worth any amount of trouble to bloom them well; and so, if yellow roses are worth a chapter to themselves, these buffs, and fawns, and straw colours must share with the true yellows some part of our anxiety to see them increase and multiply. There is yet another general remark to be made, of much more general importance than the last. The majority of yellow roses belong to families which are, generally speaking, the least hardy among the groups of roses; they have mostly originated in warmer climates than Britain, and hence are not so thoroughly at home here as the Cabbage, Damask, and others of the truly hardy classes. Hence by their affinities they prove themselves delicate, and that some principle of their constitution which causes them to produce yellow flowers, the yellow principle, so to say, is one that unfits them for battling with adverse circumstances. As albinos among annuals are invariably debilitated, and etiolated plants have no vigour, so yellow roses, though their colours are natural to themselves, and have no affinity with etiolation, are more delicate than roses of other colours in the same classes to which they themselves belong.

This consideration affords the key to the first principle of their successful cultivation. They require a warm climate and a dry soil; if they are not favoured with these essentials they cannot ripen their wood perfectly, and then, par consequence, they

do not bloom. The yellow Teas and Noisettes are strikingly influenced by varying degrees of temperature and humidity; and, when they fail to bloom, the failure may usually be attributed to the nonripening of the wood through the influence of excessive moisture, and lack of necessary heat.

Lastly, as applicable to yellow roses of all kinds, a pure atmosphere is of the first necessity. They will all grow near towns, but it is rarely that any of them flower unless grown under glass, and happily the townsman can indulge in the luxury of yellow roses to any extent commensurate with his means to provide houses for them.

AUSTRIAN BRIERS.

In this section of roses, there are half a dozen good yellows. They are all adapted to grow either as dwarfs or standards, and do best when budded on briers. They require a moist loamy soil, they will grow freely in clay if the situation is not greatly exposed to cold winds, but on chalk and sand they usually make a very poor return. It is well not to manure the land very liberally, the tendency of manure being to cause too free and rank a growth, which is inimical to a free bloom. But above all things these roses need a pure air, they are literally useless near London unless grown under glass. The common Austrian Yellow is unfortunately quite a single flower, but it is marvellously pure and bright

in colour, and indispensable in any collection comprising representatives of interesting classes. This appears to be least susceptible to the effects of smoke of any of the race, and therefore may be tried in suburban gardens with a fair prospect of success. Persian Yellow is more particular. It must have a pure air and a rich soil, and the warmer the climate the greater the probability of success. Given these essentials the rest depends on the cultivator, who may unwittingly prune away all the bloom every year, and wonder how it is that he gets no flowers. The rule usually given is "do not prune at all," which is an absurd rule. The simplest method of

dealing with it is to cut out any ill-placed shoots, and thin the head where crowded, but to leave the remainder of the shoots their full length. This treatment will ensure bloom for one season, but if continued the trees become unsightly, and the shoots extravagantly long and weak. To render this system perfect it is necessary to have two sets of trees, one set to be pruned in hard, the other set left to bloom; and the next year leave untouched those that were previously pruned, and prune in those that bloomed. By this plan one half of the trees are flowerless every year, a state of things by no means creditable to the cultivator. The better way, and one that ensures an annual and abundant bloom, is to pinch in all the plump shoots the first week in June, leaving all wiry side shoots un

touched. These plump shoots being checked in their growth will presently put out wiry laterals, and by this practice the tree will be filled with blooming wood. As to the winter pruning, it will be necessary to regulate the head so as to prevent crowding; and at the same time all shoots that have pushed without forming laterals, must be cut back half their length.

Harrisoni is a beautiful yellow rose, very hardy, demanding no particular care beyond what has been described as necessary for all the members of this family. Harrisoni does not like a south exposure, so if grown on a wall, choose a west aspect if possible. The next best is east, if there is some shelter from cutting winds. Williams's Double Yellow produces pale yellow double blossoms. The blossoms are small and fade quickly, the growth of the tree less vigorous than other members of the family, and therefore it does not claim a premier place among yellow roses. Austrian Copper or Capucine is a single rose, the inside of the petals fulvous, the outside a dingy yellow, inclining to sulphur. This is the least valuable of the series, though worth growing in a very pure air. Persian Yellow and Harrisoni are the two best

hardy yellow roses

known; and every rosarian, even if compelled to reside near a town, should endeavour to grow them both in the open air and under glass.

YELLOW NOISETTES.

Among the yellow Noisettes there are a few which will thrive anywhere, and require very little care to ensure an abundant bloom, but these are not the kinds that the rosarian gets excited about. Anybody can grow Ophirie; if never pruned at all it will always grow neatly, and cover itself with flowers. So will Jaune Desprez; give it a warm position, either on a wall, as a standard on the brier, or as a pillar rose on Manetti, and it is sure to bloom abundantly, and charming things its flowers are, and with a delicious fragrance. I had a fine Jaune Desprez on a six feet brier trained on the south side of my house, and which covered a space of about 100 square feet, which was literally dense with roses for three or four months every year. The cruel winter of 1860 destroyed rose and stock together, its age being then about fifteen years. But these are not yellow roses, though sometimes so called in the catalogues.

We come nearer to the true yellow in Solfaterre, which was introduced by Mr. Rivers in 1842, and has always been a favourite. The colour is pale sulphur, the flowers are large and very double, and the tree grows with great vigour. Very like it is Lamarque, a most beautiful sulphur-yellow rose, and one of the finest wall roses known. Triomphe de Rennes, a true Noisette, with large canary co