August 30, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



173 



seal of Lather, which is well known to have been a Eose, 

 may have been symbolical of the same things as the golden 

 presents of the Popes. Eoses were employed by the Eoman 

 emperors as a means of conferring honours upon their most 

 famous generals, whom they allowed to add a Eose to the 

 ornaments of their shields, a ouBtom which continued long 

 after the Eoman empire had ceased to exist, and the vestiges 

 of which may yet be traced in the armorial bearings of many 

 of the ancient noble families of Europe. 



It is a mistake to suppose that double Eoses are of some- 

 what modern origin, since they are particularly mentioned by 

 Herodotus, Athenssus, and Theophraslus, and more especially 

 by Pliny, who enumerates several sorts, among which is a 

 centifolia. It is remarkable that Pliny does not mention the 

 Eose of Paestum, nor any growing in that neighbourhood. 

 This omission makes it impossible even to guess at what was 

 meant by the " biferi Rosaria Pseati." The only Eose Mr. 

 Woods found about Paestum was E. sempervirens. 



The name Eose is derived by De Theis from the Celtic 

 rhodd or rhudd, signifying red, whence, he thinks, have origi- 

 nated the synonymous names rhos in Armorioan, rodon in 

 Greek, and rosha in Sclavonian. 



The Eose was first assumed as a device by Edward III.'s 

 sons. John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, adopted the red 

 Eose, and his brother Edward, Duke of York, adopted the white 

 Eose. By marriage in 1186 the two Eoses were united and 

 became the royal badge of England. The 67th Eegiment, 

 called also the South Hampshire Eegiment, bear what is termed 

 " The Hampshire Eose " as a badge on their colours. The 

 legend is that it was given to the Hampshire trained bands 

 by Henry V. for their gallantry at the Battle of Aginconrt. 

 Mr. Beynolds Hole says that the Eose, born in the east, has 

 been diffused, like the sunlight, over all the world. A flower, 

 writes Pliny, known to all nations equally with wine, Myrtle, 

 and oil. It is found in every quarter of the globe — on glaciers, 

 in deserts, on mountains, in marshes, in forests, in valleys, 

 and oq plains. The Esquimaux, as. Boitard tells us in his 

 interesting " Monographie de la Eose," adorn their hair and 

 their raiment of deer and seal skiu with the beautiful blossoms 

 of the Rosa nitida, which grows abundantly under their stunted 

 Bhrubs. The Creoles of Georgia twine the white flowers of 

 Eosa laevigata among their sable locks, plucking them from 

 the lower branches of climbing plants which attach them- 

 selves to the garden trees of the forest, and bloom profusely 

 on their boles and boughs. The parched shores of the Gulf 

 of BeDgal are covered during the spring with a beautiful white 

 Eose, found also in China and Nepaul ; while in vast thickets 

 of the beautiful Eosa sempervirens (a native also of China) 

 the tigers of Bengal and the crocodiles of the Ganges are 

 known to lie in wait for their prey. The north-west of Asia, 

 which has been called the fatherland of the EoBe, introduces 

 to our notice the Rosa centifolia, the most esteemed and 

 renowned of all, with whioh the fair Georgians and Circassians 

 enhance their fairness. 



In modern times Lyte, writing in 157S, says the calyx was 

 then called " the five brothers of the Rose, whereof two have 

 beards, two have none, and the fifth hath but half a one." 

 He says the white Rose was the Rosa Damascena ; the red 

 Roses were called "of the common people Double Roses;" a 

 third kind were called Roses of Provence and Damaske Roses - t 

 a fourth kind smelling of cassia was the Civet Robb or Bastard 

 Musk Rose ; and a fifth the Musk Rose. Parkinson, in 1629, 

 states that he had " thirty sorts at the least, every one notably 

 different from the other, and all in the garden fit to be enter- 

 tained." The double yellow, he adds, was introduced from 

 Constantinople " by Master Nicholas Lete, a worthy merchant 

 of London ;" but his trees failed, and it was subsequently 

 established here by another merchant, " Master John de 

 Franquaville." Lobe], in 1581, published engravings of ten 

 species, but Dr. Lindley in his " Rosarum Monographia " par- 

 ticularises 101 species. There are now probably more than 

 three thousand varieties, for in 1829 Desportes published a 

 catalogue of 2562. 



WILD FLOWERS FOR DECORATION. 



