210 THE ROSE. 



are very numerous, and in spite of their 

 rather tender habits, form a valuable group, 

 being the most free to flower of them all. If 

 they were fragrant, they would be unrivalled ; 

 but, alas ! they are devoid of scent, and there- 

 fore cannot rank as high as the others. Fine 

 feathers alone do not make fine birds, and 

 surely fragrance is to the rose what song is 

 to the bird. Its flowers are large, well built 

 up ; generally shades of rose and pink prevail ; 

 mildew operates against these more than 

 any others except the Giant of Battles type. 

 Of all the families it is the best adapted 

 for forcing in winter. The leading varieties 

 grown are Captain Christy, Countess of Ox- 

 ford, Etienne Levet, Hippolyte Jamain, Ju- 

 lius Finger, Madame George Schwartz, Made- 

 moiselle Eugenie Verdier, Marie Cointet, 

 Marie Finger, Mrs. Baker, Oxonian (some- 

 what fragrant), President Thiers, Pride of 

 Waltham, Rosy Morn. 



In 1853, Jules Margottin, of Bourg-la- 

 Reine, near Paris, sent out a fine rose, which 

 he called after himself. Though he has been 

 raising seedling roses ever since, none of 

 them has quite come up in worth to his name- 

 sake, the flowers of which are large in size, 

 very full, somewhat flat in shape, in shades 

 of rose and carmine, and almost without per- 



