I INTRODUCTION 3 
I write for enthusiasts, for those who make a 
regular hobby of their Roses, and think of them as 
fondly and almost as fully in January as in June. 
There are not a few such, even among amateurs, in 
all ranks, and some of them, much handicapped 
perhaps by soil, situation, or circumstances, still 
retain their ardour though not meeting with much 
success. 
The man of business, who rises at daybreak to 
attend to his Roses before his day’s work in the 
town ; who is quite prepared if necessary to go out 
with a good lantern on a November night to seize a 
favourable condition of soil for planting at once 
some newly-arrived standards or dwarfs; and who 
later in the winter will turn out in the snow after 
dark to give some little extra protection that may be 
required for his beds: this is the sort of man for 
me, and for the Rose as well. 
I remember a certain occasion when a small 
shooting party met for partridge-driving on a rather 
dismal bleak day in January. ‘Two of the ‘ guns,” 
who lived some distance apart and did not meet 
very often, were continually drawing together and 
chattering away with the greatest enthusiasm ; 
cutting little bits out of the hedge and comparing 
notes with so much interest that, though both very 
fond of the sport, on more than one occasion the 
partridges flew by unheeded whilst they had strayed 
from their places. Said the host later on to one of 
his friends, ‘‘ What on earth do you think A and B, 
who are generally so keen, had got of such im- 
portance to talk about together? It was all about 
Roses !” 
For some months, in the early part of 1894, I 
B 2 
