146 THE FLOEIST AND POMOLOGIST. [July, 



flower since the days of Parkinson. But we can only conjecture on many matters in 

 that era of gardening, and we wisely and dutifully descend to the region of facts. 



If we look at the thirty -eight groups of Eosea described in the Rose 

 Garden^ we shall find that the prototypes of the following were known to Eng- 

 lish cultivators at the close of the last century : — The Boursault, the Double 

 Yellow, the Scotch, the Damask, the Provence, the Pompon, the Moss, the French, 

 the Alba, the Sweet Brier, the Austrian Brier, the Ayrshire, the Evergreen, the 

 Macartney, the Four Seasons, the Damask Perpetual, the Crimson China, the 

 China or Monthly, and the Musk. It must not, however, be inferred that the 

 varieties of those groups now cultivated in om- gardens were the varieties culti- 

 vated then ; on the contrary, many of our best present kinds are of recent origin. 

 We speak only of the original forms, and it will be seen that no less than nineteen 

 groups, or one-half of those at present known, were then represented. Sundry 

 hybrids, too, as Hybrid China, Hybrid French, and Hybrid Musk, if not 

 strongly marked, were doubtless then in existence. Following the stream of time, 

 we find that, in 1804, the Multiflora Eose was brought from China, supplpng 

 the desideratum of an elegant deep-coloured Climbing Eose, flowering in clusters. 

 In 1807 the White Banksise followed from the same country, although it was 

 twenty years later before the yellow one was introduced. In 1810 China also 

 furnished us with the Fairy and Blush Tea-scented ; and in 1824 with the Yellow 

 Tea-scented. Nor must we overlook those valuable groups, the Noisette and 

 Bourbon ; the former of which was introduced in 1817, and the latter a few 

 years later ; while in 1827 came the Microphylla from China, and in 1830, the 

 Prairie Eose from America. 



At this period, and even some years later, the literature of the Eose was 

 botanical, pharmaceutical, historical, bibliographical, poetical, in short, everything 

 but practical. The Summer Eoses held undisputed sway. Well, we remember, 

 in our early school-days, sundry large beds of French Eoses, some of them but 

 very recently surpassed in brilliancy and sweetness. Every surrounding object 

 was cast into the shade for the brief period at which they bloomed. How 

 delightedly we gazed on them, gaudy as they were 1 The classic page, too, was 

 often recalled by memory, as we sought out Achilles, Antinous, Cyrus, and 

 Hippocrates. And often did we amuse ovirselves by questioning the fitness of 

 the garments in which such notables stood arrayed, — an emperor in dingiest 

 garb, a philosopher in purple or scarlet. The number of French Eoses was then 

 legion, many of them as much alike as peas in a bushel. The stars of the day were 

 Cocarde rouge. Grandpapa, Pharericus, Princess Victoria, Enchantress, Buonaparte, 

 Celestine, and others long since lost and forgotten. True, the old Moss and 

 Cabbage Provence were then, as now, pre-eminent, but there were only a few 

 rose-coloixred Bourbons, and no Hybrid Perpetuals ; the Four Seasons, Damask 

 Perpetual, Noisette, and China, were the Queens of Autumn out-of-doors ; the 

 Tea-scented being generally confined to the greenhouse. 



Such was the condition of the Eose in England some thirty»five years ago. 



