tinged with blush when they first open, and soon change to pure white. I attach some value to this rose, for I anticipate that, by crossing it with the Perpetual White Moss, seeds may be easily obtained, which will, I trust, in the course of time, give us some autumnal-blooming white Moss Roses.

Moussue Presque Partout is a very pretty brilliant rose-coloured rose, its leaves and branches are nearly covered with moss, and it has not that blighted appearance peculiar to its congener Moussue Partout. In the variety Princesse Adelaide, raised from seed by M. Laffay, we have a proof of the effect of hybridising roses, for this is most evidently and distinctly a hybrid Bourbon rose, with its flower buds rather abundantly covered with moss; in fact, a hybrid Moss Rose of a new race; its habit is remarkably vigorous, foliage very large and beautiful, flowers well shaped, and in general they open freely; their colour in dry weather is a very lively pink, in cloudy moist weather a bright rose. This variety

will form a fine pillar rose, as it will in rich soils make shoots from six to eight feet long in one season, consequently there cannot be a finer object for a column; another step, and we should have had in this a Mossy Bourbon Rose, blooming in Autumn. Alas! in hybridising Moss Roses it is 'le dernier pas qui coûte,' and not 'le premier.' Thus one more remove from the Moss Rose, and

a nearer approach to the Bourbon, would have probably given us merely a mediocre Bourbon Rose, with some very faint signs of its mossy parentage.

There are but few new summer Moss Roses worthy of attention, although, as usual, there are plenty raised by the French florists; they are, however, only remarkable for their well-sounding names. I have imported for several years every new Moss Rose raised in France, to the amount of nearly one hundred varieties, and have found but few worthy of cultivation. Among these, Lane's Moss, or 'Lanei,' raised from seed by M. Laffay, is a fine globular and very double rose, with flowers very fragrant and of a rich rosy crimson tinted with purple; its habit is remarkably vigorous, more so than that of any other Moss Rose, and a large bed planted with it on its own roots would have a fine effect. Princesse Royale, like the above, is not a very new rose, but exceedingly neat and pretty, as its flowers are light pink and beautifully shaped; in habit it is very vigorous. Gloire des Mousseuses and Marie de Blois are two very large double roses of remarkably vigorous growth; the former is the largest of all Moss Roses; in colour they differ but slightly from the Old Moss Rose. Baron de Wassenaër is also a new, large, and finely-shaped rose, deeper in colour than the preceding, and approaching to carmine; this variety is well

worthy of cultivation. L'Eblouissante, of a brilliant crimson, and Unique Nouvelle, of a deep purplish crimson mottled, are two good and distinct new Moss Roses.

Culture and Pruning.

Moss Roses, when grown on their own roots, require a light and rich soil; in such soils they form fine masses of beauty in beds on lawns. The varieties best adapted to this purpose are the Common Moss, the Prolific, the Luxembourg, the Crimson, and Lane's Moss. Plants of these are procurable at a moderate price, and, by pegging down their shoots with hooked sticks, the surface of the bed will be covered with a mass of foliage and flowers. They require the same severe pruning as the Provence Rose. To have a succession of flowers on the same bed, half of the shoots may be shortened in October, the remainder the beginning of May, pruning closely as recommended for the Provence Roses. By this method the blooming season may be prolonged from a fortnight to three weeks. They should have an abundant annual dressing of manure on the surface in November, and the bed lightly stirred with the fork in February. In cold and clayey soils they in general succeed much better worked on the Dog Rose, forming beautiful standards. I have ascertained that they establish themselves

much better on short stems, from two or three feet in height, than on taller stems, as the stem increases in bulk progressively with the head, and the plants will then live and flourish a great many years.

Raising Varieties from Seed.

To raise Moss Roses from seed is a most interesting employment for the genuine rose amateur; such a pleasing field is open, and so much may yet be done. The following directions will, I hope, assist those who have leisure, perseverance, and love for this charming flower. A plant of the Luxembourg Moss and one of the Celina Moss should be planted against a south wall, close to each other, so that their branches may be mingled. In bright, calm, sunny mornings in June, about ten o'clock, those flowers that are expanded should be examined by pressing the fingers on the anthers; it will then be found if the pollen be abundant; if so, a flower of the former should be shaken over the latter; or, what perhaps is better, its flower-stalks should be fastened to the wall, so that the flower will be kept in an erect position; then cut a flower of the Luxembourg Moss, strip off its petals with a sharp pair of scissors, and place the anthers firmly but gently upon a flower of the Single Crimson, so that the anthers of each are entangled: they will keep it in its position: a stiff breeze will then scarcely

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remove it. The fertilising will take place without further trouble, and a fine hip full of seed will be the result. To obtain seed from the Luxembourg Moss, I need scarcely say that this operation must be reversed. A wall is not always necessary to ripen seed; for in dry soils and airy exposed situations, the above Moss Roses bear seed in tolerable abundance. The treatment of the hips, sowing the seed, and the management of the young plants, as applicable to all, is given at the end of the First Part.

THE FRENCH ROSE.

(ROSA GALLICA.)

Rosier de Provins.

THE French Rose (Rosa gallica of botanists) is an inhabitant of the continent of Europe, growing abundantly in the hedges of France and Italy. In the Floræ Romanæ' of Sebastiani, published at Rome in 1818, this rose, Rosa sempervirens, and Rosa canina, are said to be the only roses growing naturally in the Papal States. It was one of the earliest roses introduced to our gardens, and is supposed by some to be the Rosa Milesiana of Pliny, so named from its growing abundantly near Miletus in Asia Minor: it has also historical claims of much interest; for the semi-double