2S2 
ANECDOTES OF ROSES. 
varieties, have them classed so miserably, that 
Roses in the same family actually differ more 
than one family does from another. Let us 
ask what consequence it is to a grower, 
whether a Rose he takes was bred from a 
Moss-rose or a Dog-rose? A French Rose 
or a Bengal ? A Chinese or a British ? He 
wants the Roses classed,- so that the class 
tells their habit and growth, that he may 
know what he is about when ordering. This 
classification is absolutely necessary; and when 
all the flimsy-petalled, ragged, semi-double, 
loose, weak-stemmed, ill-formed flowers are 
discarded from the principal families, there 
will be some pleasure in ordering and growing 
Roses. — liertrand. 
ANECDOTES OF HOSES. 
Lee's Crimson Perpetual, or Rose du 
Roi, was one of the many splendid Roses 
introduced by Mr. Calvert, the nurseryman 
of Rouen, Avho has before now made sales to 
the Hammersmith Nursery of twelve hundred 
pounds worth in a single journey. Lelieur, 
the gardener at St. Cloud, was the raiser, and 
wished to name the Rose after himself, Le- 
lieur. The then minister of the Maison du 
Roi, desired to name it Rose du Roi, for the 
perfection of the Rose was in those days a 
matter of notoriety. The gardener and the 
minister were alike obstinate, and the matter 
was actually referred to Louis XVIIL, who 
decided that the minister was right. Lelieur 
instantly threw up his situation. 
Rosa Gallica, the French Rose. The 
Rose nurserymen, in France as well as Eng- 
land, are so very cunning, that they have 
pretended, Avhile dividing these Roses into 
families, to class them according to their 
parentage ; and after raising Roses like so 
much small salading from hips, gathered where- 
ever they could be found, they have examined 
the attributes of these selected seedlings, and 
fastened them upon whichever they fancied 
they belonged to. The fine French Roses, so 
called, have all been derived from the original 
Tuscany, and others of tne early Rosa Gallica, 
which has just as much right to the name as 
"Louis-the- Sixteenth" Tulip has to be called 
a French Tulip. Van Eden and others, of 
Haerlem, raised all the early varieties in 
Holland; and the first man in Franee that 
succeeded in raising new varieties from them 
was Descemet, who resided at St. Denis, and 
began sowing Roses when he left St. Denis 
for Odessa. Vibert bought all his stock, and 
continued the raising of seedlings. Rosa 
Gallica, therefore, is a family of which all the 
best and earliest were Dutch, from the Old 
Tuscany downwards. 
The Single Yellow Rose. — This Rose, 
called Rosa berberifolia, is a Persian species, 
and was at one time the only Rose in many 
parts of the kingdom. The seeds were fre- 
quently introduced, and being saved where 
there was nothing to interfere with it, they 
always produced Roses like the parent. More 
than forty, perhaps more than fifty years 
ago, Mr. Lee raised some from Persian seed, 
all of whi,ch came true. Twenty or thirty 
years afterwards, Monsieur Hardy raised some, 
which also came true ; but after the fashion 
of a cunning florist, he put forth a state- 
ment that he had raised this by fertilizing 
the Persian-rose with some other, and pro- 
duced a hybrid yellow, which he called Rosa 
berberifolia Hardii, (he forgot the Persian 
Rose never seeds here,) which, as very few 
grew, or even knew the original, went down as 
something wonderful. Some of the Rose- 
growers were taken in, because Roses are sent 
out by description. Rivers, among the rest, 
actually republished the raiser's ideal fertiliza- 
tion affair, and gives it to his confiding readers 
as a fact, although he admits it is like the 
original. The French have realized enormous 
sums by bits of cunning like this ; but those 
who have seen the original Rosa berberifolia, 
or who grow it, may safely put Hardii to it. 
Whether Monsieur Hardy wanted to feed his 
vanity or his purse, is rather doubtful; but 
whatever he may say, he raised it from Per- 
sian seed, and had no more to do with fertil- 
izing, or even saving it himself, than we had. 
The Village Maid. — When this was first 
introduced to England, the price advertised 
by Calvert in his catalogues was seven shillings 
and sixpence; but before the printed catalogues, 
by which he meant to sell them, were published, 
he was persuaded to have a sale at the Mart 
in London. At this sale, the identical plants 
which he would have disposed of at the before- 
mentioned price to amateurs, and five shillings 
to the trade, were greedily snapped up at fif- 
teen, eighteen, twenty shillings, and a guinea;^ 
and he sent back to France for another lot. 
The Crested Moss. — Various are the tales 
about the origin of this very beautifuL Rose. 
Mr. Rivers says it* Avas discovered in the 
crevice of a Avail, at Friburg in Switzerland ; 
but it is one of the most distinct of the tribe. 
When perfectly open, it is to all appearance a 
superior Provence-ro3e ; but, like all the 
mosses, the distinctive beauty consists entirely 
in the calyx, which, until the opening floAver 
throws it back and conceals it, is in every 
stage beautiful. This is also called Crested 
Provence, and Rosa cristata. 
The Pompone Moss, or Moussue de Meaux, 
is said to have been found by Mr. Sweet of 
the Bristol Nursery, in a garden at Taunton, 
and a most beautiful and unique Rose it is. 
It is further said, Mr. Sweet " obtained pos- 
