variety, our choice would immediately settle upon. Its beauty suggests a blending of the finest sculpture and the loveliest feminine complexion.

Second to the Bourbons we rank the Remontantes, as the French term them; a better name than the English one-Perpetuals; for they are by no means perpetual in their blooming habit when compared with the Bourbons, China, or Tea Roses. They are, in fact, June Roses, that bloom two or three times in the season, whenever strong new shoots spring up; hence no name so appropriate as Remontante, sending up new flower-shoots. We think this class of Roses has been a little overrated by Rose-growers. Its great merit is the true old-fashioned Rose character of the blossoms-large and fragrant as a Damask or Provence Rose. But in this climate Remontantes cannot be depended on for a constant supply of flowers like Bourbon Roses. Here are our favourite

HALF A DOZEN REMONTANTES.

La Reine, deep rose, very large.

Duchess of Sutherland, pale rose.
Crimson Perpetual, light crimson.

Aubernon, brilliant crimson.
Lady Alice Peel, fine deep pink.
Madame Dameme, dark crimson.

Next to these come the China Roses, less fragrant, but everlastingly in bloom, and with very bright and rich colours.

The Tea Roses, most refined of all Roses, unluckily, require considerable shelter and care in winter in this climate; but they so richly repay all, that no Rose-lover can grudge them this trouble. Tea Roses are, indeed, to the common garden varieties, what the finest porcelain is to vulgar crockery-ware.

HALF A DOZEN TEA ROSES.

Safrano, the buds rich deep fawn.
Souvenir d'un Ami, salmon, shaded

with rose.

Goubault, bright rose, large and fragrant.

Devoniensis, creamy white.
Bougère, glossy bronze.

Josephine Malton, beautiful shaded
white.

We thought to give Noisettes the go-by; but the saucy rampant little beauties climb up and thrust their clusters of bright blossoms into our face, and will be heard. So here they are:

HALF A DOZEN NOISETTES.

Solfaterre, bright sulphur, large.
Jaune Desprez, large bright fawn.
Aimée Vibert, pure white, very free
bloomer.

Cloth of Gold, pure yellow, fine.
Fellenberg, brilliant crimson.
Joan of Arc, pure white.

"Girdle of Venus! does he call this a select list ?" exclaims some leveller, who expected us to compress all Rose perfections into half a dozen sorts; when here we find, on looking back, that we

have thirty, and even then there is not a single Moss Rose, Climbing Rose, Provence Rose, Damask Rose, to say nothing of " Musk Roses,' "Microphylla Roses," and half a dozen other divisions that we boldly shut our eyes upon! Well, if the truth must come out, we confess it boldly, that we are worshippers of the everblooming Roses. Compared with them, beautiful as all other Roses may be and are (we can't deny it), they have little chance of favour with those that we have named, which are a perpetual garland of sweetness. It is the difference between a smile once a year and a golden temper, always sweetness and sunshine. Why, the everblooming Roses make a garden of themselves! Not a day without rich colours, delicious perfume, luxuriant foliage. No, take the lists as they are- too small by half; for we cannot cut a name out of them.

And yet there are a few other Roses that ought to be in the smallest collection. That finest of all Rose gems, the Old Red Moss, still at the head of all Moss Roses, and its curious cousin, the Crested Moss, must have their place. Those fine hardy climbers, that in northern gardens will grow in any exposure, and cover the highest walls or trellises with garlands of beauty, the Queen of the Prairies and Baltimore Belle (or, for southern gardens, say, Laure Davoust and Greville and Ruga Ayrshire); that finest and richest of all yellow Roses, the double Persian Yellow, and half a dozen of the gems among the hybrid Roses, such as Chénédole, George the Fourth, Village Maid, Great Western, Fulgens Blanchefleur; we should try at least to make room for these also.

If we were to have but three Roses for our own personal gratification, they would be, Souvenir de Malmaison, Old Red Moss, General Dubourg.

The latter is a Bourbon Rose, which, because it is an old variety, and not very double, has gone out of fashion. We, however, shall cultivate it as long as we enjoy the blessing of olfactory nerves; for it gives us all the season an abundance of flowers, with the most perfect rosescent that we have ever yet found; in fact, the true attar of Rose.

