CHAPTER VII. 



ROSES. 



OF all flowers roses are probably the most popular, 

 and it is therefore not surprising, to find that in every 

 garden a large space is devoted to their cultivation. 

 But the great fault to be found in this country is the 

 lack of variety. Garden after garden may be visited 

 with the result that while blooms are to be seen in 

 abundance, the kinds are the same in all. This cannot 

 be attributed to a lack of enterprise on the part of 

 the owners, for much money has been spent and 

 many beautiful plants have been imported from 

 Europe ; but the selection has seldom been a judicious 

 one, and a choice has often been made of roses which, 

 while thriving well in Europe, are unsuitable for the 

 Egyptian climate. 



Such roses are sometimes a partial success the first 

 season, but many are lacking in size and in the 

 colour of their blooms, and those that do not die off 

 during the first summer, usually exhaust themselves 

 by throwing up long shoots, at a time when they ought 

 to be at rest ; consequently they deteriorate, and are 

 ultimately lost. 



Several of the Hybrid Perpetuals which hold so 

 high a place in England, are unsuitable for Egypt, 

 and preference should be given rather to roses of a 

 more tropical nature, such as Teas, Noisettes, Bour- 

 bons, China and their hybrids, which usually flower 

 more or less the whole year round, while those of a 

 more temperate nature, instances of which we have 



