126 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES. 



razor-edge of good-luck, and by an incident which sounds 

 like a miracle. TJic Rose makes answer for itself. Yes, 

 biting my quill, and beginning to think that the more 

 I bite the nearer I draw to the stupidity of the bird which 

 grew it, I hear an intermittent tapping on the panes of a 

 window near. I am not startled, because this identical 

 tapping has been going on for a good many years, when- 

 ever winds are high ; but as I look up and see the cause, it 

 seems to bring new sounds to my ears — a spirit raps dis- 

 tinctly on the glass, " Begin zvitJi ns, the 



Climbing Roses." 



I obey at once the legate of my Queen. I lose no time 

 in stating that the best Climbing Rose with which I am 

 acquainted is Gloire de Dijon, commonly classed with the 

 Tea-scented China Roses, but more closely resembling the 

 Noisette family in its robust growth and hardy constitu- 

 tion. Planted against a wall having a southern or eastern 

 aspect, it grows, when once fairly established, with a 

 wonderful luxuriance. I have just measured a lateral on 

 one of my trees, and of the last year's growth, and found it 

 to be 19 feet in length, and the bole of another tree at the 

 base to be nearly 10 inches in circumference. The latter 



