44 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chap. 



no rival near her throne, and will not show her full 

 beauty if she has one. 



Beds must be made for the Rose and the Rose alone. 

 No ! no mignonette or other annuals to " hide the bare 

 ground," since standards need not be more than two 

 feet high in stem, and dwarfs should be close enough 

 together to do all the ground-hiding required. Let 

 there be Rose beds sacred to the Rose, and let them all 

 be grown together in the very best situation to be 

 found; for standards dotted about singly here and 

 there by the side of the drive or in holes on the lawn 

 are much more difficult to manage and care for properly 

 than if they were all together in prepared ground. It 

 is well known that you can feed 100 people much 

 better and cheaper in proportion than you can one 

 person by himself. And so, if the Rose is in a big bed 

 with many others, the food can be applied with greater 

 economy and effect, and the roots can find in any 

 direction the same congenial proper soil and nourish- 

 ment. 



Let " the small man," if he be a true Rose-lover and 

 has a mind to grow them really well, harden his heart 

 against all rival flowers, and go in, practically, for Roses 

 alone. In every department of life a man must be a 

 specialist now if he wants to succeed, and the Rose 

 will amply repay special devoted care. There are 

 several examples among amateur Rose-growers of single- 

 handed men who either unceasingly superintend or do 

 all the work with their own hands : and most of these 

 have not the smallest fear of meeting the best head 

 gardeners in England in any class at the largest 

 shows. This is by no means the fault of the great 

 gardeners, even of such as have fifty men under them, 

 but is simply because the Rose requires undivided care 



