1. The _Madras rose,_ or _Rose Edward_, a variety of R centifolia, _Gul
ssudburul_, is the most common, and has multiplied so fast within a few
years, that no garden is without it, it blossoms all the year round,
producing large bunches of buds at the extremities of its shoots of the
year, but, if handsome, well-shaped flowers are desired, these must be
thinned out on their first appearance, to one or two, or at the most
three on each stalk. It is a pretty flower, but has little fragrance.
This and the other double sorts require a rich loam rather inclining to
clay, and they must be kept moist.[138]
2. The _Bussorah Rose_, R gallica, _Gulsooree_, red, and white, the
latter seldom met with, is one of a species containing an immense number
of varieties. The fragrance of this rose is its greatest recommendation,
for if not kept down, and constantly looked to, it soon gets straggling,
and unsightly, like the preceding species too, the buds issue from the
ends of the branches in great clusters, which must be thinned, if well
formed fragrant blossoms are desired. The same soil is required as for
the preceding, with alternating periods of rest by opening the roots,
and of excitement by stimulating manure.
3. The _Persian rose_, apparently R collina, _Gul eeran_ bears a very
full-petaled blossom, assuming a darker shade as these approach nearer
to the centre, but, it is difficult to obtain a perfect flower, the
calyx being so apt to burst with excess of fulness, that if perfect
flowers are required a thread should be tied gently round the bud, it
has no fragrance. A more sandy soil will suit this kind, with less
moisture.
4. The _Sweet briar_ R rubiginosa, _Gul nusreen usturoon_, grows to a
large size, and blossoms freely in India, but is apt to become
straggling, although, if carefully clipped, it may be raised as a hedge
the same as in England, it is so universally a favorite as to need no
description.
5. The _China blush rose_, R Indica (R Chinensis of Roxburgh), _Kut'h
gulab_, forms a pretty hedge, if carefully clipped, but is chiefly
usefully as a stock for grafting on. It has no odour.
6 The _China ever-blowing rose_, R damascena of Roxburgh, _Adnee gula,
gulsurkh_, bearing handsome dark crimson blossoms during the whole of
the year, it is branching and bushy, but rather delicate, and wants
odour.
7 The _Moss Rose_, R muscosa, having no native name is found to exist,
but has only been known to have once blossomed in India; good plants may
be obtained from Hobart Town without much trouble.
8 The _Indian dog-rose_, R arvensis, R involucrata of Roxburgh, _Gul be
furman_, is found to glow wild in some parts of Nepal and Bengal, as
well as in the province of Buhar, flowering in February, the blossoms
large, white, and very fragrant, its cultivation extending is improving
the blossoms, particularly in causing the petals to be multiplied.
9. The _Bramble-flowered rose_ R multiflora, _Gul rana_, naturally a
trailer, may be trained to great advantage, when it will give beautiful
bunches of small many petaled flowers in February and March, of
delightful fragrance.
10. The _Due de Berri rose_, a variety of R damascena, but having the
petals more rounded and more regular, it is a low rather drooping shrub
with delicately small branches.
_Propagation_.--All the species may be multiplied by seed, by layers, by
cuttings, by suckers, or from grafts, almost indiscriminately. Layering
is the easiest, and most certain mode of propagating this most beautiful
shrub.
The roots that branch, out and throw up distinct shoots may be divided,
or cut off from the main root, and even an eye thus taken off may be
made to produce a good plant.
Suckers, when they have pushed through the soil, may be taken up by
digging down, and gently detaching them from the roots.
Grafting or budding is used for the more delicate kinds, especially the
sweet briar, and, by the curious, to produce two or more varieties on
one stem, the best stocks being obtained from the China, or the Dog
Rose.
_Soil &c._--Any good loamy garden soil without much sand, suits the
rose, but to produce it in perfection the ground can hardly be too rich.
_Culture_.--Immediately at the close of the rains, the branches of most
kinds of roses, especially the double ones, should be cut down to not
more than six inches in length, removing at the same time, all old and
decayed wood, as well as all stools that have branched out from the main
one, and which will form new plants; the knife being at the same time
freely exercised in the removal of sickly and crowded fibres from the
roots; these should likewise be laid open, cleaned and pinned, and
allowed to remain exposed until blossom buds begin to appear at the end
of the first shoots; the hole must then be filled with good strong
stable manure, and slightly earthed over. About a month after, a basket
of stable dung, with the litter, should be heaped up round the stems,
and broken brick or turf placed over it to relieve the unsightly
appearance.
While flowering, too, it will be well to water with liquid manure at
least once a week. If it be desired to continue the trees in blossom,
each shoot should be removed as soon as it has ceased flowering. To
secure full large blossoms, all the buds from a shoot should be cut off,
when quite young, except one.
The _Sweet briar rose_ strikes its root low, and prefers shade, the best
soil being a deep rich loam with very little sand, rather strong than
otherwise; it will be well to place a heap of manure round the stem,
above ground, covering over with turf, but it is not requisite to open
the roots, or give them so much manure as for other varieties. The sweet
briar must not be much pruned, overgrowth being checked rather by
pinching the young shoots, or it will not blossom, and it is rather
slower in throwing out shoots than other roses. In this country the best
mode of multiplying this shrub is by grafting on a China rose stock, as
layers do not strike freely, and cuttings cannot be made to root at all.
The _Bramble-flowered rose_ is a climber, and though not needing so
strong a soil as other kinds, requires it to be rich, and frequently
renewed, by taking away the soil from about the roots and supplying its
place with a good compost of loam, leaf mould, and well rotted dung,
pruning the root. The plants require shelter from the cold wind from the
North, or West, this, however, if carefully trained, they will form for
themselves, but until they do so, it is impossible to make them blossom
freely, the higher branches should be allowed to droop, and if growing
luxuriantly, with the shoots not shortened, they will the following
season, produce bunches of flowers at the end of every one, and have a
very beautiful effect, no pruning should be given, except what is just
enough to keep the plants within bounds, as they invariably suffer from
the use of the knife. This rose is easily propagated by cuttings or
layers, both of which root readily.
The _China rose_ thrives almost anywhere, but is best in a soil of loam
and peat, a moderate supply of water being given daily during the hot
weather. They will require frequent thinning out of the branches, and
are propagated by cuttings, which strike freely.[139]
As before mentioned, Rose trees look well in a parterre by themselves,
but a few may be dispersed along the borders of the garden.
_Insects, &c._ The green, and the black plant louse are great enemies to
the rose tree, and, whenever they appear, it is advisable to cut out at
once the shoot attacked, the green caterpillar too, often makes
skeletons of the leaves in a short time, the ladybird, as it is commonly
called, is an useful insect, and worthy of encouragement, as it is a
destroyer of the plant louse.
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