48 THE KOSE. 



others, which may well strive to find a near ap- 

 proach to their sweet presence, that perchance 

 they may receive a smile, and borrow beauty, 

 diffused from their chaste loveliness. There has 

 always been a warm place in my heart for the 

 Tea Rose, for, suh rosa, let me confess it, this 

 was my first love (I fear no conjugal jealousy 

 or censure in making this confession) ; a bed of 

 Tea Eoses planted near my father's house first 

 won me as a devotee to the rose, and by foliage 

 and flower I learned to distinguish varieties 

 among them before I even knew the names in 

 other classes ; I should now as soon think of 

 doing without roses altogether as not to have a 

 bed of Teas in my garden. 



Several varieties in this group were brought to 

 England from China, their native place, in the 

 early part of the century ; among them were the 

 Blush Tea and Yellow Tea, two varieties from 

 which most of the sorts now in cultivation have 

 descended. Both of these kinds are free seed- 

 bearers, the Yellow Tea more particularly ; it has 

 beautiful buds of pale yellow, but the habit of 

 the plant being unhealthy it has now nearly gone 

 out of cultivation. The old Blush is also no 



