

this important consideration in mind in the selection which

follows of Show-Roses.

After reading rule 3, the novice may ask, How am I to

know the most perfect phase and the fullest development

of a Rose .''
My answer to this is, Go to one of our princi-

pal Rose-shows, or to one of our most extensive Rose-

nurseries at the end of June, or early in July, so that

you may see the flower in its glory. The sooner that

the young Rosarian knows what a Rose may be, and

therefore what it ought to be, the better. Many a man's

handwriting has been cramped and spoiled by copying

bad copies, and using bad pens ; and many a man, who
might have been a successful florist, has failed, because

he has not seen flowers in perfection, nor the cultural art

in its perfection, until it was too late. I have known

several instances in which men, brought up, as it were

 ROSES FOR EXHIBITION. 225

among small Roses, have maintained their superiority

to large ones — I mean, to larger specimens of the same

varieties.

The names of the Roses which are more specially adapted

for exhibition, from their exquisite proportions and lovely

tints, from contour and complexion too, are given in the

following list. It has been compiled with much observant

care, and it is no exaggeration to say that the compiler has

recently travelled more than looo miles to make his cata-

logue complete. With this as my primary object, I have

attended the four great Rose-shows of the season ; and,

acting as a judge at these exhibitions, I have had the best

opportunities of examining, comparing, and discussing the

merits of the flowers exhibited, and of selecting the most

perfect. Every Rose on the list, if grown and shown in its

integrity, has symmetry, colour, and size. Finally, I have

submitted my selection to the champion exhibitor* of the
year, and having his suggestions and additions, I present it

to the amateur as a sure guide. He oiigJit to have every

Rose enumerated ; he must have those printed in italics.

The names with no letter attached are of the Hybrid Per-

* My friend Mr George Paul of Cheshunt, to whom I owe and offer my

thanks.
226 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

petual class. B. signifies Bourbon, H. B. Hybrid Bourbon,

N. Noisette, and T. Tea-scented China.

ROSES FOR EXHIBITION.

Abel Grand. Comtesse Jaucourt,

Achilla Gonod. Comtesse Palikao.
Adam, T. Devienne Lamy.
Adolphe Brogniart. Devoniensis, T.

Alfred Colo?nb. Dr Andry.

Alice Bureau. Due de Magenta, T.
Alpaide de Rotalier. Due de Rohan.
Andre Fresnoy. Duke of Edinburgh.
Annie Wood. Duke of Wellington.
Antoine Ducher. Diichesse de Caylus.

Baronne Adolphe de Rothschild. Duchesse d'' Orleans.

Baron Gonella, B. Dupuy Jamain.

Beauty of Waltham. Edward Morren.
Berthe Baron, Elie Morel.

Black Prince. Emilie Hausburg.

Boule de Neige. Exposition de Brie.

Ca?fiille Bernardin. Felix Genero.

Caroline de Sansales. Fisher Holmes.

Celine Forestier, N. Francois Lacharme.

Centifolia Rosea. Francois Louvat.

Charles Lee. Fran9ois Trevye.

Charles Lefebvre. General Jacqueminot.

Charles Rouillard. Gloire de Dijon, T.

Charles Verdier. Gloire de Santenay.

Climbing Devoniensis, T. Gloire de Vitry.

Clothilde Rolland. Henri Ledechaux.

Cloth-of-Gold, X. Horace Vernet.
Comte de Nanteuil. Jean Lambert.
Comtesse C. de Chabrillant. John Hopper.
Comtesse de Paris. Josephine Beauharnais.
 ROSES FOR EXHIBITION. 227

Julie Touvais. Madame Vidot.

La France. Madame Willermorz, T

La Reine. Mademoiselle Bonnaire.
Laurent Descourt. Madlle. Alarguerite Dombrain.
La Ville de St Denis. Mademoiselle Marie Rady.
Leopold L Marechal Niel, T.
Leopold II. Marechal Vaillant.

Leopold Ilausbiirg. Alarguerite de St Armand.

Lord Herbert. Maj-ie Beauman.
Lord Macaulay. Marquise de Monte7?iart.
Louise Magiian. Alanrice Bernardin.
Louise Peyroniiey. Michel Bonnet, H. B.
Madame Barriott. Miss Lngram.
Madame Boll. Modele de Perfection, B.
Madame Boutin. Monsieur Boncenne.
Madame Bravy, T, Alonsieur Noman.
Madame Caillat. Monsieur Woolfield.

Madame Canrobert. Montplaisir.

Madame Clert. Narcisse, N.
Madame C. Crapelet. Nardy Freres.
Madame C. Wood. Niphetos, T.
Madame Clemence Joigneanx. Olivier Delhomme.
Madame Creyton. Paul Neron.
Madame Fillion. Perfection de Lyons.
Madame Fiirtado. Pierre Notting.
Madame Julie Daran. Pitord.
Madame la Baronne de Roths- President Willermorz.
child. Prince Camille de Rohan.
Madame Marie Cirodde. Prince de Porcia.
Madame Noman. Prince Henri de Pays Bas.
Madame Pulliat. Prince Humbert.
Aladame Rivej's. Princess Mary of Cambridge.
Madame Therese Level. Queen Victoria.
Madame Victor Vej-dier. Reine Blanche.
228 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

Reine du Midi. Triomphe de Rennes, N.

Reine de Portugal, T. Vainqueur de Goliath.
Rubens^ T. Vicomte Vigier.
Scnatetir Vaisse. Vicomtesse de Vesin.
Sophie Coquerel. Victor le Bihan.

Souvenir d'Elise, T. Victor Verdier.

Souvenir de la Malmaison, B. Ville de Lyons.

Souvenir de Monsieur Boll. Virginal.

Souvenir d^un Ami, T. Xavier Olibo.

In ordering these Rose-trees, which will cost, many of

them being new, about ^8,* I advise the amateur to ask for

low standards. The height which I prefer is about 2 feet

from the ground to the budded Rose, because these lesser

trees escape the fury of the wind, requiring no stakes to

support them after their first year ; because they are more

conveniently manipulated than either dwarfs or giants ; and

because their complete beauty presents itself pleasantly to

our eyes, without bringing us down on our knees, or re-

quiring us to stand a-tiptoe. They should be planted in

November, just deep enough to have a firm hold upon the

soil ; and the surface round them should be covered with a
stratum of manure, both to protect and enrich the roots.

Should they be sent from the nurseries with any shoots

* I allow ;^5 for lOO older varieties, the price usually charged by nursery-
men being, for dwarf standards, is. each ; and £2^ for the newer varieties and
Teas — 30 at 2s. each.
 ROSES FOR EXHIBITION. 229

of great length, or with taproots, shorten the former, or

secure them to a stake, and remove the latter altogether.

Affix your permanent tallies (I use smooth slips of deal,

smeared with white paint, written upon with a black-lead

pencil, and secured with thin wire to the trees), because the

labels of the nurseryman, even when on parchment, become

illegible from rain and snow.
" And next summer," exclaims the ardent disciple, " we
shall have Roses as large as finger-glasses ; we shall win

the Cup ; we shall make the Marquis's gardener, that bump-

tious Mr Peacock at the Castle, for ever to fold his tail."

It troubles me to repress this charming enthusiasm, to

demolish a superstructure as gay, but, alas ! as baseless,

as those card-houses which the child builds, with the kings,

queens, and knaves of the pack, upon the polished mahog-

any of his sire. No, my dear amateur, not next summer,

nor in any summer, with those Roses only which will grow

upon the trees just commended to you, are you to whip

creation, and make the family plate-chest groan. If yotc

propose to grozv Roses for exhibition — that is, to grow them
to their full perfection— yon must grow them on your oivn

stocks from buds. The Rose-trees, which we will suppose

you have just planted, are to supply these buds, and you
 —

230 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

have still to provide, if you will follow my directions, some

500 stocks, to receive those buds in July. These stocks,
like the Rose-trees, should be planted in November ; but

what are these stocks to be .''

-^sop told the gardener of his master, Xanthus, that

j

'

"the earth was a stepmother to those plants which were

incorporated into her soil, but a mother to those which are ,

her own free production ;" and wherever the Dog -Rose
flourishes in our hedgerow^s — now delighting our eyes with
i

its flowers, and now scratching them out with its thorns,

should we follow the partridge or the fox too wildly tJiere

the Brier is the stock for the Rose. I know that, despite the

dictum of yEsop, our soil has been no injiista noverca to that 1

foreign Rose, which took the name of Manetti from him i

who raised it from seed, and which was sent to Mr Rivers, ;

more than thirty years since, by Signor Crivelli, from I

Como. I know that the Italian refugee is acclimatised,

and that in hundreds of our gardens he is a welcome and

honoured guest. I know that the Manetti will grow luxu-
riantly where the Brier will not grow at all ;
that in a

toward season it will produce some varieties of the Rose

in their most perfect form, those especially which have the

smoother wood ; that in many cases the Rose-trees budded
 ;

ROSES FOR EXHIBITION. 23 I

Upon it have a more luxuriant growth than those which are

budded on the Brier ; and that Rose-trees upon the Manetti
are the most enduring, and therefore the most economical,

because the Brier, divested of its laterals, and exposed to

all weathers, is in a less natural position, and because the

Rose, if budded as it ought to be on the Manetti, that is,

below the soil, will establish itself on roots of its own. I

know, in fine, that the importation of this stock has been

a very gracious boon to those who love the Rose ; but I am

equally sure that nine-tenths of the most perfect Roses whieh

have been grown and shozun have been cnt from the British
Brier. I have proved this not only from my own experience,

having grown the two stocks side by side, in a variety of

seasons and soils, but also from inspection and inquiry.

Latterly I have made a point of asking at our exhibitions

the parentage of Roses which have been admired the most

and the answers have been, ninety per cent of them, as I

foreknew they would be, "the Brier." In Dorsetshire, in the

summer of 1868, two of our best Rosarians (if they read these
lines, a brother's love to them) " discoursed as they sat on

the green," and when they had discoursed, it was written by

one of them (see the Journal of Hor tictilture for August 13,

1868), " For general use the Brier is doomed ; . . . it is

 —

232 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

time to think seriously of discarding it." But then he adds,

and I pray you to mark the reservation, " Exhibitors will

not do so, I believe, for the maiden blooms from a Brier are
superior to those from the Maiietti!' But no earnest lover of
the Rose will be satisfied with inferior blooms, having the

hope of better ; and it should have been stated accordingly,

not that the Brier is doomed, nor to be discarded, but that

it is short-lived, specially illustrating the sorrowful fact,

" Contra vim mortis,

Non est medicamen in hortis,"

that in some soils it grows feebly, and in some grows not

at all.

If your lot is cast, my amateur, in these latter diggings

but do not so decide without a patient trial —you may grow

Roses, beautiful Roses, on the Manetti, or their own roots,

and in pots, but I do not urge you to compete. If the

Brier flourishes in your district, order 500.

Here, I know, the young aspirant will protest, because I

have often heard him, ''

Does this fellow desire to ruin me,

or has he got an idea that I am Lord Overstone V And I

reply with dignity, " No, my friend ; I invite you, on the

contrary, to buy a glorious garden of Roses for the sum
which you would pay for five new Tricolor Pelargoniums
 ROSES FOR EXHIBITION. 233

nearly as good as Mrs Pollock; for one specimen stove-

plant, and for half a specimen Orchid. Allow £8 for your

Roses, and £1, 15s. for your Briers, and ye shall 'siller ha'e

to spare' from your ;^io note." When Briers are abundant,

6s. per TOO for dwarfs and 7s. 6d. for tall standards is a

usual tariff; but you should remember that it is rough

work, and that if you cull the best you should be liberal.

Give your order — and any labourer will soon learn to

bring you what you want — towards the end of October. I

have myself a peculiar but unfailing intimation when it is

time to get in my Briers — ;;y/ Brier-man comes to chureh.

He comes to morning service on the Sunday. If I make

no sign during the week, he appears next Sunday at the
evening also. If I remain mute, he comes on week-days.
I know then that the case is urgent, and that we must
come to terms. Were I to fancy the Manetti instead of the

Brier, my impression is that he would go over to Rome.

Having made timely arrangements to secure your supply
of stocks before the severities of winter are likely to pre-

vent you from planting (should sharp frost surprise you

during the process of removal, you must " lay in " your
Briers securely, digging a hole for them, placing them in

a bundle therein, covering the roots well with earth, and

 —

234 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

throwing an old mat over all), you must be most vigilant

in your selection of the stocks themselves. Some gardeners

display in this matter a lamentable indifference. Their

motto seems to be Stamnata quid faciiuit? —why should

not one Brier be as good as another .'*

Their budding-

ground might be an asylum for the deformed, the weak, the

aged, instead of the school for healthful youth and the

training-ground for heroes. Let the amateur, avoiding

this fatal error, and remembering as his rule, Ex qiiovis

ligno non fit Mcrciirius, select young, straight, sapful, well-

rooted stocks, that the scion may be vigorous as the sire.

