CHAPTER XXI 



EXHIBITING ROSES 



It is often said by those who are beginning Rose 

 culture that they have no idea of ever exhibiting their 

 flowers, but that they simply intend to grow Roses for 

 their own pleasure and for the decoration of their 

 garden. However, after a few years, if their enthu- 

 siasm has not by that time altogether evaporated, 

 the care and attention they have given their plants 

 has led to such excellent results that they are often 

 tempted to enter the lists, in order to test their skill 

 against that of other competitors. The great charm 

 that the Rose possesses over most other flowers for 

 exhibition purposes is that it is a true amateur's flower 

 — a flower that any amateur with moderate leisure 

 can cultivate entirely with his own hands ; or if the 

 collection be too large to allow of this being done, he 

 can undertake the lighter and more important parts of 

 the work himself and leave the digging, manuring 

 and watering to be carried out by the gardener under 

 his own special supervision. 



The directions that have previously been given as to 

 planting, pruning, &c., apply, for the most part, to 

 exhibitors and non-exhibitors alike. The principal 

 difference consists in the more constant care and 

 attention that the exhibitor is obliged to give his 



