THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



239 



Floeal Woeld itself, but in nume- 

 rous other places ; nor was it surely 

 necessary to inform the readers of 

 that miscellany how to grow roses in 

 a " delightful situation, five miles 

 from the Bank," with all the other 

 accessories described as pertaining 

 to " S. G.'s" garden ! The mystery 

 would have been " how not" to grow 

 them under such circumstances ? It 

 is reasonable to suppose, too, that they 

 were not ignorant of the colour and 

 character of SenateurVaisse and other 

 varieties enumerated by the writer, 

 considering they have been fully de- 

 scribed several times during the past 

 two years, nor of the value oicleanliness 

 and attention as important elements 

 of cultural success. Had " G. S." 

 been able to enlighten them a little 

 from his own practice, on the methods 

 of overcoming difficulties such as in- 

 ferior soil, polluted atmosphere, and 

 want of space, it would have been a 

 difi'erent matter. However, as the 

 writer of the article upon " Protec- 

 tion, etc.," audi believe of most others 

 upon suburban roses, except those 

 by Mr. Hibberd himself, I must 

 beg to inform the would-be facetious 

 "Gr. S." that he is not imbued with 

 the true spirit of a rose lover (and I 

 think other rosarians will agree with 

 me in this), or he would not attempt 

 heavy jocularity at protecting by any 

 means a tender variety, raised per- 

 haps with patient solicitude and skill, 

 from a puny cutting to a noble bush. 

 It would appear, however, it is to 

 the shape of the protecting medium 

 *' G. S." demurs. I can well believe 

 that the sight of " an inverted grocer's 

 sugar bag" in any material would be 

 disagreeably suggestive of times when 

 lie was evidently more familiar with 

 Guy Fawkeses than grammar. But 

 as I do not wish to turn the pages of 

 the Floeal Woeld into a controver- 

 sial arena I will refrain from further 

 comment on " G. S.'s" lucubration, 

 recommending that the next time he 

 is smitten with the cacoethes scrihendi 

 he should be more liberal of original 

 ideas, and less so of adjectives, and 

 return to the subject of this paper. 



Now that rose shows for the sea- 

 son have gone by, it may not be amiss 

 to examine whether such exhibitions 



exercise all the influence they ought 

 upon the progress of the flower, or 

 realize the good eflects they might 

 for the benefit of cultivators, profes- 

 sional or amateur. It cannot be 

 denied that a rose show is one of the 

 most fascinating spectacles a lover of 

 flowers can enjoy ; nevertheless it is 

 by no means (as it is too often made), 

 the best place for amateurs to form 

 opinions, or decide upon selections. 

 Being surrounded by many adventi- 

 tious circumstances, the appearance 

 of a rose in the stand is no criterion 

 as to its value in the rosery. As a 

 test it is far inferior to the actual 

 grounds of a first-rate nursery, where 

 the plants are seen in their na- 

 tural characteristics, with their defi- 

 ciencies or excellencies alike patent 

 to observation. 



One of the most prominent fail- 

 ings in the present method of showing 

 is that it affords no means of ascer- 

 taining the habit of growth, or the 

 real character of the flower. A few 

 leaves are dexterously plugged out 

 into a graceful form, the blooms are 

 drawn together if more than one, so 

 as to conceal defective centres, the 

 whole resting upon a groundwork of 

 fresh moss, which shows ofi" colour 

 and size to the best advantage, en- 

 abling also the trickily disposed to 

 interpolate foliage without detection. 

 Indeed, colour and size are the only 

 features really displayed by this 

 system of preparing the stands, and 

 to them other points of a higher order 

 have of late been unhesitatingly sa- 

 crificed. To judge the character of 

 varieties accurately they should be 

 exhibited in phials of water, or some 

 other transparent vessels. In this 

 age of decorative ingenuity, there 

 could be little difficulty in inventing 

 some artistic and appropriate design. 

 They should be only single stems, 

 with foliage, buda, and blossoms 

 exactly as cut from the tree. Con- 

 noisseurs and cultivators would then 

 see what they were about, for the 

 habit of growth, and style of wood 

 and foliage, would inform the expe- 

 rienced of the probable qualities of 

 varieties from their affinity to kinds 

 already known. Such a plan would 

 be especially valuable with respect to 