Let these be planted as soon as he receives them — his

collector bringing them in daily, and not keeping them at

home, as the manner of some is, until he gets a quantity

in rows, the Briers i foot, the rows 3 feet apart.

The situation and the soil for your Briers must be just as
carefully studied as though the Roses were already upon
them. These stocks are not to be set in bare and barren

places, exposed to ridicule and to contempt, as though they

were the stocks of the parish ; nor are they to be thrust

into corners, as I have seen them many a time. They

should occupy such a position as one sees in the snug

" quarters " of a nursery —spaces enclosed by evergreen

 ROSES FOR EXHIBITION. 235

fences, which, somewhat higher than the trees within, pro-

tect them from stormy winds.

Watching their growth in spring, the amateur should
remove the more feeble lateral shoots, leaving two or three
of the upper and stronger. Suckers from below must also

be removed. The latter operation is most easily and

effectually performed when rain has just softened the soil

around ; and weeds, which evince in times of drought such

a rooted antipathy to eviction, may then be readily ex-

tracted without leaving fibre or fang.

The stocks may be budded in July, and I advise the

amateur who wishes to bud them, to learn the art, by no

means difhcult, not from books, but from some neighbour
Budhist, who will quickly teach him as much of transmigra-

tion as he desires to know. If he learns to make one slit

only, so much the better, the transverse cut being quite

unnecessary, and liable to cause breakage if too deeply

made.
Select strong buds from your Rose-trees. It requires

some little resolution to cut away the cleanest, most health-

ful wood, but the recompense is sure and ample. Do not

expose your cuttings to the sun —a watering-can, with a

little damp moss in it, is a good conveyance — and get them

 "

2^6 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

comfortably settled in their new homes as soon as it can be

done. In three weeks or a month you may remove the
cotton ;
in November you may shorten the budded shoot to

5 or 6 inches from the bud ; and in May you may cut it

close to the bud itself You must now keep a constant

supervision over your budded stock, removing all super-

fluous growth, and having your stakes in position, so that

you may secure the growing bud against those sudden

gusts which will force it, if not safely fastened, " clean out

of the stock. These stakes must be firmly fixed close by

the Briers, and should rise some 2 feet above them. To
this upper portion the young shoot of the Rose, which
grows in genial seasons with marvellous rapidity, must be

secured with bast. Look out now for the Rose-caterpillar,

that murderous "worm i' the bud." I generally employ a

little maid from my village school, whose fingers are more

nimble and whose eyes are nearer to their work than mine,

who prefers entomology in the fresh air to all other ologies

in a hot school, and who takes home to mother her diurnal

ninepence with a supreme and righteous pride.

Towards the end of May apply the surface-dressing which

is recommended in Chapter VI. — I presuppose a liberal

supply of farmyard manure in autumn, as advised in the

 ROSES FOR EXHIBITION. 237

same chapter — and at the same time take off freely the

lesser and numerous Rosebuds which surround the central

calyx. A painful process this slaughter of the innocents,

this drowning of the puppies of the poor Dog-Rose, but

justified in their eyes who desire to see the Rose in its

brightest glory, and who prefer one magnificent Ribston

Pippin to a waggon-load of Crabs.

We must revert here briefly to the parental trees, from

which the buds were taken in July. Although they cannot,

speaking generally, reproduce the beauty of their first-born,

they will give you, in return for attentive culture, very valu-

able help. They will be in bloom at the time of the earlier

shows, when the Roses in your budding-ground may not

be fully out ; and in some cases they will supply you with

better flowers than can be gathered from a " maiden plant."

It is so with regard to Teas and Noisettes, and with several

other Roses — such as Frangois Lacharme, Gloire de

Santenay, Louise Magnan, Madame Boll, Madame Boutin,

Madame C. Joigneaux, Marechal Vaillant, Marie Rady,

Miss Ingram, Monsieur Noman, Olivier Delhomme, &c.
Moreover, you should have in your Rose-garden the ad-
vantage of a wall on which to grow the more tender Roses,

those grand Marechal Niels, Devonienses, and Souvenirs

238 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

d'un Ami, so distinct from the Hybrid Perpetual varieties,

and such exquisite contrasts among them. Plant these be-

tween your fruit-trees, or wherever you can find a vacant

space.*

Let us now suppose that in both these departments your

loving and patient care has brought you the prospect and

proximity of such a splendid harvest that you have entered

your name as an exhibitor at one of our great Rose-shows.

Ah ! what a crisis of excitement, to be remembered always,
in the glad Rosarian's life ! It is as when the boy, who has
distinguished himself in the playing-fields, goes forth from

the pavilion at Lord's in the Eton and Harrow match. It

is as when the undergraduate, who has been working man-

fully, enters his name on the list of candidates for honours.

What sweet solicitudes ! what hopeful fears ! Look — Mr

Grimston is whispering to that Harrow boy, just going to

the wicket with his bat, wise words anent the Eton bowling.

Listen; that tutor, with the clever kindly countenance, is

speaking cheerfully to his pupil, white as the kerchief round

his throat, as he enters those ancient awful schools. So

* I have just erected one of " Beard's patent glass walls," about 20 feet in

length, with a view to giowing Tea- Roses upon it, and I hope to give in some
future edition a favourable report of my experiment.
 ROSES FOR EXHIBITION. 239

would I aid and abet my amateur — so would I bring a

stirrup-cup to my young brave Dunois. Pai'tant pour la

Syrie — that is, for the National Rose-Show —he wants in-

formation as to boxes and tubes and moss, as to the time

of cutting, the method of arrangement ; and he shall re-

ceive, in the succeeding chapter, the best which I have to

c^ive.
 CHAPTER XIV.

HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE.

When I first exhibited Roses, the boxes selected for the

Queen of Flowers were not what royal boxes ought to be.

They were ordinary and heterogeneous ; they were high

and low, wide and narrow, painted and plain. Disorder
prevailed, as at the Floralia of old ; and Bacchus again ap-
peared upon the scene in the cases which had contained his
wines, and which, reduced in altitude, and filled with dingy

moss, now held the glowing Roses. These were kept alive,

auspice y^sailapio, in old physic-bottles filled with water,

and plunged to the neck in the moss aforesaid ; but some-

times the succulent potato was used to preserve vitality,

and I remember well a large hamper, with its lid gracefully

recumbent, in which six small Roses uprose from huge

specimens of ''
Farmers' Profit " —the Poinmes de terre being
inserted, but not concealed, in a stratum of ancient hay.
 — 1

HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. 24

Sometimes the flowers were crowded together, sometimes

they were lonely, neighbourless, like the snipes, in " wisps,"

and solitary ; sometimes they appeared without foliage (at

one of our provincial shows it was strictly prohibited, and I

asked the committee what they meant by coming on the

ground with whiskers) ; and sometimes they peeped out of

leafy bowers
— " plenty of covert, but very little game," as a

witty Lincolnshire lord remarked to the clergyman, who

asked him, one Christmas morning, what he thought of the

decorations of a church in which the evergreens were many

and the worshippers few.

At our first National Rose-Show we commenced a reform

of these incongruities, and soon afterwards disannulled

them by an act of uniformity as to size and shape. The
amateur must therefore order his boxes, which any carpen-

ter can make for him from three-quarter-inch deal, to be of

the following dimensions :

Length. Breadth. Height.

For 24 Roses, 4 feet. I foot 6 inches. Back of box 6]4. inches, front 4_^.

55 lo j> 3 J' »' " "

,, 12 ,, 2 ,, 2 in. ,, ,, ,,

,, 6 ,, I foot 6 in. ,, „ ,,

The covers, being seven inches in depth at the back, and

five inches in front, being one and a half inch longer and
Q
242 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

wider than the boxes, and having a narrow beading within

the four sides, half an inch from the bottom of the hd, over-

lap the boxes, leaving ample room for the Roses, and are
secured for travelling by stout leather straps. Within the

boxes some exhibitors have holes pierced at equal distances

on a uniform surface of wood ; but as Roses differ in size,

it is more convenient to have the facility of placing them

where we please, and for this purpose it is desirable to have

strong laths (3-4ths of an inch in depth, and i inch /-Bths

in width) extending the length of the box. These laths

LID

&5S^S3j —

^^^;v'^^^^^^^^^^^^^x-

I ! ! I . . .
'i^ b8i»

should be six in number, and should be nailed on two

strong pieces of wood, crossing the box one at each end,

2 inches below the surface. The upper and lower laths

should be fixed i-8th of an inch within the box, and the

four remaining so arranged that there will be six interstices

 HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. 243

I J inch in width —three for the Roses, and three merely to

reduce the weight. There will be a space of i^ inch be-

tween the laths and the upper edge of the box, to be filled

as follows : Cover the laths with sheets of brown paper, two

deep, and cut to fit the box, and upon these place the best

moss you can obtain. I get mine from trunks of trees in a

neighbouring wood ; have it carefully picked over and well

watered the day before a show ; and then, using the coarser
portion for a substratum, make my upper surface as clean

and green and level as I can. Fronds of ferns, especially

of Adiantum, are sometimes prettily introduced.

It would, I think, repay the Rosarian to grow moss

specially for this purpose, such as would thrive — S. den-

ticulata, for example — in rough boxes and waste places

244 -"^ BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

under stages or in vineries. Some years ago I placed a

lining of zinc, 3 inches deep, at the top of one of my Rose-

boxes, filled it with earth, and soon obtained from it a

charming surface of S. apoda. The effect of twelve beauti-

ful Roses resting upon this bright-green moss was lovely ;

but oh ! the weight when we bore them to the show ;

no

mother in all the world would care to carry such a bulky

babe.

A wee story about moss, and we leave it. I remember

an exhibitor, of whom it was said that he was never known

to pay a compliment, or to praise anything which did not

belong to himself, except upon one occasion. Having won

the first prize for Roses, he went in the joy of his heart to

his chief rival, and surveying his collection, deliberately and

frankly said, "Well, John, I must acknowledge you cer-

tainly beat us— in moss." As well might some victorious

jockey compliment the rider of a distanced horse upon the

plaiting of that horse's mane. It was a panegyric as glori-

ous as that which Artemus Ward paid to his company, com-

posed exclusively of commanders - in - chief, " What we

particly excel in is resting muskits —we can rest muskits

with anybody,"

The Roses are placed in tubes of zinc 4| inches in

 —

HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. 245

length, 2 Inches wide at the top, gradually tapering until

they become i inch in width at the centre, the tops being

movable, as shown herewith. This top is taken off, and

the stalk of the flower being

brought through until the Rose

is held securely, it is replaced

upon the tubes, previously filled

Avith pure rain - water. These

tubes not only facilitate the

arrangement of the flower, but

they retain the water when rough

railway porters forget their gradients. They may be had

from the brazier and tinman everywhere, and the cost is

4s. per dozen.

The carelessness of porters reminds me to add, that

exhibitors who cannot accompany their Roses —a terrible

separation to the true lover, and one which I have never

known —will do well to have painted in white letters upon
the dark-green lids of their boxes, " Flowers in water

keep level."

The amateur must now have the cards in readiness, on

which he has written with his best pen the names of his

show-Roses. These are cut from ordinary cardboard, and

246 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

must be of the regulation size — 3 inches in length by i in

width. They should be kept in a box, divided into com-

partments and lettered, so that they may be quickly found

when wanted. They are placed sometimes on the moss in

front of the Rose, but they have a more neat and uniform
appearance if inserted on sticks about 5 inches long (I use

osier-twigs painted green), cleft at the top to receive them,

and pointed at the bottom to penetrate the moss more easily.

The young knight will not be armed cap-a-pie until he

has supplied himself with a couple of helmets. If the wea-
ther is showery, or the

sun scorches, just before

a show, many Roses may

be advantageously shaded

by having a zinc cap

placed over them 8 inch-

es in diameter, 5 inches

in depth, ventilated, and

having a socket attached,

which may be moved up

and down a stake fixed
by the Rose-tree, until the cap is secured in its position

by a wooden wedge inserted between the socket and the

 —

HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. 247

stake. Roses of a more delicate complexion than others

such as Mesdames Vidot and Rivers, the two Louises,
Magnan and Peyronney, Miss Ingram and Monsieur Noman
—and some whose vivid colouring is quickly tarnished by

fiery suns — such as the brilliant Monsieur Boncenne — may

be thus preserved for exhibition. Fresh cabbage-leaves,

renewed from time to time, may be advantageously placed

on the caps, which, I may add, have a more pleasing

appearance in the Rosarium when painted a dark - green

colour.

These caps should be in readiness, fixed upon their

stakes, in the Rose-beds or near them, so that they may

be quickly placed in position when there is peril from fire

or water — when fierce suns come suddenly forth, or when

those first large drops, which have been poetically termed
**
tears of the tempest weeping for the havoc to follow," give

warning of the storm. Many a grand Rose have I saved

by promptly acting upon this admonition, and have come

in-doors with my heart rejoicing under its moist merino

waistcoat.

Helmet No. 2 resembles No. i, except that the top is

made of glass and is flat. This is used to accelerate the

opening of Roses, and sometimes with success ; but gene-

 :

248 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

rally I have found that nature will not be hurried, and the

Rose has been more refractory than the heat.

