Fig. 8.—A ROSE CUTTING.
Where roses are forced into bloom the latter part of winter, cuttings can be taken from them immediately after the bloom is past; and they will also succeed if taken from plants in the open ground immediately after their first bloom. Cuttings of the Everblooming Roses will all strike at any time during the summer, but they succeed much better either in the autumn, or after their first bloom. The heat of our midsummer sun is so great upon plants forced in the house, that cuttings often fail at that time. When a cutting is made near the old stem, it is better to take with it a portion of the old wood, which forms the enlarged part of the young branch. Where the cuttings are scarce, two buds will answer very well—one below the surface; and, in some cases, propagation has been successful with only one eye. In this case they are planted up to the base of the leaf in pots of sand, similar to that used in the manufacture of glass, and the eye is partially covered. They are then subject to the same treatment as the others, and carefully shaded; they will thus root easily, but require a long time to make strong plants.
Some years since, Lecoq, a French cultivator, conceived the idea of endeavoring to propagate roses by the leaf. He gathered some very young leaves of the Bengal rose, about one quarter developed, cutting them off at their insertion, or at the surface of the bark. He planted these in peat soil, in one-inch pots, and then plunged the potsinto a moderate heat. A double cover of bell glasses was then placed over them, to exclude the air entirely, which course of treatment was pursued until they had taken root. The shortest time in which this could be accomplished was eight weeks, and the roots were formed in the following manner. First, a callus was formed at the base of the leaf, from which small fibres put forth; a small bud then appeared on the upper side (figure 9); a stalk then arose from this bud, which finally expanded into leaves and formed a perfect plant.
Fig. 9.—LEAF CUTTING.
Fig. 9.—LEAF CUTTING.
An English writer remarks, that “the leaves or leaflets of a rose will often take root more freely than even cuttings, and in a much shorter time, but these uniformly refuse to make buds or grow.”
This experiment is certainly very curious, and evinces how great, in the vegetable kingdom, are the powers of nature for the maintenance of existence, and is one of those singular results which should lead us to make farther experiments with various parts of plants, and teach us that in Horticulture there is yet a wide field for scientific research.
A favorite mode of propagation with some nurserymen is from soft wood of plants forced in the winter. Many fail entirely in this for want of knowledge of the right condition in which the wood should be before cutting, a condition which cannot be described on paper. Some varieties, like Persian Yellow, will not strike at all, or with great difficulty in this way.
The plants from which these cuttings are to be taken should be prepared and treated as in the preceding chapter. In February and March the cuttings are made and inserted in sand, either in pots or benches, in a house ofthe same temperature as that in which the parent plant has grown. These pots or benches would be better covered with glass, but it is not essential. After the cuttings have rooted, they can be potted into small pots, and placed in a house of moderate temperature. About the middle of May they can be taken out of these pots and planted in the open ground.
BY LAYERS.
This mode is more particularly applicable to those roses that bloom only once in the year, and which do not strike freely from cuttings, although it can be equally well applied to all the smooth-wooded kinds. It can be performed at midsummer and for several weeks afterward, and should be employed only in those cases where young shoots have been formed at least a foot long and are well matured. The soil should be well dug around the plant, forming a little raised bed of some three feet in diameter, with the soil well pulverized and mixed with some manure thoroughly decomposed, and, if heavy, a little sand. A hole should then be made in this bed about four inches deep, and the young matured shoot bent down into it, keeping the top of the shoot some three or four inches above the surface of the ground; the angle thus being found, which should always be made at a bud and about five or six inches from the top of the shoot, the operator should cut off all the leaves below the ground. A sharp knife should then be placed just below a bud, about three inches below the surface of the ground, and a slanting cut made upward and lengthwise, about half through the branch, forming a sort of tongue from one to two inches long, on the back part of the shoot right opposite the bud; a chip or some of the soil can be placed in the slit, to prevent it from closing, and the shoot can then be carefully laid in the hole, and pegged down at a point some twoinches below the cut, keeping, at the same time, the top of the shoot some three or four inches out of the ground, and making it fast to a small stake, to keep it upright. Care should be taken not to make the angle where the branch is pegged at the cut, as the branch would be injured and perhaps broken off; the best place is about two inches below the incision. The soil can then be replaced in the hole, and where it is convenient covered with some moss or litter of any kind. This will protect the soil from the sun and keep it moist, and will materially aid the formation of new roots. These are formed in the same manner as in cuttings; first a callus is produced on those parts of the incision where the bark joins the wood, and from this callus spring the roots, which, in some cases, will have grown sufficiently for the layers to be taken from the parent plant the latter part of the following autumn; in some cases, however, the roots will not have sufficiently formed to allow them to be taken up before another year. The summer is the best period for layering the young shoots. Early in the spring, layers can be made with the wood formed the previous year. Where it is more convenient, a shoot can be rooted by making the incision as above, and introducing it into a quart pot with the bottom partly broken out. This pot can be plunged in the ground, or if the branch is from a standard, it can be raised on a rough platform. In either case, it should be covered with moss, to protect it from the sun, and should be watered every evening. We recollect seeing in the glass manufactories of Paris, a very neat little glass tumbler, used by the French gardeners for this purpose. It held, perhaps, half a pint, and a space about half an inch wide was cut out through the whole length of the side, through which space the branch of any plant was inserted, and the tumbler then filled with soil. When the roots were formed and began to penetrate the soil, they could be easily perceived through the glass.Although an incision is always the most certain, and it is uniformly practiced, roots will in many varieties strike easily from the buds; and a common operation in France is simply to peg down the branches in the soil, without any incision; in some cases, they give the branch a sudden twist, which will break or bruise the bark, and facilitate the formation of roots.
Some Chinese authors state that very long branches may be laid down, and that roots may be thus obtained from all the eyes upon them, which will eventually form as many plants.
Vibert, a well-known rose cultivator in France, remarks upon this point: “Upon laying down with the requisite care some branches fifteen to twenty-four inches long, of the new growth, or of that of the previous year, and upon taking them up with similar care, after twelve or eighteen months, I found only the first eyes expanded into buds or roots, while the rest had perished. I have seldom seen the fifth eye developed, while I have frequently known the whole branch entirely perish. I speak in general terms, for there are some rare exceptions, and the different varieties of the Four-seasons Rose may be cited as proof that a great number of eyes of the same branch have taken root.”
