in August a7id September, 1835. 225 



purpiireus, with its small leaves and peculiar habit, appearing as 

 if budded on the purple laburnum. Have you, in your long 

 experience, ever seen any fact approaching to this, viz. of a tree 

 returning from hybridisation to the state of one of its parents? 



I observed one sound gardening practice in this garden ; that 

 of surface manuring every shrub or plant w^orth cultivation, and 

 more particularly roses. During this last dry summer, when 

 they constantly required water, without this, the surface of the 

 ground would have been regularly baked and impervious ; with it, 

 the water poured down did not rapidly evaporate, but carried to the 

 fibres a constant supply of nutriment from the manure. What 

 an excellent hint does this give to planters on poor, stony, sandy, 

 or chalky districts in this country ! On such soils all the manure 

 should be put on the surface, and left for the worms and the rain 

 to force it in. In the private garden attached to the Luxem- 

 bourg Palace, and open to members of the French Chambers 

 only, are some of the finest rose trees in the world, apparently 

 of great age (I regret not ascertaining this more correctly), and 

 in vigorous health. Many of the stems of the standard roses in 

 this garden are as thick as a stout man's leg. They are not 

 budded on tall stems, their average height being, perhaps, from 

 4 ft. to 5 ft.; and they support themselves without stakes. Though 

 so old and so large, they have regular annual culture, their 

 heads being pruned every season, and the surface of the ground 

 constantly manured. In this we have yet much to learn from 

 our neighbours. With us, the general mode is, to plant a tree, 

 and leave its after-growth to chance. Of course, I now allude to 

 amateurs, and those gentlemen who amuse themselves by being 

 their own gardeners; and, perhaps, this hint may induce them to 

 give all their trees and shrubs some little annual notice. 



Here, again, was shown a great superiority of climate in the 

 numerous beds of seedling China roses (2?6sa indica), and tea- 

 scented China roses (7?6sa indica odorata), in full luxuriance of 

 bloom on Sept. 10. Some most superb varieties were among 

 them ; but M. Hardy is rather chary of his roses, and does not 

 like them to be distributed hastily, patronising the old-fashioned 

 idea of possessing what his neighbours have not. It is amusing 

 to find very prevalent here the little jealousies and envyings 

 that at one time were so common among our florists. If a rose 

 that has been raised from seed by M. Hardy is praised in the 

 presence of another celebrated amateur near Paris, it is always 

 responded to with " Bah ! " and a shrug of contempt. Reverse 

 this, by praising the amateur's rose to another, and you will find 

 the same effect produced. It is therefore most prudent, if you 

 wish to remain in the sunshine of favour, to limit all your ad- 

 miration to the roses present, forgetting that there are any other 

 roses or rose amateurs in the world. 



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