In using these caps —and their use, be it remembered, is

exceptional — the amateur must be on his guard against

placing them too near the Rose, lest, when moved by the

wind, the petals should be injured by trituration. And not

only in this instance, but in all, he must so watch his trees

as to prevent all risk of that contact and chafing which

quickly ruins the Rose. Watching the flower as it sways

to and fro in the summer breeze, he must remove all leaves

and shoots which, touching it, would mar its beauty.

Watchful ever, our young knight must keep his stricter

vigil upon the battle's eve. He must know that all is in

readiness, the extent of his resources, and how he is to

apply them. The day before a show, I have not only the

names of my best Roses noted in my pocket-book, but,

dividing a sheet of paper into 48, 36, 24, 12, or 6 spaces,

I place each Rose in the position which it will probably

occupy on the morrow, and set my forces in battle array.

Here is an example, copied litcrativi —

 HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. J49

12 Roses.

Lefebvre.
250 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

development and duration of your Roses, you will meet

with few disappointments in its realisation.

On the eve of the show you must have all your boxes,
surfaced with moss and sprinkled, set out upon trestles, 3

feet from the ground, in some sheltered corner or garden-

shed ;
your zinc tubes, in rows upon their miniature bottle-

rack, cheaply made, and having a strong resemblance to the

stands on which Boots deposits our fat portmanteau, heav-

ing a thankful sigh ; and upon a small table your box,

containing plans of arrangement, cards with names of Roses

written upon them, sticks to hold them, a pair of sharp

pruning scissors with which to cut your flowers, a pair of

small finely-pointed ditto, with which you may sometimes

remove the decayed edge from a petal, and a piece of
narrow ivory rounded at the end, such as ladies use for a

knitting- mesh, and which, very carefully and delicately

handled, may help you now and then to assist the opening

Rose, or to reduce irregularities of growth to a more

natural, and therefore graceful, combination ; add a small
hamper of additional moss, and the dressing-room is ready

for the royal toilet.

When should we cut our Roses } The nurseryman who

exhibits 144 Roses in one collection — that is, 3 specimens
 1

HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. 25

of 48 varieties — and sometimes simultaneously a collection

of 72 distinct blooms, conveying them great distances, is

obliged to cut on the day preceding the shows, and having

acres of young trees to select from, can generally find

Roses of such calibre as will insure to him a continuance

of perfect beauty for the next four-and-twenty hours ; but

I strongly advise the amateur, who has no such wealth of

material, and must make the most of his limited means, to

cut his Roses, whenever he has the option, upon the morn-
ing of the show. If the weather is broken, and clouds with-

out and barometer within warn you of impending rain, then

gather ye Roses while ye may, in the afternoon and the

evening before the show ; but if it is

" In the prime of summer-time,

An evening calm and cool,"

let your Roses rest after the heat of the day, and cut them
on the morrow, when they awake with the sun, refreshed
with gracious dews.

Wherefore, early to your bed, my amateur, your bed of

Roses and of Thorns ; for as surely as the schoolboy who,

having received a cake from home, takes with him a last

slice to his cubicule, awakes in feverish repletion, turning

painfully upon the crusty crumbs, so shall this night of

252 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

yours be fraught with pleasure and with pain. Now shall

you taste daintily the candied peels, and now toss fretfully

on piercing grits. Now you shall sleep, and all shall be

serene, blissful. You are dreaming, so sweetly dreaming,

the happy hours away. The great day has come.

" A happier smile illumes each brow,

With quicker spread each heart uncloses ;

And all is happiness, for now

The valley holds its feast of Roses."

Your own are magnificent, larger than those which bloom

in Manchester chintz above your slumbering brow, 9 inches
in diameter. You reach the show ;
you win every prize,

laurels enough to make triumphal arches along all your

homeward way. Suddenly a change, a horrible change,
comes o'er the spirit of your dream. How the van, in

which you are travelling with your Roses, jumps and jolts !

how dark the night, and how the thunder rolls ! Ah, tout

est perdu ! Crash fall the horses, or rather the nightmares,

down a steep incline, and you find yourself standing, aghast

and hopeless, knee-deep m pot-pourri !

Awaking, for the sixteenth time, with a terrible impres-

sion that you have overslept yourself, and that the time for

cutting Roses is past, you are comforted in hearing the

 HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. 253

clock strike two. Another restless hour, and you are up

in the grey dawn. At 3.30 you should be among the Roses,
never so lovely as now^ lifting their heads for the first

kisses of the sun, and, alas ! for decapitation. See, your

gardener is there, keen as yourself. He fills a score of the

tubes with pure sweet rain-water ; he places them in one of

your spare boxes, and is ready to follow, when, having
glanced at your programmes, and armed yourself with
the trenchant blades, you lead the way to glory and the
Roses.

Cut first of all your grandest blooms, because no Mede

nor Persian ever made law more unalterable than this, The
largest Roses must be placed at the baek, the smallest in the

front, and the intermediate in the middle of your boxes. They

become by this arrangement so gradually, beautifully less,

that the disparity of size is imperceptible. Transgress this

rule, and the result will be disastrous, ludicrous, as when

some huge London carriage-horse is put in harness with the

paternal cob, or as when some small but ambitious dancer

runs round and round the tallest girl at the ball in the

gyrations of the mazy waltz. So Triomphe de Rennes in

your front row is a beautiful yellow rose. Placed in juxta-

position to Marechal Niel, its name becomes a cruel joke ;

254 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

your little gem is lost beside the Koh-i-noor, and your

bright star pales before the rising sun its ineffectual fire.

You will have another advantage in commencing with

your finest flowers, because of these you will have (or ought

to have) the larger stock, and will thus be able to lay at

the same time and in the same order the foundation of

your different collections, using the same corner-stone in

each (begin always with some glorious Rose, w^hich must

attract the judicial eye, and make an impression upon

the judicial heart), and assimilating the arrangement, as

long as you possess the material. Much labour, head

work and leg work, is saved by this plan of simultaneous

structure.

The amateur must not exhibit these larger Roses when

they have lost their freshness of colour, or w4ien the petals,

opening at the centre, reveal the yellow " eye." He must

not place a Rose in his box because it has been superlatively

beautiful. In the eyes of her husband, the wife a matron

should be lovely as the wife a bride ; but the world never

saw her in her Honiton veil, and respectfully votes her a

trifle passee. At the same time, let not the exhibitor be

over-timid, nor discard a Rose which has reached the sum-

mit of perfection, and may descend, he knows not when,

but let him bravely and hopefullv set it among its peers.
 !

HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. 255

If it suffers from the journey, it must be replaced, of course,

from tJie box of spare blooms zvhicJi tJie exhibitor must ahvays
take with him ; * but if it holds its own, if it is really a Rose
of superior merit, nothing can now happen which will pre-

vent a righteous Rosarian, such as every judge ought to be,

from recognising its claims. I once saw, and the recollec-

tion makes me shudder still, a senseless censor thrust the

end of a huge finger into the heart of a magnificent Due

de Rohan, in his anxiety to assure us, his coadjutors, that

the Rose was too fully blown. Oh how I wished that the
Due, to whom we voted by a majority the highest marks,

had been armed for the moment with a ferret's teeth

The arrangement of Roses, with regard to their colour,

has not been studied as it deserves to be. With some ^qw

exceptions, the nurserymen are not successful in this mat-

ter ; but it is very difficult for them to find the time, grant-

ing the taste to be there, for a minute assortment of the

large collections which they are called upon to show ; and

knowing that the awards will be made upon the merits and
demerits of the individual flowers, they are not solicitous

about minor details. The amateur, with more leisure than

* The Roses taken to replace others should be in a less advanced stage when
cut. In many cases they will develop during the journey, and so prove most
acceptable substitutes for those which, on opening our boxes, we may find to be
hors de combat.
256 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

the man of business for the study of the beautiful, and for

the most effective display of his fewer flowers, ought to

excel, but, as a rule, does not. His Roses are very rarely

made the most of in this respect, but are frequently marred

and spoiled, the colours clashing and contending with each

other, instead of combining against their common adversary.

It Is told of a highly sensitive dame, whose silly pride was

in dress, that she went into hysterics before a large party

when her great rival in millinery came and sat upon the
ottoman beside her, in a grand garment of the same colour

as her own, but of a much more brilliant and effective dye ;

and I have seen many a Rose which would weep, if it could,

aromatic rose-water, subdued by a like despair. Whereas

every flower should be so placed as to enhance Its neigh-

bour's charms —the fair blonde with her golden locks smil-

ing upon the brunette with her raven hair, each made by
the contrast lovelier. Once upon a time six pretty sisters

lived at home together always. In looks, in figure, in voice,

gait, and apparel, they exactly resembled each other.

Young gentlemen, seeing them apart, fell madly in love, as

young gentlemen ought to do ; but on going to the house,

and being introduced to the family, they were bewildered

by the exact similitude, didn't know which they had come

 HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. 257

to see, couldn't think of proposing at random, made blun-

ders, apologies, retreats. It seemed as though all these

charming flowers would be left to "wither on the virgin

Thorn," when one of them was permitted to leave her home
upon a visit to a distant friend. She returned in six weeks,

bien fiancee, and six months after was a bride. The rest fol-

lowed her example. So it is that six scarlet Roses or six

pink Roses in close proximity perplex the spectator, and

depreciate each other by their monotonous identity ; iso-

lated or contrasted, we admire them heartily.

The Rosarian will learn much as to the effective arrang^e-

ment of Roses for exhibition by keeping one of his boxes,

surfaced with moss and filled with tubes, in his hall or

in some cool place near his Rose-garden, and by making

experiments therein, with a view to discovering the most

pleasing combinations as to colour, and the most graceful

gradations as to size.

Nor let the exhibitor, amateur or professional, suppose

that these matters are of no importance. It is true that

priority is won by the superior merits of the Roses, care-

fully examined and compared ; but in cases where these

merits are equal, then the best arrangement as to form and

colour will certainly influence, and probably determine, the

R
 —

258 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

verdict. I can recall several instances in which, ccBtcris

paribus, tasteful arrangement has given the victory. The

material for operation has been equally good ; the modus

operandi has been the point of excellence — the artistic effort

of the more accomplished horseman has saved him from a

dead heat.

Time was when the exhibitor had good excuse for the

introduction of flowers faulty in shape and too much alike

in colour. Time was (and I recall it happily, for we vexed

not ourselves about that which might be, but delighted our

hearts in that which we had) when our dark Roses, such as

Boula de Nanteuil, D'Aguesseau, Ohl, and Shakespeare

our pink Roses, such as Comtesse Mole and Las Casas

our white Roses, such as Madame Hardy, — were painfully

wide awake when they reached the show, and our collection
had " eyes " like Argus. We are dismayed now if a Cyclops

shows himself, even in our "48." A marvellous develop-

ment and progress has been made both in the form and

complexion of the Rose, and every season brings us new

treasures. See what we have gained in the last few years

to the darker varieties we have added such Roses as Alfred

Colomb, Charles Lefebvre, Duchesse de Caylus, Due de

Rohan, Exposition de Brie, Leopold L, Marie Beauman ;
 ! ;

HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. 259

and to the lighter, Madame Therese Levet, Marguerite de

St Armand, La Baronne de Rothschild, La France, Miss

Ingram, Reine Blanche, and many others. Time was when

the only yellow Roses exhibited (Cloth-of-Gold was in

existence, but lived in strict seclusion) were Solfaterre, with

very little yellow and still less shape ; Persian Yellow, in

hue golden, glorious, but in size a big buttercup ; and some-

times a bud of Smith's Yellow, which no power on earth

could induce to open, a pretty button-hole flower. Now

we have Celine Forestier, Triomphe de Rennes, Reine de
Portugal, and magnificent Marechal Niel ! Fancy Smith's
Yellow in a modern collection — Tom Thumb on parade
with the Guards

The names which I have just written remind me how-

much the Tea and Noisette Roses diversify and beautify

our show collections. That the former are delicate and
difficult to produce when we most require them, is evident

from their sparse appearance in public; but it is just one

of those superable difficulties which separate the sincere

from the spurious Rose-grower, and which only the former

overcomes. The conservatory and the orchard-house (there

ought to be, wherever there is taste and opulence, a Rose-

house) are undoubtedly the best homes for the Tea Rose
26o A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

but in this more genial temperature it blooms long before

the showman's opening day ; and I have seen houses con-
taining many hundred plants which have not contributed to

the exhibitor a single flower. I have tried with these Roses

many experiments, in pots and out, al fresco, under glass,

under canvas (movable), on their own roots, on the Manetti,

and on the Brier. The latter has been in this, as in all

other cases, my best ally and friend. Timid brethren fore-

warned me that the winter would kill every bud, and timid

brethren tittered merrily when a frost of abnormal vigour

destroyed three-fourths of my first adventurers. I perse-

vered, of course. If a fourth withstood an unusual severity,

I might* rely in ordinary seasons upon complete success.

