ROSARY. 



761 



Tuscany with Leopold, and La majestueuse with 

 the latter. To raise variegated roses, the follow- 

 ing, which also bear seed freely, should be 

 selected, and planted as before directed — Aglae 

 Adanson with Donna Sol, the Village maid with 

 Due d'Orleans, Tricolor and Tricolor pompon 

 also with Village maid : the last union will 

 probably produce some pretty striped roses. 

 Berlese may also be planted with Seguier, 

 Due d'Orleans with Andre Thouin, and the 

 Leopard rose with Anacreon : these would most 

 likely give pretty spotted roses. Picotee might 

 be fertilised with the Village maid, and if 

 seed could be procured, some fine varieties must 

 be the result; but the central small petals should 

 be removed by a pair of tweezers from the for- 

 mer rose when its flowers are half expanded, as 

 they are too much crowded to allow it to bear 

 seed. The Tuscany rose, which is a most con- 

 venient variety for imparting dark colours, as it 

 abounds in pollen more than any cultivated 

 rose, should be planted in every rose seminary." 

 This fine rose is, we regret to see, seldom now 

 found in rose-gardens. The above quotation 

 will, we think, explain clearly enough the pro- 

 cess of hybridising roses. In the section hybrid 

 Provence rose, the Globe hip seeds freely, and 

 if impregnated with any favourite variety, is 

 most likely to become the mother of an inter- 

 esting progeny. In the hybrid China section, 

 Aurora, which seeds freely, if impregnated by 

 Athelin, would produce self-coloured flowers. 

 Aurora impregnated by the Village maid will 

 produce striped ones, and a durable combination 

 would possibly take place between the Duke of 

 Devonshire and the French Tricolor. 



In the hybrid Bourbon section many of the 

 varieties bear seed in abundance, and it is to 

 this group we are indebted for the majority of 

 our hybrid Perpetuals. 



In the White rose (Rosa alba) section little is 

 to be expected, as, on account of the plenitude 

 of the petals, they do not often bear seed in this 

 country. 



The Damask rose section offers few seed-bear- 

 ing kinds, the Purple Damask being almost the 

 only one. The Scotch rose section affords 

 abundant seed-bearing sorts, and when planted 

 in mixed masses, as they generally are, impreg- 

 nate one another, the seed producing endless 

 varieties. In the Austrian briar section, Harri- 

 sonii, is almost the only one that bears seed 

 from which much need be looked for. The 

 Persian yellow is mostly barren, but, if crossed 

 with Harrisonii, might produce something in- 

 teresting amongst yellows, of which there has 

 hitherto been a great scarcity. The Ayrshire 

 section seeds freely, and some fine climbing 

 roses have been produced, such as the Queen of 

 the Belgians and Kuga — the latter said to be a 

 hybrid between the Tea-scented China rose and 

 the common Ayrshire. The Evergreen (Rosa 

 sempervirens) section holds out little prospect of 

 producing much in this way, and the same may 

 be said of the Banksian section. Few of the 

 hybrid climbing roses, with the exception of the 

 Ayrshire rose, will bear seed in this country. 

 Perpetual Damask roses are not free seeders in 

 Britain. The hybrid Perpetual section being 



deficient in yellow, white, and fawn-coloured 

 roses, this desideratum may be partially made 

 up by crossing the Duchess of Sutherland with 

 the Tea- scented roses Victoria and Safrano, and 

 the same with the China rose, Clara Sylvain. 



Of all roses, excepting the Scotch, none are 

 multiplied so easily by seed as the China sec- 

 tion ; but this is chiefly effected in the climate 

 of France, and the results have been the pro- 

 duction of those first-rate roses, Clara Sylvain, 

 Eugene Hardi, Mrs Bosanquet, Augustine Her- 

 sent, Cramoisie superieure, Madame Breon, Sully, 

 Tancrede, &c. The Tea-scented are too deli- 

 cate to ripen their seed freely in our climate, 

 unless under the protection of glass ; and the 

 same may be said of the Banksia and Lauren- 

 ceana. 



The Noisette section, the original of which 

 was itself a hybrid, has increased by crossing, 

 particularly in France, to an extraordinary 

 extent, many of these being hybrids of the Tea- 

 scented and other roses ; so that, in fact, some of 

 those called Noisettes have almost lost the char- 

 acter of the group. 



Propagating the rose by budding — This is the 

 mode in general use in nurseries for the multi- 

 plication of the finer varieties, and for those in- 

 tended for standards. For mode of proceeding, 

 vide p. 343. 



That excellent rose - cultivator, Mr Rivers, 

 adopts the plan of budding his roses in pots, 

 choosing the Blush Boursault as a stock, on 

 account of its striking readily by cuttings 

 planted in autumn. His practice is : " The 

 strongest shoots are selected early in July for 

 layering ; flower-pots of the size 48 are taken, 

 and the aperture in the bottom is enlarged, so 

 as to allow the end of the shoot to be passed 

 through. After doing this the shoot is tongued : 

 the pot is drawn up till the tongue is about its 

 centre ; it is then filled with a mixture of rotten 

 dung and sand in equal parts, and well pressed 

 down. The shoot may be budded at the time 

 of layering, or afterwards, according as the buds 

 are ready. The shoots should be headed doion at 

 the time of budding to within two eyes of where 

 the bud is inserted. The buds of all Bourbon, 

 Tea-scented, China, and hybrid autumnal roses 

 will push immediately. These may be removed 

 from the stools in August, potted into large pots, 

 and forced with great success the following 

 spring." 



Propagating the rose by grafting. — Vide 

 p. 322-338. 'We have there stated the sort of 

 stocks adapted to rose - grafting, and to which 

 we now add the Celine ; and may here remark 

 that the rose is grafted in general in the wedge, 

 cleft, and whip manners, and that the best 

 season for performing the operation in the open 

 air is in March, and the best of the three 

 methods is the cleft manner. Grafted plants 

 are held in less estimation than such as are 

 budded or struck by cuttings. The best season 

 for grafting plants under glass, and the excite- 

 ment of heat, is January, the stocks being 

 placed in bottom heat ten days previously, 

 to set the sap in motion ; and to prepare them 

 for this, they should be grown in pots one year 

 before they are required for use, and be of about 



