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of them die, or, if they survive the operation of 
planting, fail to produce a bloom, and are quite gone 
before the next season comes round. The amateur, 
of course, is much disappointed, and wants to know 
“the reason why” his Roses do not grow; and not 
unfrequently the nurseryman is blamed for having 
supplied poor plants, and has to take the whole 
brunt of the burden upon his own shoulders. Now 
if due precaution had been exercised in selecting 
varieties of good constitution, suited to the situation 
where they were to be grown, the result would have 
been totally different. There are hundreds of fine 
Roses which will grow in almost any soil with an 
ordinary amount of attention. It may be said that 
it is impossible to gain this information and to make 
a suitable selection from a printed catalogue with a 
voluminous list of names, a part only of which are 
fully described, or sufficiently so to enable the 
amateur to make a satisfactory selection, which 
would in every instance suit his purpose. Being 
quite prepared to admit that there is some truth in 
this objection, it will be my object to remove, as far 
as possible, the difficulty by which the amateur is 
beset ; this, in fact, is the chief object in the publica- 
tion of the present edition. To accomplish this, I 
shall not only give a select list of sorts, adapted to 
certain soils and climates, but selections for every 
purpose to which the Rose may be appropriated, 
either in the flower garden, conservatory, or forcing 
house, likewise a descriptive list of such Roses 
only as I consider are worthy of being placed in a 
collection. 
