1869.] THE ROSE. 391 



lence — the artistic eifort 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 Shake- 

 speare — 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 development 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 ; 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 j Persian Yellow, in hue golden, glorious, but in size a big 

 Buttercup ; and sometimes 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, and magnificent Marechal 

 Kiel ! 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 ; but in this more genial temperature it 

 blooms long before the showman's opening day ; and I have seen houses 

 containing many hundred plants which have not contributed to the 

 exhibitor a single flower. I have tried with these Roses many experi- 

 ments, in pots and out, al fresco, under glass, under canvas (moveable), 

 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 forewarned me that the winter would kill every bud, and 



