268 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ December, 
attend our occupation. There is no ennui. Time flies with an unusually buoyant 
wing. Would that those oppressed with gloomy forebodings or carking care, with 
whom time hangs heavily, could taste the enjoyments Nature here offers them! 
Let us suppose the seed to have become ripened, to be gathered and sown. It 
is of course necessary to protect it from mice and birds, and as the young plants 
rise they must be shielded from the mid-day sun and frost. Too much air can 
scarcely be given, even when the plants are in their earliest growth, and by the 
end of May the glass may be wholly removed, shading in the middle of the day 
with scrim or Russian mats. 
When a seedling of promise flowers it should be marked, that we may after¬ 
wards readily meet with it. So soon as buds can be obtained, bud it on the dog- 
rose to further test the quality. If it should prove to be distinct from or superior 
to pre-existing kinds, it may afterwards be propagated ad libitum. 
When hybridising is a part of the programme of Rose-growing, it is a good 
plan to have a group of suitable sorts planted together, that the attention may 
be concentrated on one spot in the garden. In this case do not encourage a too 
vigorous growth up to the time of the setting of the seeds (July), after which 
the plants should be fed liberally with liquid manure. It is improvident to 
manure them at any other season, because a vigorous growth in spring is not 
conducive to fertility. I have seen roses transplanted in March bear seed 
abundantly the same year, when established plants of the same kinds have not 
produced a perfect c seed-pod.’ Still there is a great drain on the resources of a 
plant in summer and autumn, when the seeds are forming and ripening, and this 
requires to be met, or there is a chance of failure through imperfect develop¬ 
ment.— Wm. Paul, Paul's Nurseries , Waltham Cross , N. 
THE IMPERIAL CAULIFLOWER. 
CCORDING to the French Pevue Horticole, the Imperial Cauliflower is a 
new variety of much merit. M. Bossin, who grew it at Hannencourt 
along with the Lenormand Cauliflower, and has had two years’ experience 
with it, describes it as being a less bulky plant than the Lenormand, the 
leaves more elongated and of a paler-green, but with the heads nearly as large as 
those of the Lenormand, very white, close, and fine-grained, with a delicate 
marrowy flavour when cooked. Its great merit, however, consists in its earliness, 
the heads having been fit for use one season 18 days, and the succeeding one 32 
days, before the Lenormand, cultivated under the same conditions. The variety 
appears to have been raised by M. Monnier in 1868, and was put into commerce 
in 1869, but had not much publicity given to it, the raiser being, as he states, 
assured that its merits would soon bring it into notice. 
The two varieties in question, as grown at Hannencourt, were sown under 
the same conditions about the beginning of October; the plants were pricked out 
into frames in November, and replanted in February, and about the middle of 
March were planted with good balls in a warm bed in the usual manner. By 
