ROSA RUG OS A HYBRIDS. 



665 



dilly, which have rendered us good service for several Varnished and oiled wood is unsuitable, as the roots 



years. The material is the best, the construction strong cannot attach themselves to it, and therefore perish, a 



and the shapes very pretty. Furthermore, this manu- circumstance of which the amateur does not think until 



facturer has had the good sense to leave the wood in its too late to repair the mischief or to save the plants 



natural condition instead of covering it with varnish. from destruction. — O. Biillip. 



ROSA RUGOSA HYBRIDS. 



A NEW DEPARTURE IN ROSES. 



N ILLUSTRATED account of 

 the first hybrids with Rosa ru- 

 gosa appeared in the June 

 American Garden of last 

 year. No less than a thou- 

 sand seedlings have been 

 raised, most of which, how- 

 ever, have succumbed to mil- 

 dew, to which these hybrids, notwithstanding the 

 vigorous, healthy constitution of the mother, seem 

 peculiarly subject. The male parent of the first 

 hybrids was Harison's (properly spelt with one r) 

 Yellow. Three of the seedlings resembled R. rii- 

 gosa in foliage ; the rest were as unlike each other 

 as children of the same parents well could be. 

 These three plants bore double flowers of the color 

 and odor of Jacqueminot. The best was placed in 

 the hands of a prominent nursery firm to be propa- 

 gated and introduced under the name of Agnes 

 Emily Carman. The other two will be introduced 

 or condemned, as they may be judged worthy or 

 unworthy, after propagated plants have bloomed, 

 either from cuttings or 

 upon other stock. It is 

 never safe to judge of the 

 merits of a new rose from 

 the seedling itself. 



After the first summer, 

 pollen was used from 

 many different hybrid re- 

 montants, while for the 

 past two years, pollen 

 from yellow teas has for 

 the most part been used, 

 the aim being to produce a 

 hardy, ever-blooming rose 

 with the beautifully dis- 

 tinct habit and foliage of 

 the mother plant, Rosa 

 rugosa. Georges Bruant, 

 which was placed upon 

 the market two years 

 after the Carman hybrid was announced, is a semi- 

 double white Rugosa of great beauty. Whether 



Fig. 4. g-FoLiOLATE 

 Leaf. Flowers 

 Pink. 



it is hardy or not we cannot say say. But it will 

 never be as popular as it would otherwise become, 

 for the reason that its foliage mildews. We desire 

 now to speak of the 

 remarkable varia- 

 tions in the foliage, 

 stems and habit of 

 the rugosa hy- 

 brids, and for this 

 purpose the illus- 

 trations (Figs. I to 

 10), true to nature, 

 are presented. In- 

 so-far as the writer 

 is aware, self-ru- 

 gosa seedlings are 

 true rugosas. Of 

 all the hybrids 

 raised at the ex- 

 periment grounds 

 of The Rural New- 

 Yorker, there is 

 but one that could 

 not be distin- 

 guished from its 

 mother at a glance. 

 This plant is a true rugosa in all respects save one : 

 it blooms constantly from early spring until frosts, 

 while, as is well known, the species take a little 

 rest during July or August. The variations in these 

 hybrids show that a definite answer to the question 

 "What is a species?" may not be given. Let us 

 compare the illustration Fig. 2 with Say's rose, 

 which appeared in the June American Garden. 

 They are in no wise related, so far as known. ' It 

 will be difficult to find a single difference between 

 them that would justify any one, seeing them for 

 the first time, in pronouncing them distinct species. 

 And yet our illustration shows with accuracy a 

 hybrid between the Austrian rose, Harison's Yel- 

 low and the Japan R. rugosa. Fig. i shows an 

 eleven-foliolate leaf (life size) of a seedling of the 

 same parentage. It is a dwarf, scarcely a foot 

 high, with tiny, semi-prostrate stems and a habit 



Fig. 5. g-FoLioLATE Leaf. 

 Flowers Pink and 

 White. 



