the stakes with small tacks, and brought down within two inches of the ground, leaving a small aperture at top, at the apex of the triangle: this will admit of a moderate circulation of air from the bottom to the top, and will keep the plant in perfect health during the winter. By the end of March, or beginning of April, these protectors may be removed, and the plant pruned: this method will supersede the paper cap, which is so liable to be destroyed by the wind: calico thus prepared will last for several years. Standards of these roses succeed well against a south or south-east wall: their stems should not be more than three feet high. To have a fine bloom of these roses, or, indeed, of any of the Hybrid Perpetuals, Bourbons, or China roses, in pots towards the end of summer or autumn, take plants from small pots (those struck from cuttings in March or April will do), and put them into six-inch, or even eight-inch, pots, using a compost of light turfy loam and rotten manure, equal parts: to a bushel of the compost, add half a peck of pounded charcoal, and the same quantity of silver sand; make a hotbed of sufficient strength, say three to four feet in height, of seasoned dung, so that it is not of a burning heat, in a sunny exposed situation, and on this place the pots; then fill up all interstices with sawdust, placing it so as to cover the rims, and to lie on the surface of the mould in the pots about two inches deep. The pots should have a good sound watering before they are thus plunged, and have water daily in dry weather; the bottom heat and full exposure to the sun and air will give the plants a vigour almost beyond belief; this very simple mode of culture is as yet almost unknown. I have circulated among a few friends the above directions; and have no doubt that, in the hands of skilful gardeners, some extraordinary results may be looked for in the production of specimens of soft-wooded plants. I may add, that, when the heat of the bed declines towards the middle of July, the pots must be removed, some fresh dung added, and the bed re-made, again plunging the plants immediately. Towards the end of August the roots of the plants must be ripened; the posts must, therefore, be gradually lifted out of the saw-dust; i. e. for five or six days expose them about two inches below their rims; then, after the same lapse of time, a little lower, till the whole of the pot is exposed to the sun and air; they may be then removed to the greenhouse so as to be sheltered from heavy rain. They will bloom well in the autumn, and be in fine order for early forcing; if plants are required during the summer for exhibition, or any other purpose, care must always be taken to harden or ripen their roots as above before they are removed from the hot-bed. There is perhaps no situation in this country in which these charming roses bloom in such high perfection as when planted in the borders of an orchard house. They have for these two or three seasons past commenced to bloom here early in May, and have continued to give their buds and blossoms till far in November. They require the same culture as orchard house trees in syringing and destroying the aphides with tobacco water, and well repay the culture given. Raising Varieties from Seed. With attention, some very beautiful roses of this family may be originated from seed, but the plants must be trained against a south wall, in a warm, dry soil, or grown in pots under glass: a warm greenhouse, or the orchard-house, will be most proper for them, so that they bloom in May, as their hips are a long time ripening. For yellow roses, Vicomtesse Decazes may be planted with and fertilized by Canary, which abounds in pollen; some fine roses, almost to a certainty, must be raised from seed produced by such a union for the sake of curiosity, a few flowers of the latter might be fertilized with the Double Yellow Briar, or Rosa Harrisonii. The Old Yellow Tea bears seed abundantly, but it has been found, from repeated experiments, that a good or even a mediocre rose is seldom or never produced from it; but fertilised with the Yellow Briar, something original may be realised. Souvenir d'un Ami and Adam would produce seed of fine quality, from which large and bright rosecoloured varieties might be expected. Niphetos would give pure white Tea Roses; and Gloire de Dijon fertilized with Safrano would probably originate first-rate fawn-coloured roses; but the central petals of the latter should be carefully removed with tweezers or pliers, as its flowers are too double for it to be a certain seed-bearer. THE MINIATURE ROSE. (ROSA LAWRENCEANA.) In the botanical catalogues this curious little rose is said to have been introduced from China in 1810, and botanists have made it a species; but, like the Rose de Meaux and Pompon Roses, which are dwarf varieties of Rosa centifolia, this is undoubtedly nothing but a dwarf seminal variety of the common China Rose. Many plants that have been long under cultivation have a tendency to produce from seed these pigmy likenesses of themselves: among these little "faerie queens,' Gloire des Lawrenceanas is one of the prettiest of the tribe; its flowers are of a dark crimson, and larger than those of any other variety. La Desirée and Pompon Bijou are both of them bright coloured and pretty roses. Pallida is the only variety in this division approaching to white. Its flowers, when they first open, are nearly of pure white, but they soon change to a pale flesh-colour; this is rather a delicate rose, seeming very impatient of cold and damp. These roses are all very impatient of moisture, and in all moist soils require a very dry, warm, raised border. I have not yet had an opportunity of seeing them grow in dry soils, but I think it probable that the light sandy soils of Surrey would suit them admirably. In cold situations it will be advisable to grow them constantly in pots, protecting them in a cold pit or frame till January, and then, if required to bloom early, remove them to a warm situation in the greenhouse, or force them with the Tea-scented Roses. A collection of these little rose-bushes, covered with their bright flowers in March and April, will be found one of the most eligible and unique ornaments for the drawing-room. THE NOISETTE ROSE. (ROSA NOISETTIANA.) Rosier Noisette. The original of this remarkable group, the "Blush Noisette" Rose, was raised from seed in America by Monsieur Philippe Noisette, and sent |