138 



PARSONS ON THE EOSE. 



ling Moss Roses, was one with a most peculiar habit, even 

 when very young ; this has since proved a hybrid rose, 

 partaking much more of the Scotch Rose than of any 

 other, and until the plant arrived at full growth, I thought 

 it a Scotch Rose, the seed of which had by accident been 

 mixed with that of the Moss Rose, although I had taken 

 extreme care. To my surprise it has since proved a per- 

 fect hybrid, having the sepals and the fruit of the Provence 

 Rose, with the spiny and dwarf habit of the Scotch Rose ; 

 it bears abundance of hips, which are all abortive. The 

 difference in the fruit of the Moss and Provence Rose, and 

 that of the Scotch, is very remarkable ; and this it was 

 which drew my particular attention to the plant in ques- 

 tion. It was raised from the same seed, and in the same 

 seed-pan, as the single crimson Moss Rose. As this strange 

 hybrid came from a Moss Rose accidentally fertilized, we 

 may expect that art will do much more for us. 



" It is only in cases where it is wished for the qualities 

 of a particular rose to predominate, that the removal of 

 the anthers of the rose to be fertilized is necessary : thus, 

 if a yellow climbing rose is desired by the union of the 

 Yellow Brier with the Ayrshire, every anther should be 

 removed from the latter, so that it is fertilized solely with 

 the pollen of the former. In some cases, where it is de- 

 sirable to have the qualities of both parents in an equal 

 degree, the removal of the anthers must not take place : 

 thus I have found, by removing them from the Luxem- 

 bourg Moss, and fertilizing that rose with a dark variety 

 of Hosa Gallica^ that the features of the Moss Rose are 

 totally lost in its offspring, and they become nearly pure 

 varieties of the former ; but if the anthers of the Moss 

 Rose are left untouched, and it is fertilized with Bosa 

 Gallica^ interesting hybrids are the result, more or less 

 mossy." 



There is no branch of rose culture possessing more in- 

 terest for the amateur, with whose leisure its prosecution is 



