NOVEMBER. 327 



popularity in England, he sent over 400 plants for sale ; it bloomed 

 badly and could not be recommended, when it was discovered that it 

 seldom or never opened well, and only 200 plants were sold, much to 

 the disappointment of the raiser. M. Laftay about the same time gave 

 us Dr. Marx, La Reine, Lady Alice Peel, Louis Bonaparte, Comte de 

 Paris, and others, but not one equal to Madame Laftay, taking it all in 

 all. Some four or five years ago he styled himself " Innovator of 

 Roses," meaning, I suppose, that by hybridising he intended to give us 

 some new races of Roses ; but I presume he has failed, for of the scores 

 of varieties he has " sent out," as we say in England, or " placed in 

 commerce," as they say in France, of late years, scarcely one in twenty 

 has been found worthy of extensive culture. 



Another prolific raiser of new Roses was M. Vibert, now retired 

 from business ;* he and his successor, M. Robert, have given to the 

 Rose world new Roses without end — or at least Roses with new names. 

 M. Vibert was one of the first to give us Roses in divisions ; we thus, in 

 his catalogue, had three divisions of Perpetual Roses, three of Moss Roses, 

 and three of Provins or Rosa gallica, two of Provence Roses, one of un- 

 certain hybrids — " Hybrides Incertaines " — and so on. These minute 

 differences are, I daresay, very interesting, but not very understandable. 

 It is of more interest, I think, to see an estimate of the Roses gained 

 by MM. Vibert and Robert within the last fifteen or twenty years, and 

 placed in commerce ; their price the first year has generally been from 

 fifteen to twenty-five francs each. The following list is as nearly as 

 le correct. 



Family. Number of Roses. 



Rosa alba 4 varieties. 



Perpetual and Hybrid Perpetuals . . lO."? do. 



Perpetual Moss Roses . . . . 24 do. 



Summer Moss Roses . , . . 84 do. 



Damask Roses . . . . . 20 do. 



Cabbage Roses and hybrids . . . 17 do. 



Tea-scenttd Roses 8 do. 



Noisette do. 8 do. 



Bourbon do 28 do. 



Hybrid China do 8 do. 



Hybrid Noisette do 10 do. 



Hybrid Bourbon do 9 do. 



Provins Roses (Rosa gallica) . . . 78 do. 



Provence Roses ..... 39 do. 



Uncertain Hybrids 10 do. 



* I always feel inclined to excuse M. Vibert for his enthusiasm leading him 

 to send out so many inferior Roses, for the following reason. One fine morning 

 in July, 1842, I was at Angers, when he paid me a visit at my hotel, bringing 

 •with him a fine bunch of pale yellow Roses, with which he delighted my eyes ; 

 these were blooms of Noisette Solfaterre. Shortly after he took me to his garden, 

 and showed me a yellow Rose still more beautiful ; this was Cloth of Gold, 

 glowing in beauty under the brilliant sun of Angers. Let a Hose lover imagine 

 my surprise, my delight. To my great disappointment, this Rose, of which I 

 bought all the plants that could be spared, bloomed in England in 1843 in a 

 very inferior manner, giving blossoms merely of a creamy white ; it has since 

 then redeemed its character. It should always be trained to a south or south- 

 west wall, its weak spray cut out, strong shoots encouraged, and those never 

 shortened but trained in a serpentine way to the wall. 