This is the opinion of an eminent rose grower; but if, as he states, the Monthly Damask Rose will root freely in this way, many of the smooth-wooded roses would undoubtedly root still more readily, and our rapid growing native rose, Queen of the Prairies, would very probably throw out roots readily, when treated in this manner. It is worth repeated experiment; for, if rapid growing roses, like some of the evergreen varieties, the Greville, and the Queen of the Prairies, could with facility be made to grow in this way, rose hedges could be easily formed by laying down whole branches, and a very beautiful and effectiveprotection would be thus produced, to ornament our fields and gardens.
SUCKERS.
Many roses throw up suckers readily from the root, and often form one of the principal causes of annoyance to the cultivator. For this reason, budding and grafting should always be done on stocks that do not incline to sucker. The Dog Rose—on which almost all the imported varieties are now worked—is particularly liable to this objection, and it is no unusual thing to see half-a-dozen suckers growing about a single rose-tree. When the health and prosperity of the plant are desired, these should be carefully kept down, as they deprive the plant of a material portion of its nourishment. When, however, they are wanted for stocks, they should be taken off every spring with a small portion of root, which can generally be obtained by cutting some distance below the surface of the ground. They should be planted immediately where they are wanted for budding, and will soon be fit for use. Many fine varieties of the summer roses will sucker in this way, and an old plant when taken up will sometimes furnish a large number of thrifty stems, each with a portion of root attached.
BUDDING.
Fifty years ago, budding and grafting were very little practiced, excepting with new varieties, that could with great difficulty be propagated in any other way. Within that time, however, the practice has been constantly increasing until now, when it is extensively employed in Europe, and roses imported from France and England can very rarely be obtained on their own roots. To this mode of propagation, there is one great objection, while theadvantages in some varieties are sufficiently great to counterbalance any inconveniences attending the cultivation of a budded or grafted rose. It is generally the case, that the stock or plant on which the Rose is budded is of some variety that will throw up suckers very freely, which growing with great luxuriance, will sometimes overpower the variety budded upon it, and present a mass of its own flowers. The purchaser will thus find a comparatively worthless bloom, instead of the rare and beautiful varieties whose appearance he has been eagerly awaiting, and upon the head of the nurseryman will frequently descend the weight of his indignation. This difficulty can, however, be avoided by a very little attention. The shoot of the stock can very readily be distinguished from that of the budded or grafted variety by its growth and foliage, even if the age of the plant will not allow the point of inoculation to be recognized. In passing the plant in his walks, let the owner simply cut away any shoot of this character that may spring from the stock or root. The budded variety thus receiving all the nourishment from the root, will soon grow with luxuriance, and present to the eager expectant as fine a bloom as he may desire—at the expense only of a little observation, and the trouble of occasionally taking his knife from his pocket.
This trouble, however, is such that the plant is in most cases neglected. Budded or grafted roses are thus very unpopular in this country, and those on their own roots are deemed the only ones which it is safe to plant.
The practice of budding has brought into cultivation a form of the plant which is highly ornamental, but which can never become very general in this country. The Tree Rose is an inoculation upon a standard some four or five feet in height, generally a Dog Rose or Eglantine. The tall, naked stem, a greater part of which is unsheltered by any foliage, is exposed to the full glare of our summer sun, and unless protected in some way, will often die outin two or three years. Its life can be prolonged by covering the stem with moss, or with a sort of tin tube, provided with small holes, to allow the air to enter and circulate around the stem. This is, however, some trouble; and as many will not provide this protection, a large part of the standard roses imported to this country will gradually die out, and rosebushesbe generally employed for single planting, or for grouping upon the lawn.
In budding, there are two requisites: a well-established and thriftily growing plant, and a well-matured eye or bud. The operation can be performed at any season when these requisites can be obtained. In the open ground, the wood from which the buds are cut is generally not mature until after the first summer bloom.
Fig. 10.—BUDDING THE ROSE.
Fig. 10.—BUDDING THE ROSE.
Fig. 11.—BUDDING IN THE BRANCHES.
Fig. 11.—BUDDING IN THE BRANCHES.
Fig. 12.—BUDDING A POTTED ROSE.
Fig. 12.—BUDDING A POTTED ROSE.
Having ascertained by running a knife under the bark, that the stock will peel easily, and having some perfectly ripe young shoots with buds upon them, the operation can be performed with a sharp knife that is round and very thin at the point. Make in the bark of the stock a longitudinal incision of three-quarters of an inch, and another short one across the top, as ina,fig. 10; run the knife under the bark and loosen it from the wood; then cut from one of the young shoots of the desired variety, a bud, as inb; placing the knife a quarter to three-eighths of aninch above the eye or bud, and cutting out about the same distance below it, cutting sufficiently near the bud to take with it a very thin scale of the wood. English gardeners will always peel off this thin scale; but in our hot climate, it should always be left on, as it assists to keep the bud moist, and does not at all prevent the access of the sap from the stock to the bud. The bud being thus prepared, take it, by the portion of leaf-stalk attached, between the thumb and finger in the left hand, and, with the knife in the right, open the incision in the bark sufficiently to allow the bud to be slipped in as far as it will go, when the bark will close over and retain it. Then take a mat-string, or a piece of yarn, and firmly bind it around the bud, leaving only the petiole and bud exposed, as inc,fig. 10. The string should be allowed to remain for about two weeks, or until the bud is united to the stock. If allowed to remain longer, it will sometimes cut into the bark of the rapidly growing stock, but is productive of no other injury. It is the practice with many cultivators to cut off the top of the stock above the bud immediately after inoculation. A limited acquaintance with vegetable physiology would convince the cultivator of the injuriousresults of this practice, and that the total excision of the branches of the stock while in full vegetation must be destructive to a large portion of the roots, and highly detrimental to the prosperity of the plant. A much better mode is to bend down the top, and tie its extremity to the lower part of the stock. Several days after this is done, the bud can be inserted just below the sharpest bend of the arch. When the buds are to be placed in the branches of a stock, as infig. 11, the top of the main stem can be cut off, and the branches arched over and tied to the main stem, as atf; the bud is then inserted in each branch, as atc. The circulation of the sap being thus impeded by the bending of the branches, it is thrown into the inoculation, and forms then a more immediate union than it would if the branches were not arched. After the buds have become fairly united to the stock and have commenced growing, the top can be safely cut off to the bud, although it would be still better to make the pruning of the top proportionate to the growth of the bud; by this means, a slower, but more healthy vegetation is obtained. When the buds are inserted very late in the season, it is better not to cut off the top of the stock or branches until the following spring, and to preserve the bud dormant. Ifallowed to make a rapid growth so late in the season, there would be great danger of its being killed by frost. European cultivators are very fond of budding several varieties on one stock, in order to obtain the pretty effect produced by a contrast of color. This will only answer where great care is taken to select varieties of the same vegetating force; otherwise one will soon outstrip the others, and appropriate all the nourishment. It is also desirable that they should belong to the same species. When a bud is inserted in a plant in pot, as infig. 12, the main branches are left, and a portion of the top only cut off, in order to give the bud some additional nourishment.
