326 
THE LADIES’ MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
The Damask, or Perpetual roses, form another division, the type of 
which is said to have been brought from Syria so early as 1573. “ The 
branches of the Damask roses,” Mr. Rivers tells us, “ are green, long and 
diffuse in their growth ; the leaves are pubescent and placed far asunder; 
and the prickles on most of the varieties are abundant.” The roses are 
round and cup-shaped, of most delightful fragrance, and generally of a 
most delicate tint; and they have the habit of sending forth a suc¬ 
cession of flowers all the summer. The most common roses belonging to 
this division are the red and white. monthly, and the rose a-quatre- 
saisons; and the best hybrid is the Rose du Roi, or Lee’s Perpetual. 
The following are Mr. Rivers’s directions respecting the treatment of these 
roses :— 
“ One peculiar feature they nearly all possess—a reluctance to root 
when layered; consequently, Perpetual roses, on their own roots, will 
always be scarce : when it is possible to procure them, they will be found 
to flourish much better on dry, poor soils, than when grafted as at present. 
Perpetual roses require a superabundant quantity of food : it is therefore 
perfectly ridiculous to plant them on dry lawns, to suffer the grass to 
grow close up to their stems, and not to give them a particle of manure 
for years. Under these circumstances, the best varieties, even the Rose 
du Roi, will scarcely ever give a second series of flowers. To remedy the 
inimical nature of dry soils to this class of roses, an annual application of 
manure on the surface of the soil is quite necessary. The ground must 
not be dry, but lightly pricked over with a fork in November; after 
which some manure must be laid on, about two or three inches in depth, 
which ought not to be disturbed, except to clean with the hoe and rake, 
till the following autumn. This, in some situations, in the spring months, 
will be unsightly: in such cases, cover with some nice green moss, as 
is done in the culture of hybrid China roses. I have said that this 
treatment is applicable to dry, poor soils; but even in good rose soils it 
is almost necessary; for it will give such increased vigour, and such a 
prolongation of the flowering season, as amply to repay the labour 
bestowed. If the soil is prepared, as directed, they will twice in the year 
require pruning; in November, when the beds are dressed, and again in 
the beginning of June. In the November pruning, cut off from every 
shoot of the preceding summers growth about two thirds; if they are 
crowded, remove some of them entirely. If this autumnal pruning is 
attended to, there will be, early in June the following summer, a vast 
number of luxuriant shoots, each crowned with a cluster of buds. Now, 
as June roses are always abundant, a little sacrifice must be made to 
ensure a fine autumnal bloom; therefore, leave only half the number of 
