74 TUE FLORIST. 



disinterested advice how " Persons about to Marry " may best set forth 

 and furnish their respective domiciles, in like manner do I — the costs 

 and charges aforesaid always excepted — purpose to advise Persons about 

 to grow Hoses how they may best accomplish their laudable intentions. 

 My very good alumnus ! pray do not be alarmed. I have not the 

 most remote intention of inflicting upon you a learned dissertation on 

 the origin, history and progress of the Rose ; all that sort of thing is 

 quite beyond my mark ; — neither will I detain you with any directions 

 for the laying out of a Rosery, which must be dependent on a variety 

 of circumstances — such as locality, space, individual taste, &c. I will 

 not even go into the question of dwarfs or standards — plants " worked " 

 or on their own roots, &c., far less diverge into the debateable ground 

 of the best material for " stocks." What I have to say is of so general 

 a character that I believe it will apply to each and every mode of 

 culture, and may be summed up in very kw words. I have somewhere 

 read of a roving Englishman whose boast it was that he had travelled 

 in perfect comfort from one end of Europe to the other, notwithstanding 

 that his whole vocabulary, over and above his mother tongue, was 

 confined to two words — " Manger " and " Changer." Even so you, 

 young aspirant to the honours of Rose growing, by fixing indelibly upon 

 your mind the words Selection and Cultivation, and making their 

 import the basis of your operations, will experience no difficulty in 

 blooming Roses to perfection ; and — experto crede — much delight you 

 will find in the innocent and healthful occupation. 



With regard to cultiration proper, it is scarcely necessary for me to 

 dwell on that point at present. You will find ample directions in scores 

 of manuals, which you will do well to consult and follow. Respecting 

 choice of sorts, I hope to offer some hints, the result of many years' 

 experience, which may be useful to you, presuming always that a 

 selection is more your object than a collection. Notwithstanding the 

 liberal addition of novelties, I find my number of sorts decreasing year 

 by year, as I have found it more satisfactory to grow half a dozen plants 

 of really beautiful kinds than to occupy the space with a like number of 

 second-rate varieties. I now proceed to enumerate a few of the very 

 best Roses in each of the famihes into which — for reasons unfathom- 

 able by me — they have been divided ; and you may safely depend on 

 all or any of these as first-rate hardy sorts, prolific bloomers, and free 

 openers. I append the names only, the colour, form, habit, &c., of 

 each individual may be gathered from the very complete catalogues 

 which the magnates of the Rose trade now compile with the utmost care, 

 and disperse with boundless liberality. The present list has regard 

 more especially to perfection of form in the flower, irrespective of the 

 habit of the plant. If desirable, I will, on a future occasion, enumerate 

 a few sorts more peculiarly adapted to the purposes of general decora- 

 tion. These are as beautiful, in their way, as those exquisite specimens 

 which form so great an attraction at the great metropolitan exhibitions. 

 The bold dashes of a Grieve or a Beverley are works of art no less than 

 the more delicate touches of a Guido or a Raffaelle. 



One word more. Do not allow the prevailing rage for Autumnal 

 Roses to render you oblivious of the beauties of the good old summer 