GRAFTING.
From the pithy nature of the wood of the Rose, grafting is always less certain than budding; but it is frequently adopted by cultivators, as budding cannot be relied upon in the spring, and as there is much wood from the winter pruning which would be otherwise wasted. It is also useful for working over those plants in which buds have missed the previous summer.
There are several modes of grafting, of which the most generally practiced iscleft-grafting. For this mode, the stock is cut off at the desired height with a sharp knife, either horizontally, or slightly sloping. The cut should be made just above a bud, which may serve to draw up the sap to the graft. The stock can then be split with a heavy knife, making the slit or cleft about an inch long. The cion should be about four inches long, with two or more buds upon it. An inch of the lower part of the cion can be cut in the shape of a wedge, making one side very thin, and on the thick or outer side, leaving a bud opposite to the top of the wedge. This cion can then be inserted in the cleft as far as the wedge is cut, being very careful to make the bark of the cion fit exactly to that ofthe stock. In order to exclude the air, the top and side of the stock should then be bound with a strip of cloth covered with a composition of beeswax and resin in equal parts, with sufficient tallow to make it soft at a reasonably low temperature. In the course of two or three weeks, if every thing is favorable, the cion will begin to unite, and will be ready to go forward with advancing vegetation. When the stock is sufficiently large, two cions can be inserted, as infig. 13.
Fig. 13.—CLEFT GRAFTING.Fig. 14.—WHIP GRAFTING.
Fig. 13.—CLEFT GRAFTING.Fig. 14.—WHIP GRAFTING.
Whip-graftingis performed by cutting a slice of bark with a little wood from the side of a stock about an inch and a half long, and then paring a cion of the usual length down to a very thin lower extremity, as infig. 14. This cion can then be accurately fitted on to the place from whichthe slice of bark and wood is taken. The whole can then be bound around with cotton cloth, covered with the composition described before. In all grafting it should be borne in mind, that it is essential for the bark of the cion and that of the stock to touch each other in some point, and the more the points of contact, the greater will be the chance of success.
Rind-graftingis also sometimes practiced, but is more uncertain than the former, as the swelling of the stock is very apt to force the cion out. This mode must be practiced when the bark peels easily, or separates with ease from the wood. The top of the stock must be cut off square, and the bark cut through from the top about an inch downward. The point of the knife can then be inserted at the top, and the bark peeled back, as ina,fig. 15. It is desirable, as before, that a bud should be left on the other side of the stock, opposite this opening; and the French prefer, also, to have a bud left on the outside of the part of the cion which is inserted. The cion should be cut out and sloped flat on one side, as inb,fig. 15; then inserted in the stock between the bark and wood, as inc, and bound with mat-strings, or strips of grafting cloth.
Fig. 15.—RIND GRAFTING.
Fig. 15.—RIND GRAFTING.
The French have another mode of grafting stocks about the size of a quill or the little finger. It is done by placing the knife about two inches below a bud which is just on the point of starting, and cutting half way through the stock, and two inches down, as infig. 16. The cionis then placed in the lower part of this cavity, in the same manner as with cleft grafting. This mode is calledAspirant, from the bud above the incision, which continues to draw up the sap, until the development of the cion. When the cion has grown about two inches, the top of the stock is cut off and covered with grafting wax. This mode is not always successful, as the sap sometimes leaves the side of the stock which has been partly cut away and passes up the other side.
Fig. 16.
Fig. 16.
The French have also a mode of grafting, which they callpar incrustation, and which is performed in the spring, as soon as the leaf-buds appear. A cion with a bud adhering to the wood is cut in a sort of oval shape, and inserted in a cavity made of the same shape, and just below an eye which has commenced growing. It is then bound around with matting, as in budding. This is a sort of spring budding, with rather more wood attached to the bud, than in summer budding. It is very successfully practiced by various cultivators in the vicinity of Paris. There is still another mode sometimes practiced in France, which owes its origin to a cultivator named Lecoq. A small branch is chosen, which is provided with two buds, one of them being on the upper part, and the other near its larger end. A sidelong sloping cut is made all along its lower half, the upper being left entire. When the cion is thus prepared, its cut side is fitted to the side of the stock under the bark, which has been cut and peeled back. It is then bound around with mat-strings or grafting cloth in the usual way. This mode has a peculiar merit; should the upper bud not grow, the lower one rarely fails, and develops itself as in common budding.
Cleft and whip-grafting is also practiced occasionally upon the roots of the Rose, and succeeds very well withsome varieties. These modes of grafting can all be more successfully practiced on stocks in pots in green-houses with bottom heat and bell glasses. We have given thus concisely, and, we hope, clearly, the various modes of budding and grafting with which we are acquainted. They may be sufficient to enable the amateur to amuse his leisure hours, though his success may not entirely meet his expectations. Simple as these operations are, they require a kind of skill, and, if we may so call it, sleight-of-hand, which is only attained by constant practice upon a great number of plants.
We have described, in former pages, the various modes of cultivating the Rose, and of propagating the many beautiful varieties which exist, and would now briefly advert to a mode of developing still farther the beauty which lies hid within the horny covering that protects the dormant germ of vitality—in other words, of obtaining new varieties by seed. With the making of the seed-bed commenced a new era in the culture of the Rose, and advancing with rapid strides, it made more progress in forty years than in centuries before. The Dutch seem to have been the first to raise roses from seed, by the same mode which they applied successfully to their tulips, hyacinths, etc., and from the time that this mode became generally employed, the varieties of roses began to increase. In this species of cultivation the French soon outstripped their Dutch neighbors, and gained the reputation which they still retain, of preëminent skill in the production of new varieties of roses from the seed.
From 1805 to 1810, the Empress Josephine, whose love for flowers is well known, collected at her favorite residence, Malmaison, the choicest varieties of the Rose that could be obtained from Holland, Germany, and Belgium, and thus gave an increased impulse to the culture of roses in the vicinity of Paris.