Defeat, moreover, and the derision of my friends, evoked

a noble rage, a more determined energy. In my youth I

heard a professor remark at Oxford (he styled himself pro-

fessor and teacher of the noble art of self-defence, but the

condition of his nose was more suggestive to me of one who
was taking lessons) that " he never could fight until he'd

napped a clinker." Then

" His grief was but his grandeur in disguise,
And discontent his immortality."

So felt I, and so. fought and conquered ; and I advise the

 1

HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. 26

amateur with a good courage to bud those Tea Roses

which are mentioned on the h"st for exhibition. They sur-

vive nine winters out of ten, here in the midland counties ;

and although they will not bloom early in their first season,

they will do so in the autumn, and in the summer following

will be in time for the shows. Let some of them remain

where they are, some be removed to warm corners and to

positions least exposed to rough weather, and let some,

where there is accommodation, be placed against a ivall.

Upon your house, between fruit-trees, wherever you have a

vacant mural space, there put in a Tea Rose. The most

reliable varieties among the hardier Teas are Adam, Comte
de Paris, Devoniensis, Climbing •
Devoniensis, Gloire de

Dijon, Louise de Savoie, Madame Bravy, Madame Rachel,

Madame Willermorz, Montplaisir, Rubens, Sombreuil, and

Souvenir d'un Ami. These Tea Rose-trees should not be

pruned before April, and then sparingly.
Set up your Roses boldly, with the tubes well above the

moss, and keep a uniform height. Most of the show vari-

eties will hold themselves erect and upright, but some are

of drooping habit, and their spinal weakness requires the

support either of a thin slip of wood or twig secured with

thread to the stalk, or of moss pressed firmly round them

 — —

262 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

after they have been placed in the tube. Turn your Rose
slowly round before you finally fix it, so that you may pre-
sent it in its most attractive phase to the censor. I have

seen Roses looking anywhere but at the judge, as though

they had no hopes of mercy.

Do not be induced to admit a Rose only because it is

new, or because it has some one point of excellence, being

defective in others e.g., a Rose ill formed because it is

brilliant in colour, or a dull coarse bloom on account of its

size. The judge will be down upon that invalid swiftly and

surely, as a fox upon a sick partridge.

Nor place two Roses together which are both deficient in

foliage. Give to each of them the rather a neighbour like

Madame Boll, whose abundant and flowing curls may par-

tially conceal their baldness. But add no leaves, though

the temptation be great, because that same judge is quick

as a barber to distinguish between natural and artificial

hair, and there may be "wigs on the green" i.e., you may
find your surreptitious foliage lying upon the moss, and a
card, with *'
Disqualified " written upon it, staring you in

the face.

Step back from time to time, as the artist from his easel,

to criticise your picture, and try to improve it. And when

 HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. 263

you have finished it, invite others to give their opinions

freely. Try to ascertain which Roses they Hke the least,

rather than to feast your ears with their exclamations of

praise. You will obtain help sometimes where you least

expect it, and your attention will be called to defects which

you had overlooked in a kind of parental fondness. Spec-

tators, unprejudiced and not akin, can readily point out in-

firmities in the families of other folks. They do not pro-

nounce, as you do, the red hair of your dear little Augustus
a soft chestnut or a rich auburn ; they have been known, on

the contrary, to murmur " Carrots."

Have the sticks holding the cards which tell the names
of your Roses in their places before you put on the lids. If

you are showing in the larger classes, it is wise to make this

arrangement when you insert the flowers ; otherwise, forget-

ting names, you may run a risk of including duplicates.

Moreover, you will find the process of naming your Roses

after your arrival at the show a tedious occupation of time
which might be much more advantageously employed.
Have your lids on before the sun is high, and be on the
show-ground as early as you can. You will thus have the

advantage of selecting a good place for your boxes, not ex-

posed to draught or to glare ; of replacing from your spare

264 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

blooms those Roses which have suffered from the voyage ;

of setting each flower and each card in its position ; of

filling up the tubes with fresh water ; and of making the

best of your Roses generally, leisurely, and at your ease.

This done, you may put back your lids, just raising them
at the front a couple of inches with wooden props; and then
you may survey (as I propose to do in my final chapter)

the exhibitors, the judges, and the Rose-show itself

 CHAPTER XV.

AT A ROSE-SHOW.

As the young knight in the olden time, having reached " y^

place ordayned and appointed to trye y^ bittermoste by

stroke of battle," became naturally curious concerning his

adversaries, and, after caring for his horse and looking to

his armour, went forth to inspect the Flower of Chivalry,

and the lists, in which that flower would shortly form a bed
of " Love-lies-bleeding " —so the exhibitor, having finally

arranged his Roses, strolls through the glowing aisles of the

show. Soon experience will teach him to survey calmly,

and to gauge accurately, the forces of his foe ; but now he

but glances nervously, furtively, at the scene around him,

like a new boy at some public school. The sight brings

him hopes and fears. Now a hurried sidelong look shows

him flowers inferior to his own, and he is elate, happy.

Now an objectionably large Pierre Notting obtrudes itself

 —

266 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

upon his vision, and his heart fails him. He steps, as it

were, from the warm stove, gay with orchids, into the ice-

house of chill despair. He is much too anxious and excited

to form any just conclusions ; and therefore, to engage his

thoughts more pleasantly, I will introduce him to his co-

exhibitors.

Viewed abstractedly, these co-exhibitors are genial, gene-

rous, intelligent — men of refined taste and reverent feelings,

with the freshness of a garden and the freedom of the

country about their locks and ways. Viewed early in the

morning, as the novice sees them now, they are a little

dingy, without the freshness of the garden upon them, but

with something very like its soil. Some have not been in

bed since yesternight ; not one has slept his usual sleep.

Many have come from afar :

" They have travelled to our Rose-show

From north, south, east, and west,
By rail, by roads, with precious loads
Of the flower they love the best :

From dusk to dawn, through night to morn,

They've dozed 'mid clank and din,
And woke with cramp in both their legs

And bristles on their chin."

" Piilvis ct umbra stivuis !'' they sigh —we are all over dust
 — — —

AT A ROSE-SHOW. 26/

and shady. They are like Melrose Abbey — sunlight does

not suit them. "The gay beams of lightsome day" are

not becoming to countenances long estranged from pillow,

razor, and tub. They have come to meet the Queen of

Flowers, as Mephibosheth to meet King David, not having
dressed his feet, or trimmed his beard, or washed his clothes

from the day the king departed. And this reminds me

that we, the clerical contingent, appear upon these occasions
especially dishevelled and dim. Sydney Smith would un-
doubtedly say that we " seemed to have a good deal of
glebe upon our own hands." In the thick dust upon our

black coats you might write or draw distinctly ;

— (I once
saw traced upon the back of a thirsty florist, of course a

layman to be kept dry ; this side tip) ; — and our white ties

*' Qui color albus erat, nunc est contrarius albo "

are dismally limp and loose. The bearded brethren re-

mind one of St Angus, of whom we read that, perspiring

and unwashed, he worked in his barn until the scattered

grain took root and grew on him.

By-and-by, when the exhibition is open to the public, we

shall be as spruce as our neighbours, and as bright as soap-
and-water — he is no true gardener who loves not both — can
make us. Meanwhile let me assure the new-comer amone
26S A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

us that there are strong brains and gentle hearts within

those swart and grimy exteriors, and that he will find in the

brotherhood hereafter — so I prophesy from my own ex-

perience — many dear and steadfast friends. For me flori-

culture has done so much — quickening good desires and

rebuking evil — that I have ever faith in those w^ith whom
its power prevails. But let us never forget, while we con-
gratulate and commend each other as florists, that humility

on the score of our multitudinous weeds is more becoming

than pride in our little dish of sour wizened fruit ; that *'
we
are the sons of women, Master Page;" and that the old

serpent hides still among our flowers. And now, to con-

firm such wholesome memories, I will present to the young
Rosarian one or two specimens of our weaker brethren,

that he may learn to check betimes in himself those infir-

mities W'hich are common to us all, and which, when they

gain the mastery, make men objects of contempt and ridi-

cule. I must add that, although I paint from the life, my

pictures are never portraits of the individual, but always

studies from the group —a group brought together by

memory from diverse parts and periods, but displaying in

its members such a strong family resemblance that I must

guard myself against a natural suspicion.
 AT A ROSE-SHOW. 269

The Irascible ExJdbitor loses no time in verifying his pre-

sence to our eyes and ears. Talking so rapidly that " a

man ought to be all ear to follow," as Schiller said of

Madame de Stael, and so loudly that he may be heard in

all parts of the show, he is declaiming to a policeman, a

carpenter, and two under-gardeners, who are nudging each

other in the ribs, against the iniquitous villany of " three

thundering muffs" who recently awarded him a fourth prize

for the finest lot of Roses he ever cut. He communicates

to the policeman, who evidently regards him as being
singularly advanced in liquor, considering the time of day,

his firm belief that the censors in question were brought up

from a coal-mine on the morning of the exhibition, and had
never seen a Rose before. He does hope that, on the pre-

sent occasion, somebody will be in office who knows the

difference between that flower and a pumpkin. Here he is

informed that Mr Trueman, a most reliable Rosarian, is to

be one of the judges. He is delighted to hear it. Mr True-

man is a practical, honourable man ; and, having arranged

his Roses with a running accompaniment of grunts and

snorts, he goes in quest of that individual, expresses entire

confidence in his unerring judgment, and the happiness

which he feels in submitting his Roses to a man who can

2/0 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

appreciate them, Instead of to such a set of old women as

were recently judging at , when they ought to have

been in bed.

Alas for our poor feeble humanity !

— two hours later Mr
Irascible, finding no prize-card on his boxes, denounces

Mr T. as an ignorant humbug, or knows for a fact that

he is in vile collusion with the principal winners of the

day — reminding me, in his swift transition from praise

to condemnation, from love to hate, of a ludicrous Oxford

scene.

Tom Perrin kept livery-stables, and in those stables the

stoutest of wheelers and the liveliest of leaders for our

tandems and fours-in-hand. Unhappily for Tom, all driv-

ing in exteiiso was strictly forbidden, and he came, in conse-

quence, to frequent collisions with our potent, grave, and

reverend Dons. Upon the occasion to which I refer, he

had been summoned to appear before the Vice-Chancellor,
Doctor MacBride, then Principal of Magdalen Hall ; and as
the offence was flagrant, and his previous convictions were

numerous, he was specially anxious to obtain an acquittal.

He presented himself in deep mourning, and wore the ex-

pression of a simple, modest citizen, who really didn't know

what a tandem was. He placed a pile of ancient tomes by
 — 1

AT A ROSE-SHOW. 27

his side (Greek lexicons for the most part, and Latin dic-

tionaries lent to him by the undergraduates), and consulted

them from time to time, during his trial, upon difficult

points of law. He bowed to the court at intervals with a

most profound respect, and he addressed the Doctor as

''My Lord Judge," "Your Grace," and "Venerable Sir."

But when the verdict was given, and the defendant heavily
fined, I never saw anything in dissolving views so marvel-

lous as Tom Perrin. He set his hat jauntily on the side of

his head ; he shut his lexicons with a bang, and, confront-
ing his judge with a look of scorn and disgust, he said
" MacBride, if this be law, hequity, or justice, I'm ,"

well, let us say, something which happens to a brook when

its waters are arrested by a temporary barrier constructed

across the stream.

So does our irascible exhibitor now glare around him

with "the dragon eyes of angered Eleanor." He would
like a revival of those days when "a judge was not sacred
from violence. Any one might interrupt him, might accuse

him of iniquity and corruption in the most reproachful

terms, and, throwing down his gauntlet, might challenge

him to defend his integrity in the field ; nor could he with-

out infamy refuse to accept his defiance, or decline to enter

 —

2/2 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

the lists against such an adversary." * That is to say, he

would like to interrupt, to accuse, to reproach, and perhaps

to challenge, but certainly not to fight, for these passionate

folk are invariably cowards. They dare not attack with

anything but words ; unless they possess an overwhelming

power, like that suburban, pot-house, betting Eleven, who

once upon a time persuaded Jimmy Dean to act as umpire

at one of their boosy matches, and ran him home six miles

across country with furious execrations and threats to Lon-

don, because he gave a decision adverse to their interest at

a critical period of the game.

At one time you will see the Irascible Exhibitor standing

by his Roses, and revealing his wrongs to any who will

hear; occasionally making a deep impression upon elderly

ladies, and almost persuading very young reporters to

chronicle his woes in print ; but oftener failing to evoke

sympathy, you will find him with a countenance, like Dis-

pleasure in the Fairy Queen, " lompish and full suUein,"

aloof, solitary — like some morose old pike swimming slowly

about in a back-water, while all the other fishes are leaping

in the sunlit stream. Finally, he discovers some malcontent

like himself iin sot troiive toujours uji plus sot qui V admire —
* Robertson's History of Chai'les V., vol. i.
 AT A ROSE-SHOW. 2/3

and they go off together to the darkest corner of the most

dismal room of their inn, to enjoy their woes, and to defy

their fellow- creatures, over a succession of "two brandies

and cold."

