SWEET-SMELLING PLANTS 



III 



Lord Penzance, who has presented some pleasing facts in connec- 

 tion with his experiments. His lordship, in the Rosarian's Year 

 Book, tells us that * The seedlings obtained by impregnating the 

 Sweet Brier with foreign pollen had a remarkable strength of root 

 and growth, and struck readily from cuttings. The sweet-scented 

 foliage of the Sweet Brier was also produced. A complete cross 

 was obtained between the Sweet Brier and the Persian Yellow, the 

 bloom larger than that of the Sweet Brier, pale yellow in colour, 

 and the foliage fully as fragrant, if not more so. The Austrian 

 Copper crossed on to the Sweet Brier produced a seedling, the 

 bloom not quite so deep in its colour as that of the pollen parent, 

 yet a close copy of the original, with the sweet scent of the Brier 

 diffused in its foliage. The pollen of the Hybrid Perpetuals, the 

 Hybrid Bourbons, and the Hybrid Chinas, put upon the Sweet 

 Brier, produced distinct crosses — distinct in the sense that the 

 wood, foliage, habit of growth, and the thorn, are not those of the 

 Sweet Brier.' 



We hope that Lord Penzance may be long spared to prosecute his 

 interesting experiments. They have come to be something more 

 than mere experiments — a harsh word for the raising of beautiful 

 new Roses, which charm with their refined beauty, tender and 

 decided colours, and fragrant leaves, sweet combinations agreeable 

 to the sense of sight and smell. 



We have still a few more echoes from the poets upon this 

 dainty plant : — 



' Take this sprig of Eglantine, 

 Which, though sweet unto your smell, 

 He who plucks the sweet shall prove 

 Many thorns to be in love.' — Herrick. 



' Rain-scented Eglantine, 

 Gave temperate sweet to that waning sun.' — Keats. 



' The Wild Rose and the Eglantine 

 Are wasting around their rich perfume.' — Scott. 



It is the Dog Rose (Rosa canina) that decorates our hedgerow^s 

 with its tall arching branches, and lively odorous flowers in the 

 months of June and July. From the petals of this blush-coloured 

 wild Rose, a perfumed water may be distilled, which is thought to 

 be more fragrant than that from garden Roses. The leaves of this 

 Brier, when dried and infused in boiling water; are often used as a 

 substitute for tea, and have a grateful smell and sub -astringent 

 taste. 



