222 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE CHAP. 
The old idea was that the water in the tubes 
should be as cold as possible. This is now, I think, 
rightly held to be a mistake, and some hold that the 
mysterious collapse which sometimes takes place 
early in the exhibition tent, when a fresh young 
bloom, generally a dark H.P., suddenly begins “‘ to 
grow smaller,’ arises from this cause. I would 
advise that the water be taken from a clear pond 
on which the sun has been shining. 
Roses should always be cut with strong sharp 
scissors ; if at any time a stranger is allowed to cut 
blooms from your plants, forbid the use of a knife, 
or damage by the breaking of a shoot is sure to 
be done. 
Perhaps it is best to commence with the Teas, as 
these are most lasting, and require longer time for 
selection. A large number of them hang their heads 
down, and a great many must be lifted and examined, 
while among the H.P.s few are so pendulous as Marie 
Baumann and Karl of Dufferin. Be sure that the 
examination and selection are thorough : I have gone 
off once or twice at least without a good Tea Rose, 
overlooked because it was hidden under some pro- 
tection. 
Cut the stems long enough: they must be set up 
high when they are shown, and it is very annoying 
to find that a good bloom must be set lower than the 
others to keep it in the water. It is a shock for a 
precious little plant of Comtesse de Nadaillac to cut 
away so much wood, but this is the hour of the 
Rose’s trial and would-be triumph, and now if ever 
it must be prepared to make a sacrifice. 
Some expert exhibitors do little arranging, choos- 
ing or setting up at the time of cutting, but, putting 
