REMARKS ON THE PECULIARITIES OF ROSES, ETC. 109 



flowers are all globular in form, and on long footstalks, so that they 

 hang gracefully pendant, and are readily distinguished from all others 

 They are very fragrant. In light soils they grow best when on their 

 own roots, but in strong clayey soils they do best when worked on 

 the Dog Rose. They require close cutting in when pruned, even to 

 three or four buds, and early in winter a good top-dressing of rotten 

 manure. 



Portland, or Perpetuals, and Hybrids of Perpetuals, called 

 Bourbons. — This class is the most desirable of Roses, and all true 

 perpetuals have a terminal cluster of flowers. They continue in 

 bloom longer than any other section. They are mostly Damasks, or 

 hybrids from the Damask. The blooming in autumn, that is to say, 

 from the beginning of August to the end of the season, renders this 

 class very distinctive, as well as the clusters of flowers. Most of them 

 are very fragrant. By attention to pruning in November, and 

 again early in June, cutting back one-half of the shoots which 

 have pushed, they can be made to bloom from June to the end 

 of the season. Perpetual Roses require an abundance of food, and 

 an application to the surface of well-rotted dung, just covered 

 with the soil, every autumn, is essential to success. The Hybrid 

 Bourbons, or Hybrid Perpetuals, partake of the hardiness and fragrance 

 of the Damask rose, blooming very abundantly in Autumn. 



Rosa alba, White Rose, or Belgic, and their Hybrids. — This 

 section is easily known by their clear green shoots, and the leaves 

 being of a glaucous green, looking as if dusted over with a greyish 

 powder. The plant has few spines, and is compact in growth. They 

 always bloom abundantly, and require close pruning. 



Rosa Gallica, the French Rose. — This section contains most of 

 our old garden Roses; they are robust and hardy, stiff and erect 

 growers ; their compact growth recommends them as very suitable 

 for dwarf standards. The flowers are mostly very full and finely 

 formed, and contain many beautiful striped and spotted ones. The 

 flowers of this section are very regular in formation, and it is very 

 likely that it will be the favourite of florists who show for prizes in 

 the manner Dahlias are now. exhibited. To have the flowers large, 

 the buds should he thinned early in June, manure be laid over the 

 surface and sprinkled over with soil, and if watered in dry summers 

 with manure water it very much invigorates them. 



