MARCH. ()!> 



the reason is, people have tried to bloom her before sbe has come to 

 maturity of wood. When she attains age (and this she will never 

 attain without the greatest protection) she will force her buds open ; 

 and no human " nostrum" will cause her to do so, before her consti- 

 tution is established. On an alien stock, she may, probably, be 

 hastened a little ; but even on this, she must have time to form linn 

 main wood. The same may he said of the Cloth of Gold. The diffi- 

 culty is to get it to age ; after that, spring protection is all it wants. I 

 have seen the Cloth of Gold, which was budded in 1847, by the Rev. 

 C. Onslow, of Wimborne — on a standard brier, blooming beautifully in 

 1843, in the centre of his courtyard, at the west of bis house, sur- 

 rounded by the house and walls on all sides. How came it to do this''? 

 Why, it was budded on an established brier. The Cloth of Gold does 

 not like removal, till the wood is two or three years old. I have 

 planted a very good dog brier under my south wall, which I shall bud 

 with the above Rose ; and glass-crate it over head, and on the east and 

 west sides, leaving it open to the south. I have two Sulphureas come, 

 and they must be served the same, or I can see that they will never do 

 here. Under this crating they must be fostered into age. With 

 regard to Sulphurea — called when I was a boy, the Yellow Cabbage — 

 I have never seen it in bloom for forty-three years. There was an old 

 tree, very old, in my native place, belonging to a very old woman, 

 named Eleanor Ricketts, at that time accounted to be a " witch," but 

 a great favourite of mine, because she gave me " yellow Roses of great 

 beauty, honey, and brown-shell nuts " Apples. From that time to 

 this, 1 have never seen Sulphurea, nor have 1 ever since seen such a 

 yellow Rose. The tree was against the house, which bad a south 

 aspect, and was surrounded by high hedges — in a word, the house was 

 in a hot lane. The difficulty of course with these tender Roses is to 

 get them to age. Maturity of age for bearing is different in different 

 Roses, according to their origin, or native clime and position. 



1 should imagine that an orchard house would be a good place for 

 them, trained against a wire trellis, This is the place lor Smitbi (he 

 died in six weeks here, covered with a ridge tile, and glassed at his feet), 

 which is fine in bud, but bad when opened. 



With regard to Roses of yellow tendency, I would observe that both 

 Lamarque and Solfaterre may be grown compact and full ; for I have 

 seen them both so ; usually they are of the loose order, and should be 

 cut for show before fully ripe. I saw Lamarque last year, round and 

 compact as Alexandrine Bacbmeteff ; it was grown by Mr. Burgess, of 

 Lansta Farm, close here. 



Let me say a word about Solfaterre as a south wall Rose : — How 

 easy is it to grow — how defiant of aphis — how quickly does she cover 

 your house — how glorious and numerous are her clusters — how beau- 

 tiful are her red stems, lizard-green calyx, and fine buds and foliage — 

 how sweet is her tea scent — how early does she bloom — how careless 

 of frost — how faithfully does she bloom a second time — how well does 

 she mature and bloom every bud, without the slightest failure ! I have 

 spoken of this Rose before — I will speak of her again. She was two 

 or three years old, when I bought her of Mr. Gill, of Blandford, for 