There are few secrets in the cultivation of the Rose. First of all, make the soil deep; and, if the subsoil is not quite dry, let it be well drained. Then remember that what the Rose delights to grow in is loam and rotten manure. Enrich your soil, therefore, every year with well-decomposed stable-manure; and if it is too sandy, mix fresh loam from an old pasture-field; if it is too clayey, mix river or pit-sand with it. The most perfect specific stimulus that we have

ever tried in the culture of the Rose is what Mr. Rivers calls roasted turf, which is easily made by paring sods from the lane sides, and half charring them. It acts like magic upon the little spongioles of the Rose, making new buds and fine fresh foliage start out very speedily, and then a succession of superb and richly-coloured flowers. We commend it especially to all those who cultivate Roses in old gardens, where the soil is more or less worn out.

And now, like the Persians, with the hope that our fair readers may sleep upon Roses, and the dew that falls may turn into rosewater," we must end this rather prolix chapter upon Roses.

THESE grand displays of horticultural skill terminated for the season with the Park" show on the 3d, and that at Chiswick on the 13th ult. Before we commence to offer any remarks on the exhibitions themselves, we have thought it might not be uninteresting to give our readers a brief sketch of some of the principal features of "the Park" itself; more especially as, in a former volume, we have done the same thing in regard to Chiswick.

The Royal Botanic Garden occupies the Inner Circle, Regent's Park, its principal entrance facing the York Gate. Upon entering from this side, the visitor suddenly finds himself on a noble gravelwalk margined on either side with broad closely shaven lawn, which leads directly to the Conservatory; a sketch of which, together with one of the exhibition-tents in its rear, is given in the woodcut at the head of this page. The Conservatory has now been erected some years, and forms about a fourth of the original design. It encloses an area 175 feet in length and 75 feet in breadth. It consists of a series of curvilinear span-roofs, the centre one being 35 feet in height and 50 in width, and the two others on either side of it being about 25 feet in height, and the same in width. These are supported on rows of iron pillars, which are tubular, for the purpose of conducting rain-water from the roof to cisterns, to be made available for watering the plants. The centre-span has a semicircular end, standing out about 25 feet from the front line of the building. A span-roof of the same height and width as the others (25 ft.) starts from each side of the principal or centre arch; and, extending along the front at right angles to the other roofs, presents a fine-looking frontage, resting on a perpendicular elevation, of about 14 feet, thus improving its general appearance, which

would otherwise be of a zigzag form. At each end of the building a curve, starting from the spring of the upper one, comes down near the ground, forming as it were a lean-to curvilinear house of about 12 feet in width; but having no partition to divide it from the rest of the house. The whole is warmed by hot water. In the arrange

ment of the plants, they are grouped in masses on gravel, here and there relieved by a single specimen or vase full of flowers; and besides mere greenhouse subjects, the culture of exotic Orchids, Palms, &c. has been attempted in a portion of the building cut off from the rest by a glass partition based on ornamental rockwork.

The grounds have been laid out by Mr. Marnock, the curator, whose good taste in such matters is universally acknowledged. They are beautifully diversified by hill and dale, rural retreats, and winding walks; and water, that most essential element in an English landscape, has not been forgotten, for a charming lake of considerable extent occupies part of the south-east side, giving to that portion of the garden, in connexion with its rustic hill, a picturesque effect.

In

The exhibition occupies four large tents, one of which stands between the north side of the lake and the conservatory, and is generally filled with Roses and Cape Heaths; but on this occasion a side of it contained the fruit. A second tent, in which the stove and greenhouse plants are arranged, stands close by the spot on which the American exhibition takes place. Two more, one of which is seen in the woodcut, are placed between the conservatory and the public road, from which they are entered by what is sometimes called "the Queen's Gate." And now, having taken a cursory view of the garden, let us inspect the exhibition, beginning with that charming tribe of plants the Orchids, which, arranged on one side of a long tent, behind the Pelargoniums, had a good effect. collections of 25 plants, Mr. Mylam, gardener to S. Rucker, Esq., was first. His plants consisted of Aerides quinquevulnera, odoratum, and maculosum; the large-flowered Phalaenopsis; Epidendrum vitellinum; the charming Saccolabium Blumei, Lælia majalis, Odontoglossum Karwinskii, Vanda Batemanni, Anguloa uniflora with ivory-white blossoms, and Brassia Lawrenceanum. Mr. Williams, gardener to C. B. Warner, Esq., of Hoddesdon, was second. This group comprised two fine plants of Aerides odoratum, also A. maculosum, affine, and roseum; Dendrobium moschatum, densiflorum, and secundum; Saccolabium guttatum, the larger-flowered Butterfly plant, and Barkeria spectabilis. In collections of 15, the first prize was awarded to Mr. Blake, gardener to J. H. Schröder, Esq., for Galeandra Baueri, Phalaenopsis grandiflora, Cattleya Mossiæ, the rare white-blossomed Burlingtonia venusta, Dendrobium chrysanthum, a pale variety of Acineta Humboldti, Trichopilia tortilis, and Vanda tricolor. In Messrs. Rollisson's group of 15 we remarked a variety of Stanhopea maculata, also S. tigrina, Cattleya Mossiæ, and the beautiful C. Harrisoniæ, a finely blossomed Miltonia spectabilis, the scarce yellow-flowered Peristeria cerina, and Burlingtonia venusta. Collections of 10 were contributed by Mr. Barnes, gardener to R. Hanbury, Esq., and Mr. Dobson, gardener to Mr. Beck. Mr.