According to De Pronville, a French writer, there were, in 1814, only 182 varieties of roses, and the advantage of multiplication by seed is sufficiently evinced by the fact that there are now more than 6,000 varieties, the poorest of which are much better than any which existed atthat day. Among the earliest cultivators of roses from the seed, were three Frenchmen: Dupont, Vilmorin, and Descemet. The former was the gardener of the Empress Josephine. When the allied armies entered Paris, in 1815, the garden of Descemet contained 10,000 seedling roses, which Vibert, in his anxiety to secure from destruction, succeeded in carrying to his garden in the interior.
In England, very little attention seems, at that time, to have been paid to the production of new varieties from seed, and the English relied very much upon the continent for their choice roses. Now, however, they are abundantly redeeming their reputation, and many fine varieties have been produced by English rose-growers, at the head of whom stands Rivers, whose efforts are seconded by Wood, Paul, Lane, and others. They are still, however, compelled to yield to the French cultivators; for to these we are indebted for our very finest roses—for Lamarque, Solfaterre, La Reine, Chromatella, the new white Perpetuals, Souvenir de Malmaison, and others.
The varieties of roses became increasingly great after the introduction of the Bengals, Noisettes, Teas, and Bourbons—all these classes producing readily from seed, and in endless variety. There still remains a willingness to cast aside the old for the new, and however much we may regret this disposition, for the sake of some old and truly deserving favorites, we cannot feel willing to denounce it, for it exhibits a gratifying evidence of a desire for improvement, and the existence of a spirit of progress, which, dissatisfied with things as they are, is continually striving after nearer approaches to perfection. If, in this strife, some of our old favorites have been cast aside, we are more than abundantly compensated for their loss by the new claimants to our regard.
Those who intend to raise new roses from seed should select varieties differing as much as possible in color and habit, and possessing broad, thick, and well-formed petals;their stamens should also be visible, and their pistils perfect; for perfectly double flowers, in which all the organs of propagation—the stamens and pistils—are changed into petals, never yield seed. These should be planted together in a rich soil, and as far as possible from any other roses. If there are among them any two varieties whose peculiarities it is desired to unite in a single plant, place these next to each other, and there may possibly be such an admixture of the pollen as will produce the desired result.
Care should be taken not to affect the proper maturity of the seed by taking off the petals, but allow them to fall by their own decay. The seed should be perfectly mature before it is gathered, which will be immediately after the first hard frost. After the hips have been gathered, the seeds can be taken out with the point of a knife, or, if there is a large quantity, they can be put on a table and bruised with a wooden roller; the covering of the seeds is so tough that they cannot easily be injured. When the hip is sufficiently bruised, it can be plunged into a vessel of water; and by continued friction, the seeds can be easily separated from the pulp which surrounds them, and will generally fall to the bottom. After being dried a few days in the shade, they should be placed just beneath the surface, in pots filled with fine sand, or peat earth, where they can be kept until wanted for planting in the spring. The seeds which are not thus placed in sand soon after they are gathered will not grow until the second, and if delayed very long, until the third year. In this case, however, their germination can be hastened by sowing them in earthen pans, which are placed upon a hot-bed or under a glass frame. The seeds being thus planted immediately after being gathered, the sand should be kept moistened through the winter, and the pots put out of the reach of frost. Mice are very fond of these seeds, and will destroy them unless they areprotected. The pots should be kept out of all heat, excepting what may be required to keep the frost from them, until the first of April, in this latitude, and at the South, earlier; this is requisite, in order to prevent their germinating before all danger of frost is past in the open air. At the time the pots or pans are brought from their sheltered place into a warm temperature, beds for the plants should be made in the open air, that they may be ready the moment they are required. For these an eastern aspect is the best, and in our hot climate, on the north side of a fence would answer very well; if they are in an open piece of ground, they should be sheltered by an awning from the hot sun. The soil should be a rich, light sandy mould, with a little peat, if convenient, and should be finely pulverized. The seeds should now be closely watched, and the moment they are seen pushing up the sand, in order to obtain light, they should be taken out singly with the point of a knife, taking a small portion of the sand with them. The bed having been previously watered, and raked fine, drills can be made, half an inch deep and about a foot apart, in which the germinating seeds can be placed, at a distance of six inches from each other, and then carefully covered with finely pulverized soil. Having commenced germinating in the pots, the seeds, now in the genial warmth of a spring sun, but protected from its fiercest rays, will soon show their heads above the ground, and striking deep root in the rich soil, grow rapidly. While the plants are small, care should be taken to keep the ground constantly moist.
We are aware that this process is somewhat new with rose seeds, although it has been long practiced with Rhododendrons and other plants, but we are convinced of its superiority to the old mode. The delicate roots of young plants are very susceptible of injury by change, and many are frequently lost by the first potting; this risk is avoided by transplanting the seed before the firstroot fibre is formed, and when, being in the act of germination, there can be no possible danger of its rotting, which is frequently a serious objection to sowing seeds at once in the open ground. The trouble and risk of loss occasioned by subsequent re-pottings are also avoided, and the plants have, by this mode, full liberty to grow as luxuriantly as they choose, with only the slight attention required by watering and shading. As the plan of Rivers is materially different, we will give his directions in detail, admitting, at the same time, that, under some circumstances, it may be preferable to that we have presented above.
