by him to his brother, Monsieur Louis Noisette, the well known nurseryman at Paris, in the year 1817. Perhaps no new rose was ever so much admired as this. When first introduced its habit was so peculiar, and so unlike any other known variety, that the Parisian amateurs were quite enraptured with it. It was produced from the seed of the old Musk Rose (Rosa moschata), the flowers of which had been fertilised with the common China Rose. The perfume of the Musk Rose is very apparent: its tendency to bloom in large clusters also shows its affinity to that old and very remarkable rose, but since its introduction to France so many seedlings have been raised from it, and so many of these are evidently hybrids of the Tea-scented and other roses, that some of the roses called "Noisettes" have almost lost the characters of the group; for in proportion as the size of the flowers has been increased by hybridising, their clustering tendency and the number of them in one corymb, has been diminished.

Since the introduction of so many beautiful autumnal roses of other families, Noisette Roses have declined in favour; there are, however, still a few distinct and pretty varieties quite worthy of being retained in the rose-garden. The two pretty white roses, Aimée Vibert and Miss Glegg, the latter slightly tinted with rose, are among them; they are both dwarf and compact in their habits,

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and form pretty bushes. Jeanne d'Arc, a pure white rose of a vigorous habit, and a nice pillar rose, is also worthy of culture.

Fellenberg and Octavie are two pretty crimson roses, and Vicomtesse d'Avesne is a very neat rose-coloured rose, blooming most abundantly. Caroline Marniesse is a creamy white, and also a most abundant bloomer.

We now come to a distinct group of this family, which may be called Tea-scented Noisettes, as they partake so largely of the habit, and have the fragrance of the Tea Rose. The oldest one in this group is Jaune (Desprez), or Noisette Desprez, raised by Monsieur Desprez. It was at one time highly esteemed, and even now its fawncoloured and very fragrant flowers are often, in autumn, very beautiful. It forms a fine standard. Lamarque, with its pale, straw-coloured flowers, and Phaloé, with pale, flesh-coloured, fawn-tinted flowers, are of this race, and two fine roses. Το the former we owe that most glorious of all yellow roses (when in perfection), Cloth of Gold, and Solfaterre. Even at this distance of time I have not forgotten the delight I felt on seeing these roses in full bloom at Angers in 1843. The flowers of the former, in particular, were like large golden bells. They were on a standard trained to a wall, and each flower was pendulous, so that their bright yellow centres were most conspicuous. A new rose of this class has been

recently raised in America, and sent to me, under the name of the Augusta Rose. Its habit is described as very vigorous, and its flowers as being of a fine yellow. Ophirie is a bright fawn, or perhaps copper-coloured rose, tinted with salmon sometimes, in autumn very pretty. A new rose of this class of colour, Marie Chargé, more yellow in its tint than Ophirie, and shaded with carmine, promises to be a most interesting acquisition.

Culture.

The dwarf kinds of Noisettes, such as Aimée Vibert, Fellenberg, &c., make pretty bushes for beds. The Tea-scented Noisettes are only adapted for walls and for pillars in warm situations in the south of England, requiring even then the protection recommended for the Multiflora Rose, p. 68. A well grown pillar of such a rose as Cloth of Gold would have a fine effect. This rose flourishes remarkably well in Jersey, where I have heard of some very fine trees. As standards, Noisette Roses require but little culture ; the principal care is to be prompt in cutting off the decayed and decaying clusters of flowers, during the blooming season; and, in March, to thin out their superfluous branches. The Tea-scented Noisettes are, however, too tender for this culture, unless in warm situations. In a garden at Upper Clapton, near London, is a standard Noisette Desprez, about fifteen years old. It is a magni

ficent tree. For ornamenting wire fences, the Dwarf Noisette Roses are nicely adapted, as they can be trained with great facility, and they will form, in such situations, a blooming boundary for at least four months in the year.

Raising Varieties from Seed.

But few of the Noisette Roses will bear seed in this country; the following, however, if planted against a south wall, and carefully fertilised, would probably produce some. The object here should be to obtain dark crimson varieties with large flowers, and for this purpose Fellenberg should be fertilised with Octavie. Solfaterre with the Tea Rose, Vicomtesse Decazes, would probably give yellow varieties, and these would be large and fragrant, as in Lamarque and Jaune Desprez. In these directions for procuring seed from roses by fertilising, I have confined myself to such varieties as are almost sure to produce it; but much must be left to the amateur, as many roses may be made fertile by removing their central petals, and, consequently, some varieties that I have not noticed may be made productive.

THE MUSK ROSE.

(ROSA MOSCHATA.)

Rosier Muscate.

The White Musk Rose is one of the oldest inhabitants of our gardens, and probably more widely spread over the face of the earth than any other rose. It is generally supposed that the attar of roses is prepared in India from this species, and that this is also the rose of the Persian poets *, in the fragrant groves of which they love to describe their "bulbul," or nightingale, as enchanting them with its tuneful notes. The probability that this is the famed rose of Persia is strengthened by the fact, that it is much more fragrant in the evening, or in the cool weather of autumn, than at any other time or season, and probably in the hot climate of Persia, only so in the coolness of night, when nightingales delight to sing. A recent traveller also remarks that the roses of

*The following anecdote is narrated by the late Sir John Malcolm, in his sketches of Persia. I have, moreover, heard it from his own lips, told in his peculiar spirited manner while he resided here. "A breakfast was given to us at a beautiful spot near the Hazâr Bâgh, or thousand gardens, in the vicinity of Shiraz; and we were surprised and delighted to find that we were to enjoy this meal on a stack of roses. On this a carpet was laid, and we sat cross-legged like the natives. The stack, which was as large as a common one of hay in England, had been formed without much trouble from the heaps or cocks of rose leaves, collected before they were sent into the city to be distilled."