mmer to latest
autumn, or to deck the exhibition bench with largest and most lovely
blooms, the Hybrid Tea stands unrivalled. And yet in 1867 there was but
one solitary specimen of the race in existence, and that one was not
recognized as being the forerunner of a new family, or distinct in any
way, except in its beauty. For the noble rose _La France_, which M.
Guillot sent out in that year, was classed then, and for many years
after, as a Hybrid Perpetual.

It was not until 1873 that Messrs. Paul & Son, of Cheshunt, sent out the
first so-called Hybrid Tea, the _Cheshunt Hybrid_. Though in the same
year Lacharme introduced that priceless rose _Captain Christy_: but
this, like _La France_, was for many years classed with the Hybrid
Perpetuals.

[Illustration: HYBRID TEA.

BARDOU JOB.]

Other new roses of this new race followed slowly--very slowly--till
1890. I have just gone carefully through the catalogues of the chief
English and foreign rose-growers; and find that in 1889 only twenty-four
Hybrid Teas were known. There were some truly admirable roses among
them. _Camoens_ came in 1881. _Lady Mary Fitzwilliam_, one of the most
valuable, 1882. Delightful _Papa Gontier_, 1883. _Grace Darling_ and
_Gloire Lyonnaise_, 1884--the latter a rose which is not as generally
cultivated as it should be; for grown as a bush it is the perfection of
an autumn rose. _Viscountess Folkestone_, 1886. _Bardou Job_, 1887--a
slightly capricious rose in some places: but so beautiful with its great
semi-double flowers of scarlet-crimson flaked with velvety-black, that
one bears with its little ways patiently, rejoicing when it condescends
to respond to one's care. In 1888 came Bennett's _The Meteor_. In 1889
_Augustine Guinoisseau_, invaluable for massing. And either that year or
the next, the gorgeous and thorny _Marquise de Salisbury_.

But the real development of the race began in 1890. And since then each
year has seen one superb rose after another produced in such numbers,
that it is as difficult to keep count of them as to determine which of
the magnificent novelties should be picked out for special mention.

It must be noted that there has been rather too great a tendency to
raise enormous roses of slightly pale colouring, and among them many are
merely fit for exhibition and of little use to the amateur for garden
purposes. But of late these faint shades have been successfully fought
against; and while size has been preserved the