I know only of one other species of exhibitor discredit-

able to the genus, The Covetous Exhibitor, whose avarice

has slain his honour. His motto is Money,

"Si possis recte, si non quocunque modo Money."

He cares nothing for the Rose itself, sees no beauty, and

smells no perfume, only for the prizes it may win. Ti'iiie

aime plus bran que Rose, and will go through any amount of
dirtiness to get his nose to the swill. On the eve of a show
he will beg or will buy the Roses of his neighbours. He will

show several flowers of the same Rose, attaching the differ-

ent names of those varieties which have some resemblance

to each other. He knows how to conceal an eye, and to fix

a petal in its place by gum. He will add foliage, wherever

he dare. He, too, likes a few words with the judges before

they make their awards. He never saw them in such won-

derful health ; in fact, their youthful appearance is almost

comic. They will find the Roses rough and coarse (which
means that his own are too small) ; or there is a sad want
2/4 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

of size in the blooms this morning (which means that his

are overblown).

In accordance with the old and true proverb, his dis-

honesty does not thrive. He steals several paces in front

of his brother archers, but for one arrow hitting the gold,

he misses, breaks, or loses fifty. I remember some years

ago, just as we had commenced our survey as judges at

one of the provincial shows, an exhibitor reappeared, hot

and out of breath, and " begged pardon, but he had left a

knife among his Roses." He had a magnificent rose in his

coat, and, ''from information which I had received," I

thought it my duty to watch his movements without ap-

pearing to do so. He left the tent with a much smaller

flower in his button-hole, and I went immediately to his

box. There was the illustrious stranger, resplendent, but

with a fatal beauty. The cunning one had hoist himself

with his own petard, for he had forgotten another bloom of

the same Rose, already in his 24, and I at once wrote '*
dis-

qualified for duplicates" upon his exhibition-card. Keen

must have been the shaft which he had himself feathered

from that borrowed plume, but keener far to feel (for it was
a fact patent to all), that if he had not made the addition,

he must have won the premier prize.

 AT A ROSE-SHOW. 2/5

Another failure of empirical knavery, another slip be-

tween the cup of silver and the lip of stratagem, occurs to

my recollection. It was my good fortune to win a prize

goblet, annually given for Roses at one of our midland
shows, so frequently, that my success became monotonously
irksome to the competitors generally, but specially to one
of these covetous exhibitors who grow Roses only for gain.

He induced, as it afterwards transpired, two other growers

of the Rose to combine with him in an attempt '*

to beat

the parson ;
" and so sure was this clique of success, that

they brought a couple of bottles of wine to the show, to be

quaffed from the cup, which I won easily. In the afternoon

I happened to come upon the conspirators drinking their

port in a quiet corner of the grounds, and one of them not

only invited me to partake, but, as from a sudden impulse,
and as though the truth must come out with the wine, to
my intense amusement, and to the still more intense amaze-
ment of his friends, revealed all the history of their little

game. He declared that he was thoroughly ashamed of

" the job," and was heartily glad they were beat. Truly it

was a strange confession, but I believe the penitence was

sincere.

TJie Despondent Exhibitor is also an exceptional, but by

 —

2/6 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

no means discreditable, variety. He is physically incapable

of festive emotions — "a sad, gloom-pampered man," but a

good Rosarian, and a righteous. If a cloud crosses the sun,

he shuts up like a gazania or a crocus ; if a few drops of

rain fall, he hangs his head like Virgil's poppies,

" Lassove papavera collo,

Demisere caput, pluvia quum forte gravantur."

He never has the slightest expectation of a prize. He has

had more caterpillars, aphides, blights, beetles, and mildews

in his garden than ever were seen by man. So he tells you
with a slow and solemn tone, looking the while as though,

like Mozart composing his own requiem, he listened to

some plaintive music. I used to regard him with a tender

pity, as being unhappy. I used to sigh

'
' Alas for him who never sees
The stars shine through his cypress-trees "
!

But our further acquaintance has convinced me that he has

a relish for melancholy. I watched him once, when I knew,

but he did not, that he had won a first prize, to see what
effect success would have upon him. He came slowly to

his Roses, and read the announcement with an expression

of profound despair, just as though it had been a telegram
 AT A ROSE-SHOW. 2//

informing him that the bank, in which he had placed his all,

proposed a dividend of fourpence in the pound.

Warned by these rare examples against anger, avarice,

and despond, assured that the horses which rear, bite, kick,

and sulk, are seldom winners of the race, let the young
exhibitor now acquaint himself with his colleagues gener-

ally, and let him learn from them, as from men who have
not lived in vain amid the beauties and the bounties of a

garden, contentment, generosity, perseverance, hope. They

will tell him that the lessons of defeat will most certainly
teach him to conquer, if he will only learn them patiently,

noting his failures, and making every effort to overcome

them. Fighting for the prize, he resembles in one point,

and one only I trust, the prize-fighter — when judgment,

temper, self-mastery are lost, the battle is lost also. They
will tell him not only how to win his laurels, but how to

wear them gracefully ; in prosperity, as well as in adversity,

to preserve the equal mind. But which will be his lot to-

day ? The crisis approaches, and the stern mandate of the

peremptory police is already sounding in his ears, "This

tent must be cleared for t/ie Jiidgesy

It used to be said at our flower-shows, " Oh, any one can

judge the Roses ;" and when, few in quantity and feeble in
2/8 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

quality, they formed but a small item of the exhibition,

they had, of course, no special claims ; but this indifference

unhappily prevailed long after the Rose had become a chief

attraction in our summer shows, and even where it was the

only flower exhibited. At our great Rose-shows we have
succeeded in eliminating from the halls of justice incom-

petent judges ; but elsewhere the Rosarian takes with his

Roses a very anxious heart In the summer of 1868 one

of our most successful competitors, a Leicestershire clergy-

man, who had just won two first - prizes at the Crystal

Palace, took some Roses equally good to a show at Burton-

upon-Trent. Facile princeps, he was not even commended ;

and on remonstrating, was informed by one of the judges

that his Roses, to which precedence had been given at a

national contest, " were not the right sorts for exhibition^

The fact is, that three varieties of censors are still appointed

over the Roses at our provincial shows. There is the man

who loves them, knows and grows them well —his judgments
will be right. There is the man who is a clever florist and
grows Roses partially — his judgments will be generally

right, but if the collections are large or numerous, or nearly

equal in merit, he will be perplexed to incapacity. Thirdly,

there is the man appointed to be judge of the Roses be-

 AT A ROSE-SHOW. 279

cause he once won a prize for cucumbers, or because the

mayor knows his uncle. The latter is either, in his wise

silence, quite useless, or, in his fool's loquacity, a dreadful

bore — dangerous wherever he has power. To the second I

would say,
"
'*
Cassio, I love thee, but never more be officer of mine

until you know more about Roses. To the first I take off

my hat, as to " a chief justice among chief justices,"* and

wish that he may ever preside in court when I have a cause
to plead.

The arbiter at a Rose-show should be a man who not

only lives among Roses, but among Roses in their most
perfect phase. He should know the capabilities of each

separate variety, as to symmetry, colour, and size, that he

may estimate and compare accurately the merits of the

flowers before him. He should know thoroughly their

habit of growth, their peculiarities of leaf and wood, that he

may correct misnomers, and detect additions or duplicates.

He should regard his office as a sacred duty, not only be-

cause justice and honour are sacred things, but because

there seems to be a special sanctity in such beautiful handi-

work of God ; and to be untruthful and dishonest in such a

* So Fuller designates our great Nottinghamshire judge, Markham.

2S0 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

presence and purity should be profane in his sight, as

though he lied to an angel. But his duty will be his delight

also, and thus, having his inclination at unity with his con-

science, and his love instructed by his reason, he cannot

fail to fulfil it. Knowing the law thoroughly, and sifting

the evidence minutely, he must give the sentence of a

righteous judge. Never tiring, when the competition is

close, in his keen and patient scrutiny, estimating every

Rose by a fixed standard, setting down in his note-book,

counting, comparing their respective marks of merit and

defect, bringing the boxes, if distant, into close proximity,

anxiously attentive to the comments of his colleagues, be-

stowing the same care upon the " cottager's 6 " as upon the
" nurseryman's 72," he is never satisfied until all doubts are

dispelled, and the award of his lips is the sure conviction of

his heart.

As the judge enters, the exhibitor leaves, the show, first

turning to gaze once again upon the exquisite beauty of the

scene, the long avenues of Roses, the fairest examples which

the world can bring of its most lovely flower. The flat

surface of the boxes is pleasingly diversified (or should be)

by the stately palm, the graceful fern, the elegant Humea,

by Croton, Caladium, Dracaena, Coleus, and the like, which
 1

AT A ROSE-SHOW. 28

not only prevent the uniformity from becoming monoton-

ous, and the repetition wearisome, but soften agreeably that

blaze of colour which would be, without such contrast and

interruption, too bright for mortal ken. These are placed

at regular intervals in the centre of the tables, singly, or in

groups. Pretty specimens of the silver- leafed maple {Acer

Negimdo varicgatitm), about 4 feet in height, were thus freely

introduced, and with admirable effect, at the last Birming-

ham Rose-show.

And now there comes for this young lover who has just

made, as it were, his proposals to the Rose, a tedious

interval, a long suspense, a nervous, restless agitation.

The lady has always smiled on him, but what will papa

say, i.e., the judge.^ When next the suitor sees his sweet-

heart, will she bring with her the written approbation of

his suit, even as Miss Wilson returned from the one Pro-

fessor, her father, to the other Professor, Aytoun, her lover,

having a slip of paper pinned upon her dress, and upon

that paper the happy words, ''With the author's compli-

"
ments } When next the exhibitor sees his Roses, will

there be a prize-card on his box }

He wonders fretfully. He retires to his hotel. He

refreshes the outer and the inner man. What can be the
 !

282 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

matter with the coffee-room clock ? how slowly it ticks

how the long hand lags and limps ! every minute marked

upon the dial might be a pebble upon the grass-plat of the

future, blunting the scythe of Time. Will that selfish snob
in the corner never put down the newspaper ? He will, he
does : the exhibitor seizes it eagerly, and reads it, or rather

gazes vacantly upon it for nearly a minute and a half.

What are money-markets or murders to him ? Sixteen

closely-printed pages, and not one word about Roses ! He

throws down the Times and looks out of the window. Ah,
there is a shop opposite with pictures and photographs ;

strolls across ; has seen them all before ; is getting rather

sick of photographs ; strolls back again ; must have been

away ten minutes, but coffee-room clock says three. Selfish

snob in corner writing letters with a coolness and equani-

mity quite disgusting; he looks up and is recognised as

rival amateur, proprietor of Pierre Notting ; something

about him, exhibitor thinks, not altogether pleasing ; not a

nice expression ; shouldn't say he was quite a gentleman.

At last the malignant timepiece, having tardily an-

nounced the meridian, with a minim - rest between the

notes, as though it were a passing bell tolled in Lilliput,

and having disputed every inch of the succeeding hour, is

 AT A ROSE-SHOW. 283

compelled to give up its match against time, and the ex-

hibitor hears the thrilling sound which proclaims the Rose-
show open. He gives his best hat a final brush; he adjusts

for the last time the pretty Rose in his coat (be still, throb-

bing heart beneath !)

; and back he goes to his fate.

He presents at the door his exhibitor's pass ; and then

" affecting to be unaffected," but nervous as a girl at her

first ball, he wends his anxious way to his Roses.

What shall he find there — defeat or victory ? Shall the

music of the band express to his ears the gladness of his

spirit, the triumph of his hope, or shall

" Sharp violins proclaim

Their jealous pangs and desperation,"

in unison Avith his own ? Let him be prepared for either

issue. Let him anticipate defeat, as being but a recruit and

pupil ; but let him remember, when defeated, that more
than one great statesman has been plucked for " Smalls'' —
more than one great general has lost his first battle — more
than one Royal Academician has had his first picture

declined by the hanging-committee. Some faint-hearted

candidates for fame never overcome a first discouragement.

Entering an exhibition of flowers and fruit at Lincoln some

years ago, I met a clerical friend, who informed me con-

 — —

284 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES.

fidentially that, if I desired to know what a melon ought

to be, he would forthwith gratify the wish. Beaming with
complacent smiles, he led me to the place of melons ; but

when we reached it, his countenance fell. The weather was

intensely hot, and the thirsty judges had obeyed implicitly

the directions of the schedule, that the merits of the fruit

were to be decided by flavour. Half of my friend's melon

had gone the way of all flesh (fruit), and a card, resting upon
the remainder, thus announced the verdict of the censors

Fourth Prize,
IS.

