THE ROSE GARDEN. 21 



and the system there adopted has been followed, more or less, by many subse- 

 quent writers on the botany of the Rose. About this time the types of the 

 Bourbon and Noisette Roses appeared, and in a very short period the varieties 

 were increased and improved beyond what the most sanguine could have anti- 

 cipated. Loudon, in the Encyclopaedia of Gardening, published in 1822, says, 

 " The lists of the London and Paris Nurserymen contain upwards of 350 names." 



" New varieties are raised in France and Italy annually. L. 



Villaresii, Royal Gardener at Monza, has raised upwards of fifty varieties of Rosa 

 In dic a, not one of which has, as far as we know, reached this country. Some of 

 them are cpiite black ! others shaped like a Ranunculus ; and many of them are 

 highly odoriferous." With regard to those quite black, as none of them have 

 yet reached this country, it may be presumed the writer made this statement 

 on the authority of the continental growers, whose vivid imaginations often 

 lead them to portray in too glowing colours any new production. 



It may be thought necessary that I should allude to the firm with which I 

 stand connected. The Nursery at Cheshunt has long been famous for its Roses : 

 it was so in the time of Mason. It gained considerable renown from the con- 

 tinual flowering of a plant of the old double yellow Rose (R. Sulphurea), which 

 had become established on a west wall about the close of the last century. 

 Flowers from which to draw were sought from various parts of the country. 

 The plant produced them with such regularity, and in such gay profusion, that 

 an amateur eventually purchased it to transplant to his seat in Yorkshire ; and he 

 did this with considerable success ; for although of great size, it flourished, and 

 continued to flower well. 



In Sweet's Hortus Britannicus, published in 1827, there are 107 species 

 given, and 1059 varieties; the greater portion of the latter being French or 

 Gallica Roses. 



In 1829, M. Desportes and M. Prevost each published in France a Catalogue 

 of Roses. In the Catalogue of the former cultivator above 2000 varieties are 

 described. These Catalogues, with others which appeared in England and France, 

 both before and after this time, were calculated to infuse fresh ardour into the 

 minds of the improvers of this charming race of plants, and at the same time 

 to spread a taste for its cultivation. 



The Rose amateurs of England are so numerous in the present day, that it 

 were almost impossible to enumerate even those who possess collections of 

 great merit. A few, however, occur to me, which have especial claims to notice 

 as being the earliest of any extent. 



At Dane-end, near Munden, in Hertfordshire, the seat of Charles S. Chauncey, 

 Esq., was formed one of the earliest and best collections ; and to which this 

 county is no doubt indebted, in some degree, for the celebrity she enjoys for Roses. 

 Mr. Milne, who is gardener at the above place, has originated a Seedling 

 Bourbon, which he calls Beauty of Munden. 



Mr. Sabine formed a collection of the species, some years back, at North 