“The hips of all the varieties of roses, will, in general, be fully ripe by the beginning of November; they should then be gathered and kept entire, in a flower pot filled with dry sand, carefully guarded from mice. In February, or by the first week in March, they must be broken to pieces with the fingers, and sown in flower pots, such as are generally used for sowing seeds in, called ‘seed pans’; but for rose seeds they should not be too shallow; nine inches in depth will be enough. These should be nearly, but not quite, filled with a rich compost of rotten manure and sandy loam, or peat; the seeds may be covered, to the depth of about half an inch, with the same compost; a piece of kiln wire must then be placed over the pot, fitting closely at the rim, so as to prevent the ingress of mice, which are passionately fond of rose seeds; there must be space enough between the wire and the mould for the young plants to come up—half an inch will probably be found enough; the pots of seed must never be placed under glass, but kept constantly in the open air, in a full sunny exposure, as the wire will shade the mould and prevent its drying. Water should be given occasionally, in dry weather. The young plants will perhaps make their appearance in April or May, but very often the seed does not vegetate until the second spring. Whenthey have made their ‘rough leaves,’ that is, when they have three or four leaves, they must be carefully raised with the point of a narrow pruning-knife, potted into small pots, and placed in the shade; if the weather is very hot and dry, they may be covered with a hand-glass for a few days. They may remain in those pots a month, and then be planted out into a rich border; by the end of August those that are robust growers will have made shoots long enough for budding.” Until the plants have become firmly rooted, and, in fact, through the most of the first summer, they should be protected from the heat of the sun; a cheap mode of doing this is to put up rough posts, connect them by pieces of wood, lay rough slats across these, and cover the whole with straw or cornstalks; but a much neater covering is a good canvas awning, supported by posts, which can be taken down when not needed, and will last many years. The Bourbons and Bengals, with the Teas and Noisettes, will sometimes bloom the first season; but as the plant will be weak, a correct opinion cannot be formed of its character until the second summer. The summer roses, or those which bloom only once in the season, never show bloom until their third, and sometimes not until their fourth and fifth year. It is well to let all the plants remain in the seed-bed until the fifth year, as some which prove unpromising at first may result in something really good. All that prove bad the fifth year can be marked for destruction, or cut down to receive the buds of the good varieties. In order to obtain a good bloom as soon as possible, it is well to have ready some strong stocks of the Greville, Mannetti, or any other free-growing rose, into which buds can be inserted of any of the seedlings whose habit and general appearance promise good flowers, and whose growth has been sufficient to furnish good buds. The next spring the stock should be cut down to the bud, which will then make luxuriant shoots, and produce flowers the same season, if an Everbloomingvariety; but if one of the Summer roses, not until the next season. The third spring let every branch be cut down to three or four eyes, when it will more fully develop its character, and will often continue improving until its fifth or sixth year.
The first winter, the young plants will require protection from the cold by some kind of litter, and the Bengal, Tea, and Noisette varieties will always need it during the winter. Where there are any plants of these latter, whose habit and appearance promise something excellent, they can be potted on the approach of winter, kept in a cool temperature, free from frost, and replanted in the spring.
When it is desired that the young plant should possess the properties of two well-known flowers, resort is had to artificial impregnation.
Although the existence of sexuality in plants appears to have been known to the ancients, and is mentioned not only by Pliny, Claudian, and Theophrastus, but also by Ebu-Alwan, in a work on agriculture written originally in Chaldaic; yet it does not seem to have been generally admitted by botanists, until announced by Linnæus in 1731. From this time the possibility of the existence of hybrid plants was admitted, and Linnæus, with many subsequent authors, published observations tending to show that, even in the natural state, new species were formed by two different plants, the pistil of one having been fecundated by the stamens of the other. This impregnation has been artificially applied, by modern cultivators, to the production of new varieties of fruits and flowers. With the Geranium, Fuchsia, Pæony, Pansy, and other flowers, it has produced remarkable results. The mode of impregnating the Rose artificially has been so little practiced with us, and has been so well described by Rivers, that we prefer detailing the process in his own words:
“When it is desirable the qualities of a favorite rose should preponderate, the petals of the flower to be fertilizedmust be opened gently with the fingers. A flower that will expand in the morning should be opened the afternoon or evening previous, and the anthers all removed with a pair of pointed scissors. The following morning, when this flower is fully expanded, it must be fertilized with a flower of some variety of whose qualities it is desired to have seedlings largely partake. It requires some watchfulness to open the petals at the proper time; if too soon, the petals will be injured in forcing them open, and in hot weather, in July, if delayed only an hour or two, the anthers will be found to have shed their pollen. To ascertain precisely when the pollen is in a fit state for transmission, a few of the anthers should be gently pressed with the finger and thumb; if the yellow dust adheres to them, the operation may be performed; it requires close examination and some practice to know when the flower to be operated upon is in a fit state to receive the pollen; as a general rule, the flowers ought to be in the same state of expansion, or, in other words, about the same age.
“To exemplify the process, we will suppose that a climbing Moss Rose, with red or crimson flowers, is wished for: the flowers of the Blush Ayrshire, which bear seed abundantly, may be selected, and before expansion, the anthers removed; the following morning, or as soon after the operation as these flowers open, they should be fertilized with those of the Luxembourg Moss; if the operation succeed, seed will be procured, from which, the probability is, that a climbing rose will be produced with the habit and flowers of the Moss Rose, or at least an approximation to them. I mention the union of the Moss and Ayrshire Roses by way of illustration, and merely to point out to the amateur how extensive and how interesting a field of operations is open in this way. I ought to give a fact that has occurred in my own experience, which will tell better with the sceptical than a thousand anticipations. About four years since, in a pan of seedlingMoss Roses, was one with a most peculiar habit, even when very young; this has since proved a hybrid rose, partaking much more of the Scotch Rose than of any other, and until the plant arrived at full growth, I thought it a Scotch Rose, the seed of which had by accident been mixed with that of the Moss Rose, although I had taken extreme care. To my surprise it has since proved a perfect hybrid, having the sepals and the fruit of the Provence Rose, with the spiny and dwarf habit of the Scotch Rose; it bears abundance of hips, which are all abortive. The difference in the fruit of the Moss and Provence Rose, and that of the Scotch, is very remarkable; and this it was which drew my particular attention to the plant in question. It was raised from the same seed, and in the same seed-pan, as the single crimson Moss Rose. As this strange hybrid came from a Moss Rose accidentally fertilized, we may expect that art will do much more for us.
“It is only in cases where it is wished for the qualities of a particular rose to predominate, that the removal of the anthers of the rose to be fertilized is necessary: thus, if a yellow climbing rose is desired by the union of the Yellow Brier with the Ayrshire, every anther should be removed from the latter, so that it is fertilized solely with the pollen of the former. In some cases, where it is desirable to have the qualities of both parents in an equal degree, the removal of the anthers must not take place: thus I have found, by removing them from the Luxembourg Moss, and fertilizing that rose with a dark variety ofRosa Gallica, that the features of the Moss Rose are totally lost in its offspring, and they become nearly pure varieties of the former; but if the anthers of the Moss Rose are left untouched, and it is fertilized withRosa Gallica, interesting hybrids are the result, more or less mossy.”
There is no branch of rose culture possessing more interest for the amateur, with whose leisure its prosecution iscompatible. The constant care and attention required, in order to ensure success, place it in a great measure beyond the limits of a large commercial establishment. The great desideratum at this time is a double, yellow, climbing rose. If the Harrison Rose were fertilized with the Queen of the Prairies, or the latter with the Solfaterre or Chromatella, a rose might possibly be obtained with the rich yellow of the Harrison Rose, and the robust habit and beautifully formed flower of the Queen of the Prairies. While, however, we recommend this mode of artificial impregnation, we would by no means discourage the sowing of seeds whose flowers have not thus been fecundated. The seed of the Harrison Rose, or of any of the yellow roses, may, if perseveringly saved from generation to generation, produce a yellow climbing rose. In fact, we are inclined to think that among all the reputed hybrids, a much less number than is supposed owe their origin to a crossed fecundation. It is a fact generally admitted by botanists, that all varieties of plants will generally produce from their seed plants very dissimilar, preserving, perhaps, some peculiarities of their parents, but differing in many essential particulars.