In vain I essayed to mitigate his woe by cheerful, I may

say humorous, remarks as to the melon-cholic retribution

which would surely overtake those unrighteous men. It was

the sort of thing, he informed me, with which pleasantness

had no connection whatever, belonging, as it did, to that

sphere of incidents which he described as being "a long

way above a joke." Then, with a stern but sorrowful ex-

pression, which signified, I thought, that he was going to

punish the universe severely, in the discharge of a very

painful duty, he turned to me and said ^' I shall not exhibit

melons again^
 —

AT A ROSE-SHOW. 28$

Let not the young Rosarian be thus daunted. On the

other hand, if victory comes, let him remember always that

she only stays with the meek. Where success brings pride,

then, as Lamb writes in a Latin letter to Gary, comunitan-

duni est he ! he! he! eicmJieit! Jieu! hen! and all men shall

laugh at the braggart's fall.

Again I say, in prosperity or adversity, let him keep the

equal mind
" Who misses or who wins the prize,
Go, lose or conquer as you can ;

But if you fail, or if you rise,

Be each, pray God, a gentleman."

 APPENDIX No. I.

Memoranda for the Months.

October.

I BEGIN with this month, because both he who desires to form, and
he who desires to maintain, or extend, a Rose-garden, must now
make his arrangements for planting in November. Each must
decide what Rose-trees and what Briers he will require, and must
give his instructions accordingly. The sooner his nurseryman
receives the order, the more satisfactorily will it be fulfilled ; and a
timely communication with his collector of Briers will enable that
Thessalian hero, who
" Jumps into the quickset hedge,
To scratch out both his eyes,"

to take a survey of the surrounding fences, and to place him first

upon his list. The ground intended for Rose-trees or stocks must
be thoroughly drained and trenched to receive them.

Commence in this month the first pruning of your Rose-trees,

shortening by one-fourth the longest shoots, and thus preventing
the noxious influence of those stormy winds, which would other-
 —

APPENDIX. 287

wise loosen the hold which the tree has upon the soil, and which
sometimes decapitate the tree itself. These cuttings will strike,

many of them, if put in, about 6 inches in length and closely, in

some sheltered place —by a wall, for example —looking north or
west, and protected by a hand-glass ; or they will strike, some of
them, without protection overhead, if planted in a like situation,
but deeper in the ground, 7 or 8 inches, with two or three " eyes "
above the soil. Such of these cuttings as have made roots should
be taken up and potted in the ensuing spring — /. <?., in April

should be kept warm under glass for a month or six weeks,

hardened by the gradual admission of air, and planted out towards
the end of May.

November

is the best month for transplanting. Ah, how it cheers the

Rosarian's heart amid those dreary days, to welcome that package
from the nurseries, long and heavy, so cleanly swathed in the new
Russian mat, so closely sewn with the thick white cord ! His eyes
glisten, like the schoolboy's when the hamper comes from home,
and hardly, though he has read the story of Waste 7iot, Want not,

can he keep his knife from the string. Let him plant his Rose-
trees as soon as may be after their arrival ; but if they reach him,
unhappily, during frost or heavy rains, let him " lay them in," as it

is termed, covering their roots well with soil and their heads with
matting, and so wait the good time coming. When planted they
must not be set too deeply in the soil — about 3 inches will suffice
—but must be secured (I am presuming that the trees are chiefly

low standards, according to advice given) to stakes, firmly fixed in

the ground beside them. Some gardeners plant deeply, to save, I

288 APPENDIX.

suppose, the trouble of staking ; and indolence has its usual result

— debihty. Let the Briers also be planted as soon as received,

and see that they are young, straight, well-rooted —not dry, " hide-

bound," crooked, fibreless, and only good for Hockey.

You may shorten now to six or eight eyes the laterals of your

budded Briers. The established Rose-trees should now, if the

ground be dry and the weather fine, have a good dressing of farm-
yard manure dug into the beds around them. And in

December

you should take advantage of the first hard frost to wheel in a

similar supply for the new-comers, the freshly-planted Rose-trees

and stocks. In the latter case the manure must remain upon the
ground to protect and to strengthen too, and need not be dug in

until March. At the same time, it will be wise to give a munifi-

cent mulching to Roses of a delicate constitution, planted out of

doors —the little Banksian, for example, or Tea-scented Chinas, on

their own roots, against our walls. Thus defended, we shall feel

less anxiety for them, when

Ja7iuary

shall bring storm and cruel frost. Though we see our fair fleet
scudding with bare poles in the tempest, we shall know that below

deck there is life and safety. We must make up our minds to

some losses among the old and young, of the worn-out in our Rose-

gardens, and of the weakly bud, perhaps the best we could obtain of

some new variety, or of some delicate Tea, among our Briers ; but,

with our ground well drained, and our Rose-trees well secured and
 ;

APPENDIX. 289

mulched, we need not fear for the hale and strong. Not twice in

a lifetime comes such a pitiless deadly winter as that of 1860-61

and though to a few feeble invalids the white snow may be a
winding - sheet, for the rest it is His shield and covering, Who
giveth His snow like wool. Wherefore sweet memories and
happy hopes come to us musing at the fireside upon our Roses.
Nor need those hours be all hours of idleness. AVe may prepare
" tallies " for our trees and cards for our cut flowers. We may
repair and repaint our boxes, sharpen our stakes for the budded
Briers in spring, and sharpen our wits, too, by studying the chronicles
of past Rose-shows, the manuals, and the catalogues of our chief
Rosarians. In

February

the cry is " All in to begin," as it used to be the showman's

when we went to the fair, for no more Rose-trees can be planted
when this month has passed.

March

is the month for our final pruning. I say final, because all the

longer shoots will have been previously shortened in October.

Different varieties will, of course, require different treatment ; and
the intentions of the operator, as well as the habit of the tree, will
direct the manipulation of the knife. Some Roses of very vigorous
growth, such as Blairii 2 and Charles Lawson, Triomphe de Bayeux
and Persian Yellow, will not flower at all if they are closely pruned.
They will need little more excision than that which they have
already received — only the removal of any weak or injured wood.
Ten or twelve eyes may be left upon the healthy shoots. With
T
 — —

290 APPENDIX.

the Rose-trees generally the question is, Does the owner wish for

number or size, quantity or quality ? If the former, let him leave

five, if the latter, three eyes, on the strong laterals, of course cutting
out the infirm.
Look over the budded Briers. Rub off incipient laterals, and
pull up suckers. Breaks on the budded shoot should be all re-

moved, save one farthest from the bud, which should be left a
while to make the running i.e., draw up the sap.

See to your stakes when the stormy winds do blow, and towards
the end of the month dig in the manure left about the newly-
planted Rose-trees and Briers. Take from the latter all the lower
growth and suckers, leaving the two strongest laterals nearest to

the top.
In the Rose-garden lighten the surface of soil, if requisite, with
digging-fork or hoe.

Aj>riL

Prune Tea-scented, Noisette, and Bourbon Roses, observing the

previous rule — that is, cutting very abstemiously, when the growth
is vigorous, as with Marechal Niel, Gloire de Dijon, Climbing
Devoniensis, and Souvenir d'un Ami. And now
'*
Read, ye who run, the awful truth

With which I charge my page,

A worm is in the bud"

of the Roses, and towards the end of this month the Rose-grub

(what an amalgamation of the lovely and the loathsome !) must be

sought for constantly and closely. The search must be continued
during the early part of
 APPENDIX. 291

May,

and the pest will be found hidden in the curled leaf, from which
he would presently attack the Rose, as a burglar conceals himself
in the shrubbery before he breaks into the drawing-room. Of all

the months this to the Rosarian brings most anxiety. Nothing

so adverse to his Roses as late vernal frosts, cold starving nights
in May. The sap is checked, the circulation of Rose-blood is

impeded, and weakness and disease follow inevitably. The trees,

which were growing luxuriantly, suddenly cease to make further
progress. They look well to the eye ; the inexperienced appre-
hends no injury ; but the disease is there, and the symptoms will

soon show themselves. Wisely did our forefathers fix their Roga-
tion Days at this most perilous time. Wisely did priest and peo-
ple go together round the boundary fields, with earnest prayer
that they might in due time enjoy the kindly fruits of the earth.
Even the heathen kept his days of Rogation, and besought his

gods " ut onmia befie effloresce^-ent ; " and shall the Christian call it

superstition to invoke the blessings of Heaven upon corn-field and

pasture, orchard and garden, fruit and flower ?

Cut in the budded laterals on the Briers close to the bud, and
take away all suckers and fresh growth upon the Brier itself.

Have your stakes firmly driven into the ground by the side of

each stock, and rising about 2 feet above it. Watch the growth
of the bud, securing the young tender shoot, with bast to the stake,
so that it may be safe against sudden gusts, and look out at the

same time for the grub.

Examine the new growth of your established Rose-trees, and

w^hen you think that it is too abundant, rub off here and there
those breaking buds, which might weaken the plant, and prevent a
292 APPENDIX.

wholesome circulation of air through the crowded "head" of the

Rose-tree.
Order your selection of new Roses in pots from the nursery,
repotting those of which you have the best hope, and keep them
dass
under &' for a time, so that in

Jime

you may bud them on some of your most forward stocks; and
then, by turning them out of their pots into the open ground, and
by encouraging them in every way to make a fresh growth, you
may obtain a second supply of buds in the autumn, when you will

know more as to their merits.

If May has been genial, June will be glorious. If not, we shall

have the aphis, honey-dew, 7iiildew, rust, larva of saw-fiy, swarming

like voracious ravens to peck at the wounded stag, until the poor
Rosarian is nearly driven out of his wits, as Mons. Vibert was
driven from his nursery near Paris to St Denis, by the ver blanc
(grub of the cockchafer), which destroyed all before it. Reaumur
made a calculation that, in five generations, an aphis might be the
progenitor of 5,904,900,000 descendants; and a writer in the
Entomological Magazijie (No. iii. p. 217) communicates the result
of much careful observation, as follows :
" Insects in general come
from an egg ; then turn to a caterpillar, which does nothing but
eat ; then to a chrysalis, which does nothing but sleep ; then to a
perfect butterfly, which does nothing but increase its kind. But
the aphis proceeds altogether on another system. The young
ones are bom exactly like the old ones, but less. They stick their
beaks through the rind, and begin drawing up sap when only a
 ;;

APPENDIX. 293

day old, and go on quietly sucking away for seven or eight days
and then, without love, courtship, or matrimony, each individual
begins bringing forth young ones, and continues to do so for
months, at the rate of from twelve to eighteen daily."
What is the cure ? There is You may brush you may
none. ;

powder ; you may syringe ;

you may dip you may mix your
;

tobacco-water — your decoction of quassia; —but where the aphis

has once taken possession, you shall not see the Rose in its

integrity. The injury was done before the aphis came.

But there is something better than cure —there is pi-evention.

The aphis finds no food when the Rose-tree is in perfect health

it will not taste the sap which is pure and untainted ; it is a leech
which sucks bad blood only. If situation, soil, and supervision be
such as I have suggested, nothing but weather of unusual sever-
ity will bring aphis or harm to the Rose. Early in the year a
Rosarian asked me "What I did with the green fly?" I told him
truthfully that they never troubled me ; and I suppose I spoke
too conceitedly ; for last summer, at all events, they attacked me
in force for the first time since I understood the art of Rose-
growing. But the May of 1869 was extraordinary, as the farmer,
the fruitist, and the florist know to their cost j and it was evident,
in the dull look of the leaf, that the trees were frost-bitten, and
that the usual consequences must come.
And here is an additional motive for growing our Roses, as
much as may be, year after year, 7^^;;/ the bud, because these are
later in their development, and sufier less from frost. I have not
seen a single aphis this season in my budding-ground.
Early in June, the Roses intended for exhibition should be dis-
budded ; that is, all buds should be removed except one or two of
 —

294 APPENDIX.

the largest and most central. I believe that Mr Keynes, of Salis-

hury, was the first, at the suggestion of Mr Gill, his foreman, to

tr}^ this experiment, and the superior size of his Roses soon made
the practice general.
The final application of manure, as previously recommended,
should simultaneously be laid on the surface of the soil, and this

liberality must be extended to the Briers also in a season of exces-

sive drought.

Towards the end of the month, and at the beginning of

we have the Rose-shows, of which I have said my say ; and after

these we must bud our Briers with those varieties which a keen
and constant observation at home and elsewhere, in our gardens

and at the shows, has taught us to admire the most. Ample

instructions, with cleverly-drawn illustrations, are given by writers

upon the Rose as to the art of budding; but an experienced

gardener, with a sharp knife and a hank of thick cotton, somewhat
resembling that used for lamps, will teach the amateur far more
quickly and effectively than he can possibly be taught by books.
Should mildew make its appearance, remove the leaves most
affected, and cover the rest with flower of sulphur when the tree
wet from shower or syringe, giving them another good washing
next day. Mr Rivers recommends soot as a remedy, and kindly
sends me in a letter, written Sept. 6, 1869, the result of a success-

ful experiment. " Have you mildew?" he asks "fry soot. Some
time towards the end of July a batch of Hybrid Perpetuals, five

plants in pots, were white with mildew. Perry" (his foreman)

 —

APPENDIX. 295

" tried sulphur without end, and at last in desperation smothered

them with soot, in the dew of the morning. This rested on them
for four or five days, and was then washed off". The effect was
marvellous ; the mildew disappeared ; the leaves turned to a dark
green; the buds opened freely; and the flowers were briUiant."
That yellow-bellied abomination, the grub which produces the
saw-fly, in this month attacks the Rose, sucking the sap from
underneath the leaf, and changing the colour of the part on which
he has fed from bright green to dirty brown. The process of
''
scrunching " is disagreeable, but it imist be done.
During the continuous droughts which frequently occur in July,

it is desirable, of course, to water every evening, where water and

waterers can be had in abundance. Elsewhere, I would advise
that the surface of the beds be loosened from time to time with

the hoe. It will thus retain for a much longer period the moisture
of nocturnal dews. But there is nothing like a mulching of farm-
yard manure.
Fading Roses should be removed from the tree, and preserved
for the pot-pourri jar. The other flowers of the garden perish,
but—
" Sweet Roses do not so :

Of their sweet deaths are sweeter odours made."

