ON THE HYBRIDISATION OF THE GENUS KOSA. 39 



also to create new sections, but, on one condition ; and that is, no longer 

 to trust to chance as a guide in seed-saving, as the laws of atavism are 

 now well known, and we know fairly well what will be the result from 

 seed obtained from the derivative crosses, now so numerous in our 

 collections. 



It is from working without discernment that many raisers of seedlings 

 have so often obtained the same varieties, hardly to be distinguished from 

 one another. When a series is exhausted it is useless to endeavour to 

 obtain endless new varieties from it. 



The changes that upset the genus Bosa were contemporary, or nearly 

 so, with the French Revolution. It was about this time, in fact, that 

 there was introduced into cultivation the Rose called ' the Bengal,' which 

 transformed the genus and altered it from top to bottom. Before the in- 

 troduction of ' the Bengal ' the varieties were relatively few. It is only 

 necessary to consult the horticultural catalogues before the time of its 

 introduction to establish this point. The Bengal, and certain other species 

 introduced a little later, appear to have evidently introduced a germ of 

 variation, unknown in the genus Bosa before they were cultivated in 

 Europe. 



Varieties or Variations found in a Wild State and 

 transplanted into gardens. 



The first Roses cultivated were evidently of this origin. Before Roses 

 were grown from seed, man began to transplant into his garden any 

 remarkable varieties that he came across in the hedges and woods. It 

 so happens that I myself found ' Alexis Jordan ' and introduced it into 

 garden cultivation, and it is a Rose which would assuredly have delighted 

 amateurs less than a century ago. Roses of bright colouring, with large 

 and semi-double flowers, in our country belong principally to the section 

 of the Gallicas or Provins Roses. The hedges and copses of Tassin, 

 Francheville, Charbonniers, and Limonest, villages in the department of 

 the Rhone, were formerly particularly rich in them, and one still comes 

 across very fine specimens of them at the present time. Very enthusiastic 

 rosarians have not hesitated in recognising as distinct species some of the 

 most brilliant forms which they have met with. 



Among the curious varieties noticed in a wild state there seems to 

 be no doubt that some of them were of hybrid origin. Schleicher appears 

 to have been of this opinion when he gave the name of Bosa hybrida to a 

 Gallica Rose whose styles were united into a column. Two years ago the 

 Abbe Boullu presented to the Botanical Society of Lyons quite a number 

 of Roses, collected by himself round about Lyons, to which he attributed 

 a hybrid origin, basing his opinion on certain characteristics peculiar to 

 their two supposed parents. One of our most accomplished writers on 

 Roses, Monsieur Francois Crepin, director of the Botanical Gardens at 

 Brussels, who studies the Roses from all quarters of the world, does not 

 hesitate in recognising, among a crowd of wild Roses, some natural 

 hybrids. In his magnificent book entitled " Rosae Hybrid* " (Studies of 

 Hybrid Roses), published at Ghent in 1894, he draws attention to a large 

 number of them. Let me quote some examples. 