It will thus be perceived that, in the simple sowing of seeds, where there is a dislike to the trouble of artificial impregnation, there is a wide field for experiment and for successful result. But to those who have the leisure and the patience to transfer from one plant to another its fertilizing matter, it forms a pleasant amusement, with rather a greater probability of satisfactory results. In either case, every amateur of roses should have his seed-plat; and if, out of a thousand, or even five thousand roses, he should obtain one good variety, and differing from any other known, he will be conferring an important service upon rose-culture, and will encourage others to pursue the same course, until we shall be in no wise behind either France or England in this interesting branch of horticulture.
The diseases to which the Rose is liable are generally owing either to the presence of various Cryptogamic plants, or to the attacks of certain insects whose larvæ are supported at the expense of the plant. Among Cryptogamic parasites which have been observed upon rose-bushes, and which infest chiefly the Provence and other rough-leaved roses, the following are the most troublesome:
Rust.—The rust, when examined by a magnifier, is found to consist of minute yellow spots, each of which is a fungus,Lecythea Rosæ. It is common and injurious to roses, as it frequently covers all the leaves. The most effectual mode of preventing its spreading is to cut off with care and burn all the infected branches, which will sometimes render necessary the destruction of the whole plant.
Mildew.—The minute fungus which produces mildew is called by botanistsSphærotheca pannosa. It appears like a gray mould on the smaller stems and blistered leaves. It is a very troublesome enemy to the Rose, and will sometimes put at defiance every application for its destruction.The most effectual is smoking with sulphur, dusting with dry flowers of sulphur, or syringing with sulphur water. The former should only be practiced by a skillful hand, as too much sulphur-smoke will sometimes entirely kill the plant.
Mouldis due to a minute gray fungus,Peronospora sparsa, and manifests its presence by the appearance of irregular pale brownish spots upon the upper surface of the leaf. Upon the under surface of these spots the mould will be found.
Other species of fungi attack the Rose, but they are not sufficiently troublesome to the cultivator to need enumeration here.
Theinsectswhich infest the Rose are quite numerous, and their attacks are more or less injurious. The majority of those which are found on the plant in the state of perfect insects are comparatively harmless. The most injurious are those whose larvæ feed on the leaves and pith of the trunk and limbs, and thus destroy the plant; while the perfect insect, like the Green-fly, will simply stop the growth and impair the health of the tree, by fastening upon the green and tender bark of the young shoots, and devouring the sap. It is highly desirable that amateur cultivators should devote more time to the study of Entomology, for upon an intimate acquaintance with the habits of these minute depredators depends, in a greater degree than is generally supposed, the success of cultivation. Our own leisure is so limited, that we have been able to devote very little time to this subject; and we can find no work that treats in detail the insects that attack the Rose. We simply give some account of the most troublesome ones drawn mainly from Harris’ Insects Injurious to Vegetation.
Green-Fly, orPlant-Louse.—Aphis Rosæ.—This very common insect is a scourge to roses, from the facility of itsreproduction, and its numerous progeny sometimes entirely cover the leaves, the young sprouts, and the flower buds. Devouring the sap, they are very injurious, and, when numerous, sometimes destroy the plant, while they soil every part on which they collect. The most common species is of a pale green, but there is a variety of a dingy yellow. Many are destroyed by small birds, but they have other enemies, as the larvæ of theCoccinellas, or Lady-birds, and other insects destroy large numbers. The first eggs of the Green-fly are deposited in the autumn, at the base of the buds, and are hatched in the early part of the following spring. Generation after generation is then rapidly produced, numbering sometimes eight or ten before autumn. These are produced alive, and without the intervention of the male. Reaumur estimated that a single Aphis might produce six thousand millions in one summer. The first hatching can be prevented by washing the plant with soft soap and water, or with whale-oil soap, before the buds commence swelling. When the plant is infested with them, it can be washed with tobacco-water and then rinsed in clean water. If in a house, fumigation with tobacco is better. An English writer recommends washing in a decoction of an ounce of quassia to a quart of water, as a very effective and safe remedy. Fumigation is, however, the must thoroughly searching remedy, and can be easily applied to plants in the open air, by means of an empty barrel inverted over the plant, and a pan of burning tobacco.
Gall-Flies.—Several species ofCynips, or Gall-flies, attack the rose, their punctures, made for the purpose of depositing their eggs, being followed by variously formed excrescences containing the larvæ. The Bédéguars, formed by the puncture of theCynips Rosæ, were formerly employed in medicine as astringents. Harris enumerates the American species as follows:
Cynips bicolor.—“Round, prickly galls, of a reddishcolor, and rather larger than a pea, may often be seen on rose-bushes. Each of them contains a single grub, and this in due time turns to a gall-fly. Its head and thorax are black, and rough with numerous little pits; its hind-body is polished, and, with the legs, of a brownish-red color. It is a large insect compared with the size of its gall, measuring nearly one-fifth of an inch in length, while the diameter of its gall, not including the prickles, rarely exceeds three-tenths of an inch.”
Cynips dichlocerus, “or the gall-fly with two-colored antennæ, is of a brownish-red or cinnamon color, with four little longitudinal grooves on the top of the thorax, the lower part of the antennæ red, and the remainder black. It varies in being darker sometimes, and measures from one-eighth to three-sixteenths of an inch in length. Great numbers of these gall-flies are bred in the irregular woody galls, or long excrescences, of the stems of rose-bushes.”
Cynips semipiceus.—“The small roots of rose-bushes, and of other plants of the same family, sometimes produce rounded, warty, and woody knobs, inhabited by numerous gall-insects, which, in coming out, pierce them with small holes on all sides. The winged insects closely resemble the dark varieties of the preceding species in color, and in the little furrows on the thorax; but their legs are rather paler, and they do not measure more than one-tenth of an inch in length.”
