INTRODUCTION 



"Take thou this rose." 



— J. A. Symoxds 





TO MAKE rose-growing easy for everyone has been the 

 intent and purpose of this book from its very beginning 

 many years ago. Almost with each successive edition its 

 size and scope have been enlarged. Every succeeding year 

 brings new roses, although not all of them are improvements 

 over existing sorts. New methods also come into use. Both 

 new roses and new methods must first be tested to find the best. 

 With a country so large, with a chmate and other condi- 

 tions so varied, no narrow or single point of view avails. 

 Satisfactory conclusions can be drawn only after a broad 

 survey. This work has been built by the author upon an 

 experience that has had various points of contact: (i) By 

 personal visits to the rose-gardens and rose-growers in most 

 of the important rose centers of two continents; (2) by 

 correspondence extending over a quarter century WTth rose 

 patrons in every state of the Union and also abroad; (3) with 

 audiences from the lecture platform in many states; and (4) 

 1; for the past ten years as an executive officer of the American 

 c^'- Rose Society, working shoulder to shoulder with those devoted 

 "~"- to making the rose in America universally loved. 



So many have helped to make this book possible that any 



- attempt formally to name them would result in a catalogue 



^ of loyal helpers, in office and home, in the well-equipped Mount 



rPIeasant Press, and in the five Hbraries in Boston, New York, 



and Washington. To all these I am grateful, also to Stanley K. 



r Wilson, who assisted in many ways, and especially with Chapters 



~ - I and VII, which, except for his happy literary development 



S and interpretation of my message, would not so surely 



CO breathe the atmosphere or reflect the dehghts which I know 



cr> you will find among roses. To Prof. Charles S. Sargent, 



Mrs. Harriet R. Foote, Mrs. Aaron Ward, Rev. Edmund M. 



^ Mills, D.D., Dr. Robert Huey, J. H. Nicolas, Theodore 



j_Wirth, Wm. C Egan, C. E. F. Gersdorff, F. L. Mulford, 



Q. Director Charles E. Moore, Paul A. Kohl, Jesse A. Currev, and 



'^ (9) 



