Solfaterre had not depth of colour; Solfaterre was faulty in shape; Cloth of Gold was not meant to be worn out of doors, and was quickly tarnished by rough weather; and even the Marechal's own mother, Isabella Gray, had displayed such feeble charms that no one mourned her sterility. Suddenly, unexpectedly, she produced a paragon. I have not placed it at the head of the list, for the sole reason that I have not yet perfectly satisfied myself as to its capacities in this particular department - that is, as a Climbing Rose. I have not fully proved it, and I shall make no statement in these papers which my own experience has not taught me. Having grown the Rose, since its distribution, both in beds and on a wall - and this, I rejoice to say, in the fullest phase of its beauty - I believe it to be perfectly hardy, and likely to be the king of the climbers; but until it has passed unscathed one of our severest winters, and then covered a large space with its exquisite Roses, I will say no more. A climbing Rose-tree is the one which should be least accessible to destructive influence, seeing that the sad signs of decay and death are more painfully and prominently displayed upon it, and the harm done less quickly repaired.

The frost of Christmas Eve, 1860, killed Rose-trees to the ground which had covered my house for years. Would Marechal Niel abide such an ordeal as that? There is good reason for the anticipation in the following statement, which appeared in 'The Gardeners' Chronicle' of January 19, 1867. The writer, Mr Godwin of the Rosarium, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, reports: "The frost here, in the valley of the Dove, on the nights of the 2d and the 14th, equalled in intensity that of the memorable Christmas Eve of 1860, when the thermometer fell some 6° below zero; and at present it appears to have done its work nearly as effectively. The tender tribes of Noisette, Bourbon, and Tea Roses on the low grounds appear to be all killed. We are, however, delighted to see our old and valued friend, Gloire de Dijon, entirely unscathed; and, better still, Marechal Niel, the best of the Yellows, seems none the worse for the trying ordeal to which he has been subjected." And again, in the same publication, May 25, 1867, the editor, referring to a bloom of this Rose exhibited at Nottingham, remarks: "This flower was of the richest golden yellow, and measured 5 inches in diameter, the petals being beautifully cupped and symmetrically arranged.

It is most gratifying to hear that this magnificent Rose is perfectly hardy, is an excellent grower, and blooms, when well established, in all situations".

There seemed to be at first some hesitation among our Rose-merchants as to the propriety of a union between this delicate beauty and that rough, wild vagabond, the Jolly-Dog Rose; and it was "sent out" generally budded or grafted upon the Manetti, or recently struck on its own roots, about the size of a toothpick. We have since discovered that, as fair damsels love stalwart knights, this Rose grows and blooms most vigorously when budded upon the Briar. This is the best stock for it, so far as my experience goes; but there is another with which it mates most happily, and of this I had last season a somewhat curious proof. Be it known, then, and apropos of mates, that the lady whom, on an interesting occasion, I endowed with all my worldly goods, does not avail herself of my matrimonial munificence with regard to my Show-roses, but contents herself during the exhibition-season with the produce of certain trees exclusively appropriated to her. One morning, towards the end of May, I listened with amused incredulity to her announcement, that she "had just cut a beautiful bloom of the Marechal;" and being perfectly sure that there was no tree of that variety in her collection, and no expanded flower on my own, I ventured to ask, with affectionate sarcasm, which of her plants had distinguished itself for life by this grand supernatural victory? The prompt answer was - "Gloire de Dijon: go to my room and look!" I went, expecting to see some abnormal specimen of the flower, and I found in all its loveliness, Marechal Niel! Thence to the branch from which it came, and then the mystery was explained.

I had mentioned to my gardener, in the preceding summer, some remarks which I had read from Mr Rivers the younger, recommending the Gloire as a stock for the Marechal. He had tried the recipe, as I now advise my readers to try it, and had first perplexed and then pleased me with the prompt success of his enterprise.

Lamarque, the parent of Cloth of Gold, well deserves a place on some sunny wall, growing very rapidly, and being one of the earliest Roses to charm us with its refined and graceful flowers. These are large and full, the outer petals of a soft pure white, the inner of a pale-straw colour.

None of the Roses which I have just described are classified in the catalogues or by writers on the Rose among the Climbers; but I have ventured so to consider and to commend them, for the obvious reason that they are as capable of climbing as Jack's Bean-stalk, and that they produce more beautiful Roses than the other nomad or wandering tribes. These are the Ayrshire, the Evergreen, the Ranksian, the Boursault, the Multiflora, and the Hybrid Climbing.