Rose-Slug,Selandria Rosæ, of Harris, who gives the following account: “The saw-fly of the rose, which, as it does not seem to have been described before, may be calledSelandria Rosæ, from its favorite plant, so nearly resembles the slug-worm saw-fly as not to be distinguished therefrom except by a practiced observer. It is also very much likeSelandria barda,Vitis, andpygmæa, but has not the red thorax of these three closely allied species. It is of a deep and shining black color. The first twopairs of legs are brownish-gray or dirty white, except the thighs, which are almost entirely black. The hind legs are black, with whitish knees. The wings are smoky, and transparent, with dark brown veins, and a brown spot near the middle of the edge of the first pair. The body of the male is a little more than three-twentieths of an inch long, that of the female one-fifth of an inch or more, and the wings expand nearly or quite two-fifths of an inch. These saw-flies come out of the ground at various times between the twentieth of May and the middle of June, during which period they pair and lay their eggs. The females do not fly much, and may be seen, during most of the day, resting on the leaves; and, when touched, they draw up their legs, and fall to the ground. The males are more active, fly from one rose-bush to another, and hover around their sluggish partners. The latter, when about to lay their eggs, turn a little on one side, unsheathe their saws, and thrust them obliquely into the skin of the leaf, depositing in each incision thus made, a single egg. The young begin to hatch in ten days or a fortnight after the eggs are laid. They may sometimes be found on the leaves as early as the first of June, but do not usually appear in considerable numbers until the twentieth of the same month. How long they are in coming to maturity, I have not particularly observed; but the period of their existence in the caterpillar state probably does not exceed three weeks. They somewhat resemble the young of the saw-fly in form, but are not quite so convex. They have a small, round, yellowish head, with a black dot on each side of it, and are provided with twenty-two short legs. The body is green above, paler at the sides, and yellowish beneath; and it is soft, and almost transparent like jelly. The skin of the back is transversely wrinkled, and covered with minute elevated points; and there are two small, triple-pointed warts on the edge of the first ring, immediately behind the head. These gelatinous and sluggishcreatures eat the upper surface of the leaf in large irregular patches, leaving the veins and the skin beneath untouched; and they are sometimes so thick that not a leaf on the bushes is spared by them, and the whole foliage looks as if it had been scorched by fire, and drops off soon afterward. They cast their skins several times, leaving them extended and fastened on the leaves; after the last moulting they lose their semi-transparent and greenish color, and acquire an opaque yellowish hue. They then leave the rose-bushes, some of them slowly creeping down the stem, and others rolling up and dropping off, especially when the bushes are shaken by the wind. Having reached the ground, they burrow to the depth of an inch or more in the earth, where each one makes for itself a small oval cell, of grains of earth, cemented with a little gummy silk. Having finished their transformations, and turned to flies, within their cells, they come out of the ground early in August, and lay their eggs for a second brood of young. These, in turn, perform their appointed work of destruction in the autumn; they then go into the ground, make their earthy cells, remain therein throughout the winter, and appear in the winged form, in the following spring and summer.
“During several years past, these pernicious vermin have infested the rose-bushes in the vicinity of Boston, and have proved so injurious to them, as to have excited the attention of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, by whom a premium of one hundred dollars for the most successful mode of destroying these insects was offered in the summer of 1840. About ten years ago, I observed them in gardens in Cambridge, and then made myself acquainted with their transformations. At that time they had not reached Milton, my former place of residence, and have appeared in that place only within two or three years. They now seem to be gradually extending in all directions, and an effectual method for preserving ourroses from their attacks has become very desirable to all persons who set any value on this beautiful ornament of our gardens and shrubberies. Showering or syringing the bushes with a liquor, made by mixing with water the juice expressed from tobacco by tobacconists, has been recommended; but some caution is necessary in making this mixture of a proper strength, for if too strong, it is injurious to plants; and the experiment does not seem, as yet, to have been conducted with sufficient care to insure safety and success. Dusting lime over the plants when wet with dew has been tried, and found of some use; but this and all other remedies will probably yield in efficacy to Mr. Haggerston’s mixture of whale-oil soap and water, in the proportion of two pounds of the soap to fifteen gallons of water. Particular directions, drawn up by Mr. Haggerston himself, for the preparation and use of this simple and cheap application, may be found in the “Boston Courier” for the 25th of June, 1841, and also in most of our agricultural and horticultural journals of the same time. The utility of this mixture has already been repeatedly mentioned in this treatise, and it may be applied in other eases with advantage. Mr. Haggerston finds that it effectually destroys many kinds of insects; and he particularly mentions plant-lice of various kinds, red spiders, canker-worms, and a little jumping insect which has lately been found quite as hurtful to rose-bushes as the slugs or young of the saw-fly.”
Rose-Bug.—Macrodactylus subspinosa.—“Common as this insect is in the vicinity of Boston, it is, or was a few years ago, unknown in the northern and western parts of Massachusetts, in New Hampshire, and in Maine. It may, therefore, be well to give a brief description of it. This beetle measures seven-twentieths of an inch in length. Its body is slender, tapers before and behind, and is entirely covered with very short and close ashen-yellow down; the thorax is long and narrow, angularly widenedin the middle of each side, which suggested the namesubspinosa, or somewhat spined; the legs are slender, and of a pale red color; the joints of the feet are tipped with black, and are very long, which caused Latreille to call the genusMacrodactylus, that is, long toe, or long foot. The natural history of the rose-chafer, one of the greatest scourges with which our gardens and nurseries have been afflicted, was for a long time involved in mystery, but is at last fully cleared up. The prevalence of this insect on the rose, and its annual appearance, coinciding with the blossoming of that flower, have gained for it the popular name by which it is here known. For some time after they were first noticed, rose-bugs appeared to be confined to their favorite, the blossoms of the rose; but within thirty years, they have prodigiously increased in number, have attacked at random various kinds of plants in swarms, and have become notorious for their extensive and deplorable ravages. The grape-vine in particular, the cherry, plum, and apple-trees, have annually suffered by their depredations; many other fruit-trees and shrubs, garden vegetables and corn, and even the trees of the forest, and the grass of the fields, have been laid under contribution by these indiscriminate feeders, by whom leaves, flowers, and fruits are alike consumed. The unexpected arrival of these insects in swarms, at their first coming, and their sudden disappearance at the close of their career, are remarkable facts in their history. They come forth from the ground during the second week in June, or about the time of the blossoming of the Damask Rose, and remain from thirty to forty days. At the end of this period the males become exhausted, fall to the ground, and perish, while the females enter the earth, lay their eggs, return to the surface, and, after lingering a few days, die also. The eggs laid by each female are about thirty in number, and are deposited from one to four inches beneath the surface of the soil; they are nearlyglobular, whitish, and about one-thirtieth of an inch in diameter, and are hatched twenty days after they are laid. The young larvæ begin to feed on such tender roots as are within their reach. Like other grubs of the Scarabæus, when not eating, they lie upon the side, with the body curved, so that the head and tail are nearly in contact; they move with difficulty on a level surface, and are continually falling over on one side or the other.
