16 THE ROSE GARDEN. 



It is necessary to visit him early in the morning during the Rose season. The 

 Rose amateurs of France, who are exceedingly numerous, and among whom 

 Monsieur Desprez at Yebles is highly distinguished, are enthusiastic in the culti- 

 vation of their favourite. So soon as they hear of any new variety, possessed of 

 merit, they cease not to importune the raiser till he places it within their reach. 

 Thus, in a letter received from M. Duval (the raiser of Charles Duval, Richelieu, 

 and others) last year, in alluding to one of his new Roses, he says, " My stock of 

 this beautiful Rose is very short ; but I have been compelled to yield to the soli- 

 citations of my friends to offer it for sale this year." 



While admitting France to have been more prolific than England in the pro- 

 duction of new Roses, it is yet worthy of remark, that the English cultivators 

 produce far handsomer plants than the French. Although I may be ranked 

 among the former, I state this boldly; not from prejudice, nor from interest, 

 but from a thorough conviction of its truth. If proof be needed, it may be found 

 in the large exports of the French varieties, of English growth, to America and 

 elsewhere. It may not be generally known, that some of the finest and most 

 esteemed Roses in France do not succeed well in this country. On the other 

 hand, many kinds are developed in far greater perfection here than there. The 

 flowers of Roses generally cannot bear the scorching of a summer's sun: it is 

 during our cloudy days, or when refreshed with a soft shower or a fall of dew, 

 that the buds expand in fullest beauty. 



I cannot help mentioning the jealousies which exist among some of the " Culti- 

 vateurs de Rosiers" in France. I once visited the gardens of a noted grower, in 

 company with a grower of less celebrity. I was surprised to see so little in these 

 grounds, and to find the owner careless as to shewing what he possessed. Although 

 exceedingly polite and talkative on other subjects, he was disinclined to speak on 

 Roses. The mystery was cleared up by a letter received soon afterwards. In it 

 were words to this effect : " If you visit my establishment again, which I beg of 

 you to do, pray do not bring any French Rose grower with you, for I cannot 

 shew them my rarities and beauties." This opened my eyes : I concluded I had 

 not seen " the lions ;" and an after visit proved this to be the case. 



It has been said that little dependence can be placed on the transactions of the 

 French growers ; and I am sorry that my experience does not allow me to meet 

 this assertion with a direct negative. Old Roses have been sent to this establish- 

 ment under new names, and charged at high prices. This, however, might occur 

 by mistake, and seldom happens with the respectable growers. 



But let us trace the history of the Rose in our own land. It is again matter 

 of surprise to me that the Rose should not have been more extensively cultivated 

 in England at an earlier date, when it is considered that it must have been 

 brought prominently before the eyes of our forefathers in the wars of the Houses 

 of York and Lancaster; or, as they are often termed, the wars of the Roses. But 

 perhaps this was the very cause of its unpopularity. It might have been the 

 remembrance of those sanguinary struggles, which, casting a halo around this 



