136 ON THE CULTURE OF ROSES. 



growing very near the surface of the ground, are all, I believe, 

 plants in their wild state growing upon heaths and places where 

 there is but little depth of soil, and are surrounded only by plants 

 of a low stature; they would seem therefore to require, to be 

 planted in an airy situation, and not to need much depth 

 of soil, as in their natural places of growth ; they are exposed to 

 the browsing of cattle, and we find them to bear much cutting and 

 shortening of their shoots. 



In the second division, I include the numerous varieties of Eosa, 

 provincialis, centifdlia, gallica and mucosa. The varieties of 

 these species are so numerous, that this division contains the great- 

 est number as well as many of the most beautiful roses ; they ap- 

 pear to me to be plants which, judging from their manner of 

 growth, have in their natural situations to contend with high 

 grasses, and other strong growing perennial plants ; when over- 

 powered by these, they, as it were, remove by sending out roots 

 near the surface of the ground which, when they reach a more 

 airy spot, throw up suckers, these exhaust the old plant, and form 

 a new one in a better situation; the roots of this division, though 

 less fibrous than those of the first, yet are so much so and grow 

 so near the surface of the ground, as not to require either a 

 strong or deep soil. 



The third division consists of Eosa villosa rubiginosa, mos- 

 chaeta alba, damascena, and canina : the roses of this division 

 have much stronger roots than the others, and strike much deep- 

 er into the earth. The place of their growth in their wild state is 

 among large, strong growing shrubs and trees : they therefore 

 require a much stronger and deeper soil, and a less airy situa- 

 tion than the two former divisions, and they do not need, nor bear- 

 so much pruning of the shoots. 



The fourth division consists of Eosa arv^nsis, sempervirens 

 Eanksiae, and multiflora These roses, in their natural state, trail 

 along the ground, or support themselves by bushes growing near 

 them, they therefore do not require a very airy situation. 



The fifth division consists of Eosa semperfl6rons and indica. 

 The sudden and rapid way in which these roses send forth their 

 shoots immediately on a change of cold to heat, points them out as 

 growing in their wild state on mountains covered with snow a part 

 of the year, and like other natives of such places, with rapidity, 

 taking advantage of an interval of warmth to grow, bloom, and 



ripen their seed. 



An Amateuh. 



