SELECTION. 



127 



in length, and the bole of another tree at the base 

 to be nearly 10 inches in circumference. The 

 latter grows on the chancel-wall of my church, 

 and has had two hundred flowers upon it in full 

 and simultaneous bloom ; nor will the reader 

 desire to arraign me for superstitious practices 

 before a judicial committee when he hears that to 

 this Rose I make daily obeisance, because in pass- 

 ing into my church I must duck to preserve my 

 eyesight.* The two trees alluded to are on their 

 own roots, but the Rose thrives stoutly on the 

 Brier and the Manetti, budded and grafted, wher- 

 ever Roses grow. Its flowers are the earliest and 

 latest; it has symmetry, size, endurance, color 

 (five tints are given to it in the Rose-catalogues — 

 buff, yellow, orange, fawn, salmon, and it has them 

 all), and perfume. It is what cricketers call an 

 *' all-rounder," good in every point for wall, ar- 

 cade, pillar, standard, dwarf, en masse, or as a 

 single tree. It is easy to cultivate out of doors 

 and in. It forces admirably, and you may have 

 it, almost in its summer beauty, when Christmas 



* This tree has since passed through a severe ordeal, during the 

 restoration of my church. As it was necessary to rebuild the greater 

 part of the wall on which it grew, I dared not hope its preservation ; 

 but the architect, Mr. Christian, was an admirer of Roses, and the 

 clerk of the works, Mr. Dick, was an admirer of Roses, and under 

 their auspices the dear old favorite was carefully removed from the 

 stonework, protected by a temporary wooden case, and finally re- 

 placed in safety. 



