126 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES. 



doubt is dissolved ; the knot is cut ini ^vpcp rvxv^, 

 upon the razor-edge of good hick, and by an inci- 

 dent which sounds hke a miracle. The 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, be- 

 cause this identical tapping has been going on for 

 a good many years, whenever 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 with 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 