August

is also a propitious month for budding ; but if the weather is hot

and the ground parched, it will be desirable to give the beds a
good drenching with water " when the evening sun is low."
The cotton may be removed from the Briers budded in July ; it

should remain about a month upon the stock.

 !

296 APPENDIX.

September

brings us little to do, except to remove suckers and weeds, and to

enjoy our second harvest of Roses. It is but the gleaning of the

grapes, the echo of the chorus, the after-glow of the sun ; but our
happiness among the autumnal Roses is, I think, more intense
than ever. We can appreciate them more calmly than when our
eyes were dazzled by their overpowering splendour, our attention
distracted by their infinite number, and our nervous system excited
by the shows. And we cling to them more fondly — so soon to
leave us
To leave our gardens, but not our hearts. When, at the end of
this month, the chill evenings come, and curtains are drawn and
bright fires glow, who is so happy as the Rose-grower, with the
new catalogues before him? The likeness so faithfully painted
from the life brings before him the original in all her grace and
beauty ; and over his glass of Larose, if he has one by him, he
utters the loyal desire of his heart,

"
"Floreat Regina Florum !
 APPENDIX No. II.

NEW ROSES.

The plan which I have advised the amateur to pursue in the for-

mation of a Rose-garden — that is, to buy his Rose-trees from the

nursery, and then to bud them upon stocks of his own — will be the
best for its future continuance also. The best and the cheapest,
because, although the foundation will be costly (that is to say, the

site, the preparation of the ground, and the material), the super-

structure and the maintenance of the fabric will not be expensive

items. Once possessed of the most beautiful varieties of the Rose,
and planting every November such a quantity of Briers (or of
Manetti, if that should prove the stock most suitable to his soil)

as he may deem desirable, the independent Rosarian will grow

his favourite flower to perfection, year after year, from his own
resources, only requiring in addition those neiv Roses which pro-
mise to be of superior merit, which are regularly advertised by our
English nurserymen in the spring, and may be had from them in

the month of May.

But how am I to know, the amateur will ask, what selection to

make from the numerous varieties which are annually announced

as " superbes, ravissanfes, viagnijiqiies " .? You do not expect me to

purchase some forty Rose-trees, at three-and-sixpence apiece, in

total ignorance of their merits — if any ? The gentle amateur,
298 APPENDIX.

perhaps, in his guileless youth, has risen at some of these gaudy

flies, and been painfully pricked by the hook. He flaps his tail in

distrust, whenever he sees bright wings on the water, and swims oft

in search of safer food.

It is quite true that a very large proportion of the glittering

gems which are sent to us by the French jewellers turn out to be
paste, and that some of the real diamonds are " Rose " diamonds
indeed — that is, not of \h^ first water ; but we must remember, at
the same time, that there are always some real brilliants among
them, and these the Rosarian who wishes for a perfect collection,

and the exhibitor who would not be left behind in the race, must
obtain at some risk, and at some apparent sacrifice. He cannot
afford to wait a season, until a Rose is proved to be of superior
excellence, but should have the happiness of knowing, when
some novelty is applauded by all, that he purchased it in the pre-

ceding May, and that he will have four or five trees of it next year
in his budding-ground. These trees, and others of like excellence,
will amply compensate for the disappointments around them, and,
if we take only a pecuniary view, will repay him with interest for

his outlay.

I have therefore compiled, from reliable statistics, two tables

for the information and direction of amateurs ; the one designed
to prove to him that Roses of superior merit have been sent out
every spring during the last ten years, and the other giving the
names of those who sent them. The first statement should en-
courage him to purchase, and the second should be some guide in
his selection. He may reasonably expect that those Rosarians
who have sent us excellent Roses will continue to do so, and

seeing their names attached to the novelties in the spring lists of

 APPENDIX. 299

our nurseryman (these names are given in some catalogues, and

should be given in all), he will order with a good courage and
with happy hopes.

A List of the best Roses raised in France and elsewhere

FROM the Year 1859 to 1869, a.d.

1859.

Hybrid Perpehials. Hybrid Perpetuals.

Eugene Appert. Alphonse Damaizin.

Gloire de Santhenay. Charles Lefebvre.

Louis XIV. Due de Rohan.

Madame Boll. Frangois Lacharme.

Madame Charles Crapelet. Madame Boutin.

Senateur Vaisse. Madame Caillat.
Victor Verdier. Madame Charles Wood.
Madame Clemence Joigneaux.
Bourbon.
Madame Julie Daran.
Baron Gonella. Marechal Vaillant.
Maurice Bernardin.
Tea.
Olivier Delhomme.
Due de Magenta.
Prince Camille de Rohan.

Noisette. Souvenir de Comte Cavour.

Turenne.
America.
Vicomte Vigier.

i860.
1862.
Hybrid Perpetiials.

Due de Cazes. Alfred de Rougemont.

Madame Furtado. Baronne Adolphe de Rothschild.

Beauty of Waltham.
Boiirbon.
Jean Goujon.
Catherine Guillot. John Hopper.
Modele de Perfection. Laurent Descour"..
300 APPENDIX.

Le Rhone. 1865.
Prince Henri de Pays Bas. Hybrid Perpetuals.
Souvenir de Charles Montault.
Abel Grand.
Vainqueur de Goliath. Alba Mutabilis.
Alfred Colomb,
BoJirboji.
Camille Bernardin.
Emotion. Charles Rouillard.
Louis Margottin. Exposition de Brie.
Fisher Holmes.
1863.
Hippolyte Flandrin.
Hybrid Perpetuals.
Jean Lambert.
Alpaide de Rotalier.
Josephine Beauharnais.
Centifolia Rosea.
Madame Fillion.
Joseph Fiala.
Mademoiselle Marguerite Dombrain.
La Duchesse de Moniy.
Mademoiselle Marie Rady.
Leopold Premier.
Marcella.
Lord Macaulay.
Prince de Porcia.
Madame Victor Verdier.
William Rollisson.
Marie Beauman.
Pierre Notting. 1866.

Hybrid Perpetuals.
1864.
Antoine Ducher.
Achille Gonod. Black Prince.
Belle Normande. Charles Verdier.
Dr Andrj', Comtesse de Jaucourt.
Duchesse de Caylus. Felix Genero.
Duke of Wellington. Horace Vernet.
Lord Herbert. Madame Hausmann.
Madame Moreau. Madame George Paul.
Marguerite de St Amand. Mademoiselle Annie Wood.
Xavier Olibo. Monsieur Noman.
Princess Mary of Cambridge.
Tea.
Souvenir de Monsieur Boll.
Marechal Niel. Ville de Lyon.
 APPENDIX. 301

Tea. \
1868.

Madame Margottin. Adolphe Brogniart.

Adrien de Montebello.
1S67. Berthe Baron.
Charles Lee.
Hybrid Perpetuah.
Clemence Raoux.
Baronne Hausmann. Duke of Edinburgh.
Boule de Neige. Devienne Lamy.
Christine Nilsson. Dupuy Jamain.
Clotilde Rolland. Edward Morren.
Coquette des Alpes. Emilie Hausburg.
Duchesse d'Aoste. Henri Ledechaux.
Elie Morel. Julie Touvais.
Fran9ois Fontaine. Madame Clert.
La France. Madame Creyton.
Madame Cirodde. Madame Jacquier. ,

Madame Noman. Marquise de Montemart.

Madame la Baronne de Roths- Miss Ingram.
child. Nardy Freres.
Pitord. Perfection de Lyon.
Prince Humbert. Reine Blanche.
Reine du Midi. Souvenir de Poiteau.
Souvenir de Caillat. Thyra Hammerich.
Victor de Bihan.
Tea.
Tea.

Clotilde. Marie Ducher.

Reine de Portugal. Montplaisir.
302 APPENDIX.

II.

An Alphabetical List or French and English Rosarians, who have

SENT OUT Roses of superior Merit during the last Ten Years,
WITH the Names of the Roses, and the Year of their Intro-
duction.
Beaumaii.
Marie Beauman, . . . . H. P. 1863

Boyan.

Madame Boll, H. P. 1859

Souvenir de Monsieur Boll, H. P. 1S66

Campy.

Alpaide de Rotalier, . H. P. 1863

Dainaizin.

Abel Grand, H.
Hippolyte Flandrin,
Felix Genero, .

Reine Blanche,
 APPENDIX. 303

Fontaine^ Charles.
Francois Fontaine, H. P. 1867
304 APPENDIX.

Janiain.

Madame Boutin, H. P. 1861

Lachai'me.

Virginal, H. P.

Victor Verdier,
Charles Lefebvre,
Baronne Adolphe de Rothschild,
Xavier Olibo,
Alfred Colomb,
Pitord,

Lecointe.

Marechal Vaillant, H. P.

Leivy, Andre.

Celine Forestier, N.

Leveqiie et fils.

Due de Rohan,
Baronne Hausmann,
Emilie Hausburg,
Devienne Lamy,

Liabaud.

Madame Clemence Joigneaux,

Laurent Descourt,
Marcella,
Elie Morel,
Marquise de Montemart,

Margottin.

Jean Goujon, .

Louis Margottin,
Bernard Pallissy,

Prince Humbert,
APPENDIX.
3o6 APPENDIX.

Reine du Midi, H. P. 1867

Clotilde, T. 1867

Safisal.

Marguerite de St Amand, H. P. 1864

Soupert et Notting.

Prince Heflri de Pays Bas, II. P. 1862

Touvais.

Centifolia Rosea, H. P. 1863

Julie Touvais, H. P. 1868

Turner.

Miss Ingram, H. P. 1868

Vanasche.

Leopold Premier, . H. P. 1863

Verdier. Charles.

Madame Cirodde, 11. P. 1867

VerdieTy Eugene.

Madame Caillat, H. P.

Madame Charles Wood,

Prince Camille de Rohan,
Joseph Fiala,
La Duchesse de Momy,
 APPENDIX. 307

Madame Victor Verdier, H. P.

Dr Andry, ' .

Marechal Niel,*
Alba Mutabilis,
Charles Rouillard,
Fisher Holmes,
Jean Lambert,
Mademoiselle Marguerite Dombrain,
Prince de Porcia,
William Rollisson, . .

Madame George Paul,

Madame Hausmann,
Mademoiselle Annie Wood, .

Souvenir de Caillat, ,

Verdier^ Victor.

Madame Furtado,
Fran9ois Lacharme,
Olivier Delhomme,
Vicomte Vigier,

Henri Ledechaux,
Thyra Hammerich,
 POSTSCRIPT TO APPENDIX XL

The lists of new Roses for 1870 is before me as I am thankfully

and happily revising my book for a third, and, as I hope, an im-

proved edition. I am thus enabled practically to demonstrate to

the reader the use and interest of the foregoing Appendix — to

point out how it may serve the Rosarian, who wishes to purchase,
as his guide in making a selection.

In the first place, then, let us look over the only catalogue
which I have as yet received, combining the name of the raiser

(or proprietor) with that of the Rose. It comes from Mr Cant of

Colchester, and I would that all our Rose-merchants would follow
his example, and make the same additions to their lists.

Hybrid Perpetual.

Abbe Giraudier (Levet). —Bright fresh rose, very large, full, fine form, growth
vigorous.
Alexandj-e de Humboldt (Charles Verdier). — Fine bright rose or clear red,
edges of the petals striped with white, a very fresh colour, flowers very
large and double, and of fine globular form, growth vigorous, with splendid
foliage.

Baro7i Chaurand (Liabaud). — Bright velvety scarlet, shaded black purple,

flowers large, full, beautiful cup-shaped, growth vigorous,
 APPENDIX. 309

Eughte Vavin (Duval). — Bright glossy cerise, flowers very large, globular, and
finely shaped, growth vigorous.
Ferdinajid de Lesseps (Eugene Verdier). — Purple shaded violet, flowers large,

full, and fine form, superb, growth vigorous.

General de Latnartiniere (De Sansal). —Bright carmine rose in centre, spreading

to vinous red at outer edge of flower, very large, full and fine form, growth
vigorous.
General Miloradcnuitsch (Leveque). — Fine light red shaded with carmine,
flowers very large, full, and fine shape, growth vigorous, and handsome
foliage.