Pimpinella Saxifkaga (Barnet-leaved Saxifrage) has umbels 

 of exquisite white flowers, compact in growth ; the stem is 

 firm, and the whole plant fairy-like. Just now I have vases, 

 &e., filled with it and Purple Heath ; Ferns as foliage. It 

 grows most abundantly on Red Hill, and no doubt on most com- 

 mons; looked down upon the flowers seem like most delicate 



lace. I find wild flowers most effective when massed. Snow- 

 drops dotted about in moss, Cowslips and Bluebells, Prim- 

 roses and their leaves, Forget-me-nots and S weet* Woodruff , 

 Ox-eye Daisies, Bluebottles, fresh grass flowers, and a little 

 scarlet are charming. For foliage nothing can be prettier than 

 Tansy (such lovely shades of yellow-green), Cow Parsley, or 

 Earth Nut. 



Of all our wild flowers Ox-eye Daisies are the moat effective 

 for decoration. They Bet off exotics well, and last a very 

 long time. — Botanist, Red Hill. 



OUTDOOR PEACH-GROWING. 



It is to be feared that not only is the Peach crop scanty|this 

 year, but that the trees themselves are in many cases irre- 

 parably injured. Such I am sorry to say is the case with 

 many of them here, although they were covered with frigi domo 

 every cold night from the 27th of February till Jane. They 

 also had coping-boarda more than a foot wide above them, and 

 I am almost positive that the frost never actually touched 

 them once. We have generally had much lower temperatures 

 and the trees have gone through unscathed, but the lower tem- 

 peratures have seldom lasted so long, and Peaches have rarely 

 been so forward as they were last February. On the 27th of 

 that month many flowers were fully expanded ; the covering 

 was put on them for the first time, and we had 11° frost ; 12° 

 followed the night after, and this was the lowest temperature 

 registered during the season. But much dull weather with 

 east wind came next, which had the effect of producing a semi- 

 congelation of sap, and causing the trees to remain in a glorious 

 masa of bloom for a longer time than I ever remember to have 

 noticed before. It is always a bad sign when the bloom re- 

 mains long on fruit trees, they must be moving forward or they 

 will go back. The cutting east wind rendered progression im- 

 possible, therefore they did go back, and the memory of the 

 gorgeous bloom is nearly all we have left to pay for our trouble. 



Well, what is to be done ? Shall we give it up ? Oh, no I I 

 think to be successful three years out of four with outdoor 

 Peaches in this country is much more than we have a right to 

 expect. We may not have suoh another untoward season 

 during the next decade. " But it takes a decade to grow a 

 Peach tree to a fair size." I know it does according to one 

 system of growing it, but there are at least two other systems 

 by which a wall may be completely furnished in two or three 

 years, and they both have the advantage of being much more 

 simple than the orthodox plan. One is the cordon, and this 

 is, perhaps, as good aa any where the soil is light and poor; 

 the other system I do not know what to call it, and must 

 therefore attempt to describe it. Maiden plants are placed 

 againat a wall upright, about i feet apart, and the laterals, 

 instead of being stopped as for a cordon, are tacked-in at 

 regular intervals and obliquely on each side. To make the 

 most of the time the trees must be planted as early in 

 November aa it is safe to move them, and the knife must not 

 be used on them till the following midsummer unless to re- 

 move an odd shoot from the back of them. Any superfluous 

 shoots may be partially disbudded in spring, and finally re- 

 moved with a clean cut when the leaves are fully grown. It 

 is possible with this system to have a wall fully covered and 

 a fair crop of fruit in little more than two years and a half 

 from the time of planting maiden trees. 



Although all the older trees have suffered more or less from 

 the severity of the weather, none of the maidens planted last 

 autumn have done badly, but are now in excellent health, 

 owing, I think, to their having received a check through re- 

 moval, and consequently starting into growth at a more favour- 

 able season. 



I have an idea of planting several screens of Hornbeam 

 across the borders at right angles with the wall as a shelter 

 from the east wind. 



For constitution, quality, and succession, perhaps (he follow- 

 ing half-dozen sorts are as good as any — viz., Ea-Iy Beatrice, 

 Early Louise, Hale's Early GroBse Mignonne, B liegarde, and 

 Barrington. Three good Nectarines are Lord N tpier, Violette 

 Hative, and Pitmaston Orange.— William Tatlob. 



TROP^OLUM SPECIOSOM. 



I noticed that at a late meeting of the Floral Committee 



Mr. Wilson exhibited a spray of tiiia ch .rming creeper, which 



he had grown successfully in a sha j place. I have been 



equally successful in growing it in tl.a full sun, so much so 