Barnes sent Aerides affine and odoratum, Stanhopea tigrina, Brassia Wrayæ, the large-flowered Phalaenopsis, Saccolabium Blumei, and Oncidium Lanceanum. Mr. Beck's plants consisted of the larger variety of Oncidium ampliatum, O. luridum, and Harrisoniæ, Dendrobium secundum, Cattleya Mossiæ, Epidendrum vitellinum, calochilum, and phoeniceum; Aerides odoratum, and Galeandra Baueri. Mr. Mylam sent a handsome Cypripedium, apparently a variety of C. barbatum.

In collections of 30 Stove and Greenhouse Plants, the first prize was awarded to Mr. Cole, gardener to H. Collyer, Esq., of Dartford; the second to Mrs. Lawrence of Ealing Park. In these groups were beautiful plants of Allamanda cathartica, Schottii, and grandiflora; Dipladenia splendens and crassinoda; Vincas, Ixora coccinea, Kalosanthes coccinea, Epacris miniata, Clerodendrons, Stephanotis floribunda, Sollya linearis, Ixora javanica, Kalosanthes versicolor.

In the collections of 20, Mr. Green was first, and Mr. Taylor second. Among these were good examples of Stephanotis, Allamanda, Ixora, Pleroma elegans (not nearly at its best as regards bloom), and Echites.

Various groups of 10 were produced. A first prize was awarded to Mr. Williams, gardener to Miss Traill of Bromley; and the second to Mr. Croxford.

Among Cape Heaths, the following varieties were most conspicuous: Ventricosa grandiflora and V. magnifica, Shannoni, tricolor, retorta major, Cavendishii, Massoni, Bergiana, Obbata, Bothwelliana, Parmentieri rosea, inflata, Vernoni, Wilsonii, metulæflora bicolor, ferruginea, mutabilis, ampullacea, Savileana, jasminiflora alba, Clusiana, and princeps.

Among Single Specimens, the best were large and beautiful plants of Stephanotis floribunda from Mr. May, gardener to Mrs. Lawrence, and Leschenaultia formosa, from Mr. Williams, gardener to Miss Traill. Mr. Dennett had also a nice Kalosanthes coccinea; Mr. Kinghorn, Leschenaultia arcuata, a singular-looking species; and there were one or two other good plants shewn under this head.

In New Plants, the first prize was given to a very fine specimen of Ixora javanica, from Mrs. Lawrence's garden at Ealing Park; and equal prizes to Ipomoea limbata, a pretty species, purple margined with white, from Messrs. Rollisson; Begonia cinnabarina, from Messrs. Henderson; Hemiandra pungens, a lilac-flowered greenhouse plant from Mr. Henderson, St. John's Wood; and Magnolia fragrantissima and Thyrsacanthus bracteolatus from Messrs. Rollisson.

Pelargoniums were plentiful, and in good condition. Twelve new varieties, Amateurs, equal prizes to Mr. Cock and Mr. Staines; second, Mr. Robinson. Nurserymen: 1st, Mr. Dobson, gardener to Mr. Beck; 2d, Mr. Bragg; 3d, Mr. Gaines. Six varieties: 1st, Mr. Parker, gardener to J. H. Oughton, Esq. "Fancies:" 1st, Mr. Robinson; 2d, Mr. Staines. "Capes :" 1st, Mr. Staines.

Pinks were numerous and large, but dull in colour, it being late in the season for them. The 1st prize was awarded to Mr. Turner, for Whipper-in, Great Britain, Diana, George Glenny, Lola Montes, Narborough Buck, Criterion, Sappho, Queen of England, Huntsman,