“They attain their full size in autumn, being then nearly three-quarters of an inch long, and about an eighth of an inch in diameter. They are of a yellowish white color, with a tinge of blue towards the hinder extremity, which is thick and obtuse, or rounded; a few short hairs are scattered on the surface of the body; there are six short legs, namely, a pair to each of the first three rings behind the head, and the latter is covered with a horny shell of a pale rust color. In October they descend below the reach of frost, and pass the winter in a torpid state. In the spring they approach toward the surface, and each one forms for itself a little cell, of an oval shape, by turning round a great many times, so as to compress the earth, and render the inside of the cavity hard and smooth. Within this cell the grub is transformed to a pupa, during the month of May, by casting off its skin, which is pushed downward in folds from the head to the tail. The pupa has somewhat the form of the perfected beetle, but it is of a yellowish white color, and its short, stump-like wings, its antennæ, and its legs, are folded upon the breast, and its whole body is inclosed in a thin film that wraps each part separately. During the month of June this filmy skin is rent, the included beetle withdraws from its body and its limbs, bursts open its earthen cell, and digs its way to the surface of the ground. Thus the various changes from the egg to the full development of the perfected beetle are completed within the space of one year.
“Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these insects, it is evident that we cannot attack them in the egg, the grub, or the pupa state; the enemy, in these stages, is beyond our reach, and is subject to the control only of the natural but unknown means appointed by the Author of Nature to keep the insect tribes in check. When they have issued from their subterranean retreats, and have congregated upon our vines, trees, and other vegetable productions in the complete enjoyment of their propensities, we must unite our efforts to seize and crush the invaders. They must indeed be crushed, scalded, or burned, to deprive them of life, for they are not affected by any of the applications usually found destructive to other insects. Experience has proved the utility of gathering them by hand, or of shaking them, or brushing them from the plants into tin vessels containing a little water. They should be collected daily during the period of their visitation, and should be committed to the flames, or killed by scalding water. The late John Lowell, Esq., states, that in 1823, he discovered on a solitary apple-tree the rose-bugs ‘in vast numbers, such as could not be described, and would not be believed if they were described, or at least none but an ocular witness could conceive of their numbers. Destruction by hand was out of the question’ in this case. He put sheets under the tree, and shook them down and burned them. Dr. Green, of Mansfield, whose investigations have thrown much light on the history of this insect, proposes protecting plants with millinet, and says that in this way only did he succeed in securing his grape-vines from depredation. His remarks also show the utility of gathering them. ‘Eighty-six of these spoilers,’ says he, ‘were known to infest a single rose-bud, and were crushed with one grasp of the hand.’ Suppose, as was probably the case, that one-half of them were females; by this destruction, eight hundred eggs, at least, were prevented from becoming matured.During the time of their prevalence, rose-bugs are sometimes found in immense numbers on the flowers of the common white-weed, or ox-eye daisy, (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum,) a worthless plant, which has come to us from Europe, and has been suffered to overrun our pastures, and encroach on our mowing lands. In certain cases it may become expedient rapidly to mow down the infested white-weed in dry pastures, and consume it with the sluggish rose-bugs on the spot.
“Our insect-eating birds undoubtedly devour many of these insects, and deserve to be cherished and protected for their services. Rose-bugs are also eaten greedily by domesticated fowls; and when they become exhausted and fall to the ground, or when they are about to lay their eggs, they are destroyed by moles, insects, and other animals, which lie in wait to seize them. Dr. Green informs us that a species of dragon-fly, or devil’s needle, devours them. He also says that an insect, which he calls the enemy of the cut-worm, probably the larva of a Carabus, or predaceous ground-beetle, preys on the grubs of the common dor-bug. In France, the golden ground-beetle (Carabus auratus) devours the female dor or chafer at the moment when she is about to deposit her eggs. I have taken one specimen of this fine ground-beetle in Massachusetts, and we have several other kinds equally predaceous, which probably contribute to check the increase of our native Melolonthians.”—Harris.
A. J. Downing recommends the use of open-mouthed bottles, half filled (and occasionally renewed) with a mixture of sweetened water and vinegar, and placed about the plant. He also recommends pouring boiling water on the ground, under the bushes, at the first appearance of the insects, and before their wings are formed. They nearly all rise to the surface of the ground, and emerge about the same time that the Damask Rose first beginsto open. A little observation will enable the cultivator to seize the right time for the scalding operation.
Rose Leaf-Hopper.—Tettigonia Rosæof Harris, who states that it has been mistaken for the Vine-fretter, or Thrips. It is yellowish white, and about three-twentieths of an inch long; the male has two recurved appendages at the tip of its hind body. Dr. Harris says, “Swarms of these insects may be found in various stages of growth on the leaves of the rose-bush through the greater part of summer, and even in winter upon housed plants. Their numerous cast skins may be seen adhering to the lower side of the leaves. They pair and lay their eggs about the middle of June, and they probably live through the winter in the perfect state, concealed under fallen leaves and rubbish on the surface of the ground. Fumigation with tobacco, and the application of a solution of whale-oil soap in water with a syringe, is the best means for destroying these leaf-hoppers.”
We have enumerated but a very small part of the numerous insects which infest the rose, and in the absence of correct information on this important branch of floriculture, it is much to be hoped that farther investigations will be made by men of leisure. As an instance of the great variety of these insects, a French writer remarks that he “found in less than an hour, on the leaves of two species only of the Rose, six kinds of small caterpillars, all differing from each other in the number of their feet, the color of their head and body, and the lines and points with which they were marked. Their habits were all apparently the same. They lived between two or three folds which they had secured in shape by the films of their silk. Thus enveloped and protected, they eat the leaf until it is wholly or at least partly consumed. They then endeavor to establish themselves on another leaf, in which also they enwrap themselves, and consume it in the same manner. Theplants attacked by these caterpillars are known by their ruffled leaves, partly eaten, and more or less covered with silk.” The writer does not give their name, nor the result of any experiments for their destruction; he merely mentions it as an instance of the great abundance of insects on almost every plant. Such being the case, there is abundant room for farther observation and research.