328 THE FLORIST. 



Presuming that twenty plants of each were sold the first season, 

 making 9720, at 20 francs each, the profit has not been amiss. Now 

 let us see how many of these 486 varieties are still in estimation, 

 and we shall then see something approaching to the real value of 

 new Roses. Of Rosa alba one ; of Perpetuals and Hybrid ditto, 

 four ; of Perpetual Moss three, or perhaps four ; of Summer Moss 

 Roses, six ; of Damask, one ; of Cabbage Roses and hybrids, not one ; 

 of Tea-scented, two ; of Noisette, two, viz., Aimee Vibert and Phaloe ; 

 of Bourbon, not one ; of Hybrid China, Noisettes, and Bourbons, not 

 one ; of Provins four or perhaps five ; of uncertain hybrids, one ; of 

 Provence two. This latter group was formed by M. Vibert, and 

 answers to our Hybrid Provence Roses, in which this and the hybrid 

 Cabbage Roses of Vibert may safely be included. We have thus about 

 twenty-seven good Roses out of a list of 486, most of which have been 

 sent out within these last few years. 



In the autumn of 1853 seventy-three new Roses were sent out, 

 costing 1066 francs ;* most of these were Hybrid Perpetuals; out of 

 this batch there are now from seven to ten only that can be honestly 

 recommended. In the autumn of 1854 about sixty new varieties, 

 mostly Hybrid Perpetuals, were also " placed in commerce " ; of these 

 about eleven are first-rate varieties, although many of them gave us no 

 new characters as regards colour. In the autumn of 1855 only about 

 fifty new Roses were sent out ; of these there are about ten likely to 

 prove worthy of cultivation, but not one offering any new character in 

 colour, as they range for the most part under rose, pale rose, and bright 

 rose ; it appears strange that such a waste of names should occur, and 

 that Roses merely pretty, but not different to those we have, should be 

 ushered into the floral world annually. It is, I think, owing to the 

 enthusiasm of the provincial French cultivators ; they sow abundance of 

 Rose seed, and when they obtain a pretty Rose they love their own 

 child so dearly, and think of the few hundred francs that may be 

 obtained of their dear friends the English, with so much warmth of 

 feeling, that they cannot resist the temptation of giving it a pretty new 

 name and sending it out ; besides this, there is something so seducing 

 in a Rose of one's own raising, and something so lovable in Roses, that 

 I, now a veteran Rose grower, although sorely inconvenienced by having 

 to buy and to prove all the Roses with new names, am quite ready 

 to excuse our floral friends over the water. 



It is curious to find how few new Roses have been and are raised 

 from seed in England. The Tea Rose Devoniensis is a splendid 

 exception ; but not one good variety of the now justly popular Hybrid 

 Perpetuals has been raised in this country. Messrs. Paul bought the 

 stock of, and imported Victoria, which, although sometimes good, has 

 not turned out well, and two or three others. An unnamed seedling 

 was also presented to the Messrs. Wood by a French florist, and named 

 by them Duchess of Norfolk ; it is much to be regretted that this Rose 

 was flattered in the figure taken of it, and still more so in its description 

 as a " climbing Hybrid Perpetual Rose." Rose enthusiasts at once 



* Horticulture Francaise. 