General Grant (Eugene Verdier). — Scarlet, deeply shaded with bright carmine,
large and very double, growth vigorous.
Jacob Pereire (Moreau). — Fine rosy salmon, flowers large and very full, growth
vigorous.

Jeanne Guillot (Liabaud). — Bright satin rose, shaded with purple, flowers very
large, full, and cup-shaped, growth vigorous.
Jules Chretieti (Damaisin). — Bright soft rose, flowers large and full, perfectly
imbricated form, growth vigorous, superb.
Jules Seurre (Liabaud). —Vermilion red, shaded with purple, centre fiery red,

flowers large and full, growth vigorous.

Lena Turiier (Eugene Verdier). — Bright cerise, sometimes shaded slaty violet,

flowers large and full, imbricated like a camellia, growth vigorous.

Louis Van Houtte (Lacharme). — Scarlet crimson, most vivid, richly shaded
with maroon crimson, flowers very large and full, and of admirable form,
growth vigorous.
Louisa Wood (Enghne Verdier). —Very fine bright rose, flowers very large and
full, with large petals, very constant, superb, growth vigorous.
Madame Dustour (Pemet). — Fine rosy carmine, shaded with white, flowers
very large and full, cup-shaped, growth vigorous.
Madame Lefran^ois (Oger), — Bright flesh-coloured rose, large, full, and fine

form, in the way of Comtesse de Chabrilland, growth vigorous.

Mademoiselle Eugenie Verdier (Guillot fils).— Very bright rosy flesh, shaded
with silvery white, flowers very large and full, of very fine form and good
habit, superb.
 . — ;

310 APPENDIX.

Perle Blanche (Touvais). — White, with blush centre, flowers very large, full,

and fine form, growth vigorous.

Paul Nerofi (Levet).— Deep flowers very large and
rose, full, growth vigorous.
Reiiie des Beautes (Gonod). — Flesh-coloured white, very clear, flowers large,
full, and well formed, growth vigorous.
Reine des Blanches {TouYda?,). — White, slightly tinted with rose in the centre,
flowers large and of fine form.

Susajina Wood {YiVighne Verdier). — Fine fresh rose, flowers large, full, and of
very fine form, abundant bloomer, growth vigorous.
Thomas Methven (Eugene Verdier). — Brilliant carmine, flowers large, full, and
of very fine form, superb, growth vigorous

Tea-Scented.
Belle Lyonnais (Levet). — Deep canary yellow, flowers large, full, and fine

form, growth very vigorous, in the way of Gloire de Dijon.

Catherine Afermel {Guillot fils). — Light flesh-coloured rose, flowers large and
full.

Le Mo7it Blanc (Ducher). —White, slightly tinted with yellow, flowers large

and full, fine form.

Madame Hyppolite Jamain (Guillot fils). — Pure white, centre petals of a cop-
pery yellow, tinted with soft rose, flowers large, full, and well formed.

Then comparing this list with our Appendix, we shall find

first, to our disappointment, that Beauman, the father of the

beautiful Marie Beauman., who sent out Madame Boll ; Fontaine
pere, plre of Madame C. Crapelet, and Mademoiselle Marie Rady
Granger, who raised the exquisite Exposition de Brie; Guillot
pere, who claims Senateur Vaisse and Monsieur Noman; Jamain,
to whom we owe the constant charms of Madame Boutin;
Lecomte, who gave us grand Marechal Vaillant ; Leroy, who sent
the lovely Celine Forestier, together with the great Victor Verdier
himself, —have nothing this year to offer.
 ;

APPENDIX. 311

But, secondly, we shall discover, to our gladness, that (again

going through our list alphabetically) Damaizin sends us Jules
Chretien^ as he sent us, in 1868, Reine Bla7iche ; that Ducher, who
raised Gloire de Santhe?iay, and sent us, in 1868, Montplaisir,
commends a new Tea Rose, Le Mont Blaiic ; that Gonod, who
sent us Mada7ne Fillion and Madame Ckrt^ now announces a
Reine des Beautes ; that Guillot fils, the author of Le Rhone and
La France, sends us Mademoiselle Eugenie Verdier, with glowing

praises of her beauty, together with two Tea-scented varieties,

Catherine Mermet 2J\<1 Madajne Llyppolite Jamain ; that Lacharme,
to whom every Rosarian should raise his hat for Victor Verdier,
Charles Lefebvre (!), Xavier Olibo, and Alfred Colomb, commends
his Louis Van Hoidte ; that Leveque, who raised the glorious Due
de Rohan and Einilie Hausburg, sends us General Miloradowitsch
(and somebody with him, I hope, to teach us how to pronouce his
name) ; that Levet, immortalised by Mademoiselle Therese, offers

Abbe Giraudier and Paul Neron, H.P.'s, together with Belle

Lyonnaise, T. ; that Liabaud, so honourably identified with those

beautiful roses Madame Clemence Joigneaux, Elie Morel, and

Marquise de Monteitiart, is the proposer of three new candidates
for fame, Baron Chaurand, Jeanne Guillot, and Jules Seurre; that
the great Margottin sends us a Rose, to which he would never
have given the name of Charles Turner if he had not proved its

excellence ; that Fernet, who sent us Vainqueur de Goliath and

Madame la Baronne de Rothschild, introduces us to Madame
Dustour ; that Sansal, who chaperoned that lovely debutante,

Marguerite de St Amand, speaks highly of General La?nartiniere

that Touvais, the raiser of Centifolia Rosea and Julie Touvais,

gives a pretty name and a good character to Perle Blanche; that

312 APPENDIX.

Charles Verdier highly eulogises Alexandre de Humboldt ; and

that Eugene Verdier, who has sent us so many gems, such as

Madame Caillat^ Madame Charles Wood^ Pri7ice Camille de Rohan,

Mada?fie V. Verdier, Dr A?idry, and the Marechal, commends to

us Ferdiiiand de Lesseps, General Grajtt, Lena Turfier, Louisa and

Susafifia Wood, and Thomas Methve?i, a seedling from Charles
Lefebvre.

Of the English raisers, Mr Turner of Slough, who sent out his

charming but somewhat coy Miss Lngram, announces Lord

Napier (a fine seedling from Victor Verdier), which I have seen
and admired much \ together with Miss Poole, described as

silvery rose, large, full, and of perfect form.

All these Roses I should commend to those who can afford to

buy them, lest they should miss a prize. To those who, like
myself, must run this risk, whether they like it or no, I should

propose the following selection : Abbe Giraudier (a seedling from

Louise Peyro7iJiey), Charles Turner, Ferdinand de Lesseps, General
de La7nartiniere, General Miloradowitsch, Lora Napier, Louis Van
LLoutte, and Madeinoiselle Euge?iie Verdier, together with Candide,

Cotfitesse d' Oxford, Marquise de Castellain, Marquise de Lig?ieries,

and Paul Neron, not in Mr Cant's list, but commended by my

own eyes, or by the lips of reliable Rosarians, as being the belles

of the new debutafites.

 INDEX.

Aphis, the, 292. Damask Roses, 191.

Arrangement of Rose-garden, 106.

Artisans, Roses of, 14. Exhibitor, the Irascible, 269,

Austrian Brier, the, 188. , the Covetous, 273.
Ayrshire Roses, 140. , the Despondent, 275,

Banksiaii Roses, 142. Failure, causes of, 8, 54 et seq.

Bones as manure, 87. French Rosarians, 301.

Bourbon Roses, 195.
Boursault Roses, 144. Gallica Roses, 180.
Boxes for exhibition, 240. Garden Roses, 162,
Brier, the, as a stock, 230. Gardens, past and present, 109.
Briers, cost of, 233. Greece, Roses of, 37.
— , management of, 233. Guano, 90.
Budding Roses, 235.

Hedges of the Rose, 58.

Caps for Roses, 246. Horticultural Clubs, 210.
China Roses, 190. Hybrid Perpetual Roses, 193.
Classification of Roses, 181.

Clay soil, management of, 75. Judging Roses, 277.

Climbing Roses, 126.
Colours, arrangement of, 255. Larva of saw-fly, 295.
Cost of RoseSj 52, 228-233, Light soil, management of, 79.

X
^u INDEX.

Manetti Rose, the, as a stock, 230. Rose-grub, the, 290.

Manures, 85. Roses for exhibition, 220.

, when to apply, 95. Rose-Shows, history of, 200.

Marechal Niel, culture of, 134.

Memoranda for the months, 286. Show-Rose, definition of, 223.

Mildew, 294. Show-Roses, when to cut, 250.

Moss for Show-Roses, 242. Site for Rose-garden, 54.

Moss-Roses, 173. Soils, 67.

Soot, 88, 294.

National Rose-Show, 206. Supremacy of the Rose, 48.

New Roses, 297— for 1870, 308. Sweet-Brier, the, 187.

Nightsoil, 90.
Noisette Roses, 196.
Tall Standards, 158.
Tea Roses, 259.
Old Monthly Rose, 190.
, pruning, 290.
Town gardens, Roses for, 65, 66.
Pillar or Pyramidal Roses, 146.
Tubes for exhibition, 245.
Planting Briers, 233, 288.
Roses, 228, 287.
Ubiquity of the Rose, 43.
Preparation for Rose- Show, 248.
Provence Roses, 167.
Variegated Roses, 179.
Pnming, 286, 289.

Roman Roses, 40. Walks, 120.

Rosarians, the old, 198. Weeping Rose-trees, 160.

PRIXTEIi BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AXD SONS, EDIKEIROH.

 :

i?l
f\

PUBLISHED BY

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS.

HANDY BOOK OF THE FLOWER-GARDEN being :

Plain, Practical Directions for the Propagation, Culture, and

Arrangement of Plants in Flower Gardens all the Year
-

Round embracing all classes of

; Gardens, from the largest to the small-
est ; with Engraved Plans, illustrative of the various systems of Grouping
in Beds and Borders. By DAVID THOMSON, formerly of Archerfield
and Dirleton Gardens, now Gardener to his Grace the Duke of Euccleuch,
K.G,, at Drumlanrig. In crown 8vo, ys. 6d.

THE BOOK OF THE GARDEN. By Charles Mlntosh.

Two large Volumes, royal 8vo, embellished with 1353 Engravings.

Each Volume may be had separately — viz.

I. On —
the Formation of Gardens Construction, Heating, and Ven-
tilation of Fruit and Plant Houses, Pits, Frames, and other
Garden Structures, with Practical Details. Illustrated by 1073
Engravings, pp. 776. /^2, los.

II. Directions for the Culture of the Kitchen Garden, the Hardy-Fruit
Garden, the Forcing Garden, and Flower-Garden, including
Fruit and Plant Houses ; with Select Lists of Vegetables, Fruits,
and Plants. Pp. 868, with 279 Engravings, /^i, 17s. 6d.

ON ORNAMENTAL-FOLIAGED PELARGONIUMS;
WITH Practical Hints for their Production, Propagation, and
Cultivation. By PETER GRIEVE, Culford, Bury St Edmunds.
Second Edition, enlarged, including Description of Best Varieties intro-
duced up to the present time, and Engravings, 4s.
 — — —— — — —

THE GAEDENER; A Monthly Magazine of Horticul-

TURE AND Floriculture. Edited by WILLIAM THOMSON and
RICHARD DEAN. Price 6d.

A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CULTIVA-

TION OF THE GRAPE VINE. By WILLIAM THOMSON, Gar-
dener to his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, K.G., &c., Dalkeith Park.
Sixth Edition, 8vo, 5s.

"When books on gardening are written thus conscientiously, they are alike honourable to
their author and valuable to the public." Gardeners' Chronicle.

THE HANDY BOOK OF BEES; being a Practical

Treatise on their Profitable Management. By A. PETTI-
GREW, With Engravings, price 4s. 6d.
''We could not recommend a more succinct, more intelligible, or more entertaining man-
Mr Pettigrew. "—-BeW's Weekly Messenger.
ual than that of
"The author of this volume is evidently a practical man, and knows a great deal more
about bees and their habits than most of the bee-keepers in England indeed he may be said
;

to be a very master in the art of bee mysteries." Bell's Life in London.

"How to manage them properly, so as to make a profit, is so clearly and pleasantly told
in this capital work, that we need not trespass on its pages longer." Sherborne Journal.

THE HANDY HORSE -BOOK; or, Practical Instruc-

TiONS IN Driving, Riding, and the General Care and Manage-
ment OF Horses. By MAGENTA. Fifth Edition, with Illustrations.
Crown 8vo, 4s. 6d.
" Evidently the work of no unskilled hand." Bell's Life.

"There isscarcely a single sentence which does not convey sound and valuable informa-
tion." S2iorting Gazette.
"This is a book to be read and re-read by all who take an interest in the noble animal."
Sporting Magazine.
"By all means buy the book; it will repay the outlay." Land and Water.

By the same Author.

OUR DOMESTICATED DOGS; their Treatment in
Reference to Food, Diseases, Habits, Punishment, Accomplish-
MENT.S, ETC, 2S. 6d.