CHAPTER XX 



THE ENEMIES OF THE ROSE 



There is scarcely any other plant which is attacked 

 by so many or such persistent enemies as the Rose. 

 Strange to say, writers on Rose culture, in enumerating 

 these, invariably omit to mention the most potent 

 enemy of all, and that is, adverse weather. It is not 

 only that these adverse weather conditions often 

 inflict more serious and lasting injuries than all the 

 other enemies of the Rose put together, but they are 

 also indirectly responsible for the worst attacks from 

 insect and other pests. Taking all classes of Roses 

 together, there is perhaps no climate in the world so 

 favourable to their perfect development as that of the 

 British Isles, and, provided seasonable weather could 

 always be depended upon, these islands would be a 

 perfect paradise for the rosarian. Unfortunately this 

 is far from being the case, as more or less unseason- 

 able weather must be regarded in this country as the 

 rule rather than the exception, and consequently he 

 is kept in a continual state of anxiety as to what un- 

 favourable climatic changes his favourites may next 

 be called upon to encounter. No doubt one reason 

 for these anxieties is due to the fact that most of our 

 cultivated Roses are only half-hardy plants, and 



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