THE CANADIAN riOUTICULTUUIST. 



187 



any mark of insect injury. I venture 

 to submit the plan of growing to your 

 inspection, as though it jjrobably coukl 

 not be brought to bear in field use, it 

 appeal's available for garden growth, 

 and especially for cottage gardens, where 

 there is only a small quantity of ground, 

 arid where the loss of the little crop 

 is a serious lessening of comfort to the 

 family." 



THE MARECHAL KIEL ROSE. 



The following stoiy of the origin and 

 christening of this famous rose is clip- 

 ped from the Floral World. Like many 

 a bit of charming romance it will not 

 bear the clear light of day, since this 

 lovely rose first appeared on earth in 

 1864. Nevertheless it is a well-writ- 

 ten conceit: — 



"In 1859, while in Italy command- 

 ing the Third Army Corps, its com- 

 mander, Neil, was created a Marshal of 

 France when the peace of Paris was 

 made. He remained in Italy after the 

 army had returned to France. General 

 Neil, as his name implies, came of one 

 of those Irish noble families who emi- 

 grated to France after the death of 

 Charles I. He was in feeble health at 

 the time I speak of, having suft'ered 

 with wounds and that deadly fever of 

 the Italian marshes. One day a pea- 

 sant woman brought him a whole 

 basket of roses, of which he was ex- 

 tremely fond, from the Campagna re- 

 gion. They were new to him, and thus 

 served to amuse him until they were 

 withered. He observed, however, that 

 one particular shoot had not faded and 

 died, like the others, but had grown 

 into a beautiful green shoot of perhaps 

 ten inches in length. When he looked 

 to see why this one had grown and the 

 others faded, he found that a bit of the 

 root had been cut away with the 

 flower, which was a single-leafed wild 

 rose of the marshes, and palish yellow 



in hue. Hardly knowing why, Neil de- 

 termined to keep the shoot socui-iousJy 

 preserved, and next spring it bore four 

 of the loveliest buds in the world, of a 

 pale lemon tinge. Just then Neil was 

 sent for to receive the highest militarv 

 rank then known to Europe, the Grand 

 Cross of the Legion, and his commission 

 as Marshal of France, in presence of 

 three emperors and all the kings in 

 Europe worth naming. After the 

 solemn ceremony was ended, and he 

 wore for the first time on that day the 

 Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, 

 he went to the Empress — who was 

 splendid in her perfection of beauty — 

 and presented to her a curious yellowish 

 rose of perfect form and perfume, but 

 different from any she had ever seen, 

 and told her its story. 



" And so you have pi'oved the truth 

 of what the old Abbe used to say iu 

 his dreadfully tedious sermons at Pan 

 about casting bread on the waters," 

 said the Empress to the handsomest 

 and most daring, as well as one of the 

 ablest, of the Marshals of the Second 

 Empire. " Dear me, but he was te- 

 dious, that good Abbe," continued the 

 Empress, with the softest look of re- 

 trospection in her lovely dark eyes. 

 " Now, Monsier le Mar-eclial," said she, 

 vivaciously, " I shall christen this rose 

 for you." " Do so," said the Franco- 

 Irish soldier, bowing very low, but 

 flash Big at her a glance of profound ad- 

 miration. Lightly putting the rose to 

 her lips, she said : '" It is named the 

 Marechal Neil for the soldier sans jyeur 

 et sans reproche, as gallant in the salon 

 as he is on the battlefield." This gra 

 cious si)eech went straight to the great 

 soldier's Irish heart. " You will wear 

 it to-night, your Majesty, will you not, 

 and afterward give it me to keep, this 

 happy rose'?" ^'' Monsier le Marechal !" 

 said the Empress, with great dignity. 

 " I pray your forgiveness," he answered. 

 "No, no ; I am not as angry as I ought 



