December 20. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
157 
of December, aucl we have no doubt that in large 
collections, such as Mr. Rucker’s and Mr. Holford’s, 
there are numbers more. 
FLORIST’S FLOWERS. 
Roses. —We mentioned last week that now is a 
good season to plant this “ Queen of flowers.” And 
in order to give our readers an opportunity to know 
what new roses are worth growing, we add a list of 
new ones of good qualities, furnished us by an emi¬ 
nent rose grower. The accuracy of his descriptions 
may be confidently relied upon. The prices vary 
from 2s 6d to 7s 6d each. 
Among Moss Roses, Etna is, perhaps, the most striking 
of the new varieties ; its flowers are brilliant crimson, over¬ 
spread with a soft shade of purple, large and double; the 
growth is moderate, and it belongs to that class of roses 
called “ showy." Another in this class, Princesse Royale 
of Portemen, is well worthy of a place in the choicest col¬ 
lection. It resembles Perpetual Bernard in the size, form, 
and colour, of the flowers. Laneii is also deserving of a 
passing word of commendation ; the flowers are rosy crim¬ 
son, tinted with purple, globular in shape, large, and full; 
this is a bold rose, of vigorous growth, but not so mossy as 
some. The greatest novelty among French Roses is Ohl, 
the ground colour of which is dark crimson, occasionally 
relieved with bands of scarlet, giving the flower that rich 
fiery appearance which cannot fail to attract the attention ; 
moreover, the flower being large and very double, it is an 
excellent show rose. There are also some very pretty 
Striped French Roses, of recent introduction, which, 
from the pleasing variety they form, are desiderata. Of 
these, Oillet flamande and Perle des panachees are the best. 
The former is white, striped with rose and rosy lilac ; the 
latter is also white, but it is striped with one colour only— 
rose. Both are of moderate growth, and bloom freely. 
Among Autumnal Roses there are two perpetual moss 
—Mauget and General Druot —both of recent introduction. 
Mauget is figured faithfully in “The Rose Garden,” and 
is undeniably the finer variety of the two, but it is one of 
the most delicate of roses, and few succeed in developing 
its beauties; the form of the flower is unique, the colour 
soft rosy crimson. General Druot, with less double and 
less perfect flowers, of a purplish crimson, is of free growth, 
and, consequently, more generally met with. 
But the Hybrid Perpetuals present us with the richest 
stores of novelty, and, rare combination, quality too. Belle 
Americaine is a finely formed blush rose, of close habit of 
growth and very sweet. Chateaubrilliant is of the most 
bewitching tint—pure pink—found among the tribe. The 
flowers are large, but only semi-double; as if Nature, in 
the distribution of her gifts, avoided the concentration of 
perfection in all points in the same flower. Here also be¬ 
long Duchesse de Praslin, with flowers of a delicate blush, 
the centre pink; General Negrier, one of the lightest in 
colour, a large and full-cupped flower, apparently not over 
luxuriant; and Standard of Marengo, with flowers of the 
most brilliant crimson, large and double, and of elegant 
form ; these are new and excellent. But we must not for¬ 
get Docteur Arnol, whose flowers, though not over large, 
are perfect in form; they are bright red when newly ex¬ 
panded, dying off light red. Cyrnedor, too, though much, 
talked of, is not yet universally known. It is one of those 
brilliant tints, the sight of which on a chilly day in Novem¬ 
ber is peculiarly agreeable. Madame Pepin is a very pretty 
rose, large and full; the flowers are of a roseate hue, the 
back of the petals being nearly white. Pius-the-Ninth is a 
flower of regular form, large and full, colour brilliant crim¬ 
son. Polybe, a rose-coloured flower, with lilac edges, is- 
large, full, and of good form. Reine des Fleurs is larger 
than the last, more globular, and lighter in colour ; indeed, 
it is nearly pink. Soldi d’Austerlitz is a flower of great 
promise ; it is crimson, large, and full; the tree is of vigor¬ 
ous growth. Lastly, the Geant des Batailles calls for a brief 
description, as one of the most striking among new roses 
it is crimson-blood colour, often shaded with purple ; the 
growth is scarcely above the average. T. Appleby. 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
Routine Work. —The dark short clays of Decem¬ 
ber have pretty well ended all the sowing and 
planting operations in this department, but there is 
plenty to do even at this season in methodically 
planning our operations, and making arrangements 
for the future. Old ivalles should be turned and 
cased anew, and if the edgings are uneven, or in any 
way out of order, they should be renovated, for 
whether these consist of box, thrift, slate, tile, board¬ 
ing, flints, pebbles, or any other material, it is only 
a neglectful gardener who allows them to remain 
broken and uneven. Let all old drains, grating- 
traps, and cess-pools be cleansed and put in order, 
and new ones made, if requisite. The outside fences 
of banks, hedges, and ditches, should also be trimmed 
and plashed, and all ditches and water-tubs should 
be examined, and thoroughly cleaned out. All the 
ditch scourings, with all other kinds of refuse and 
rubbish, should be collected together, and be placed 
as a foundation for putting other manure upon, for 
the purpose of absorbing its juices. Our system is, to 
spread, in the first place, on all such accumulations, 
a considerable portion of salt, which not only de¬ 
stroys the slug and its larvae, as well as many other 
obnoxious insects, kills the weeds, &c., but converts 
the whole heap into manure of the most valuable 
kind. Every body knows the beneficial effect of sea¬ 
weed as a manure ; and those who are living too far 
inland to procure this advantage may prepare some¬ 
thing similar to sea-weed by thus adding salt (which 
is now so cheap) to all the ditch scourings, refuse 
earth, and rakings of every description, weeds in¬ 
cluded, if such things exist after our repeated admo¬ 
nitions with regard to hoeing, forking, and surface¬ 
stirring the earth; for if our directions have been 
fully carried out neither weeds nor slugs will be 
found to any extent, and not only will the soil have 
become doubly productive in consequence, but the 
crops will be more clean, healthy, and of a very 
superior quality. Advantage, too, should at this 
season be taken on frosty mornings, and on other 
favourable opportunities, not only to collect together 
all materials fit for converting into manure, but to 
wheel on to all spare ground that which is already 
fit for use. Deep trenching, ridging, and the forming 
of sloping banks when any space is unoccupied, 
should be attended to; and after all this work has 
been done, frosty mornings may still be profitably 
occupied in routing over ground that may have been 
some time ridged, &c., with a strong fork or pick-axe, 
thereby destroying the vermin, and permanently im¬ 
proving the soil by pulverizing and exposing it to 
the beneficial influence of the atmosphere. A mode¬ 
rate portion of salt, too, strewn over spare ground, 
and left to be washed in by the winter rains, is also 
very beneficial; and when salt is added, as before 
recommended, to the manure heap, it greatly en¬ 
hances its value, particularly when applied to the 
brassica, turnip, or mangold-wurtzel family of plants, 
as well as corn. How often do we see valuable 
materials allowed to waste away, and in some in¬ 
stances even to become a nuisance to the neigh¬ 
bouring dwellings, in the stagnant open gutters, and 
ill-drained pools of sewerage, which, if collected, and 
added to the manure accumulations, would afford a 
lasting benefit to the ground, which, at this season, 
