32 



THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



is simply to call attention to the publica- ! 

 tion of the " Eose Annual,"* which is a 

 pretty example of the " division of labour" 

 as applied to horticultural literature, and 

 perfectly justifiable ; for if Cambridge and 

 Oxford dons, metropolitan vestrymen, 

 and mathematicians, and workers in Ber- 

 lin wool have their annuals, why shoidd 

 not tlio rose-grower, especially if such a 

 roan as William Paul volunteers to pi'O- 

 duce it? 



The "EoseA.nnual" opens bravely with 

 exquisitely drawn and richly coloured 

 portraits of four new roses, namely, Louis 

 Chaix, H.P. ; Madame William, T. ; Lord 

 Palmerston, B.P. ; and Empress Eugenie, 

 P.M. Of these there are descriptions 

 appended. Thereafter follow notes on the 

 jDrogress of the rose from the year 1853 

 (to which date Mr. Paul brought down 

 his historical and critical jottings in the 

 " Eose Garden") to 1858 ; notes on the 

 new roses of last year ; lists of the roses 

 which won prizes last year ; extracts from 

 the author's journal ; and an alphabetical 

 list of the best new roses introduced since 

 1852, with description and year of intro- 

 duction. With the exception of the ex- 

 tracts from the author's journal, in which 

 we find little to interest us, this is a valu- 

 able contribution to the literary history of 

 the Queen of Flowers, especially as a sub- 

 ject for horticultural study and experiment, 

 and we hope that it will take its place as 

 an annual, " to be continued" from year to 

 year, seeing that Mr. Paul, as an extensive 

 grower of roses, a successful competitor at 

 exhibitions, a thoroughly sound critic of 

 rose excellences, is just the man to do 

 justice to the subject. Of the new roses 

 here figured and described, we think Louis 

 Chaix and Madame William the two that 

 are destined to become most extensively 

 popular. The first is of the useful sec- 

 tion of hybrid perpetuals, which Mr. Paul 

 suggests should rather be called twice- 

 blooming or thrice-blooming roses ; seeing 

 that none but the Chinas are strictly per- 

 petual in the production of blossoms. 

 Louis Chaix is a seedling of the noted 

 Geant des Batailles, and may be ranked 

 with Lord Raglan and Eveque de Nimes, 

 behig of the same dazzling crimson as 

 those grand varieties, with superb foliage, 

 free habit, and most robust constitution. 

 "Young plants," says Mr. Paul, "flow- 

 ered in the nurseries in the month of Oc- 

 tober; and the larger plants had been flow- 



* "The Rose Annual." 1858-9. (First issue.) 

 By WiUiam I'aul, F.H.S., author of " The Rose 

 Garden." Piper, Stevenson, and Spence, 



ering throughout the preceding months." 

 The raiser of this rose is Monsieur La- 

 charme, of Lyons. Madame William is a 

 first-rate tea-rose, raised from seed at Bor- 

 deaux, and first received at the Cheshuut 

 nurseries in 1856. In April last it was 

 exhibited for the first time at St. James's 

 Hall, where Her Majesty — who is as good 

 a judge of roses as any of us — took parti- 

 cular notice of it as a charming novelty. 

 In character it stands midway between 

 Devoniensis and Eliza Sauvage, of a richer 

 colour than the former and of a hardier 

 constitution than the latter ; it is, indeed, 

 a good rose out of doors as well as one of 

 the best for forcing. The flowers are large 

 and globular, resembling the cabbage-rose 

 in form ; the exterior petals are cream 

 colour, assuming a coppery tinge soon after 

 expansion ; the centre is orange-yellow. 

 Lord Palmerston, the new hybrid Bour- 

 bon, is too rich to be either described or 

 pictured fairly. " There is," says the au- 

 thor, "an empyreal brightness in the flower 

 wliich the artist cannot depict ; and the 

 plant possesses the desirable habit of 

 blooming abundantly and for a lengthened 

 period." This rose was raised by Mon- 

 sieur Margottin, the raiser of Jules Mar- 

 gottin, Louis Odier, and Madame Do- 

 mage, three of the very best roses ever 

 entered in a list, or planted in a rosary. 

 Empress Eugenie is not a strong rose, its 

 beauties require a somewhat close insjiec- 

 tion, and then the perfect sliape, purity 

 of colour, and sweetness of perfume, com- 

 pel the observer to pronounce it one of the 

 most charming miniature roses — ^just the 

 sort of gem on which a lady would doat 

 who took pride in managing a rose-house 

 and a collection of the rarest roses. This 

 appears hardly suited for out-door cul- 

 ture, requii'ing the protection of glass to 

 do justice to its merits ; and in the forcing- 

 house it seems thoroughly at home. Be- 

 yond the notice of these special favourites 

 of the season, we cannot now proceed in 

 review of Mr. Paul's book. We do wish 

 he had burnt his journal before he made 

 extracts from it, and then he must 

 have trusted to his own memory for mate- 

 rials for a gossiping chapter, and we should 

 have had a more complete resume, of the 

 doings at Cheshunt than these broken 

 memoranda supply us with. Amateurs 

 who indulge in the luxury of a few choice 

 roses will hardly need this work, but the 

 rose-grower par excellence must have it, 

 unless he would fall altogether behind the 



