56 THE ROSE. 
most valuable, if not the most beautiful, 
of all groups of roses. The first varieties 
sent out were mostly from crosses of Bour- 
bons upon Damask Perpetuals and Hybrid 
Chinas; afterwards crosses were made with 
varieties of Provence, Damask, and French 
roses upon Bourbons, Bengals, and Teas, and 
vice versa. The progeny of these was then 
recrossed with different classes, and so it is 
we have a group of the most heterogeneous 
character, combining the good and bad quali- 
ties, in greater or less degree, of nearly all 
the others. There are certain types in this 
group which gather together many varieties, 
in which the relationship to some one sort 
is readily discerned, as the Jules Margottin 
type, General Jacqueminot and its progeny, 
and the La Reine family; but there is a vast 
number of sorts whose kinship cannot be 
traced; this is owing to the fact that the 
greater number of varieties have been raised 
from mixed seed, where no record was made 
of the names; and also that in many cases, 
where the seed of different varieties was 
sown separately, there has often been a 
carelessness in making such a record, de- 
pendence being placed on the memory alone. 
So that many varieties whose parentage is 
given are oftentimes not properly traced; 
