98 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chap. 



nioss, — and the whole made as tight as possible and 

 covered with clean paper. 



Roses often travel badly by post, the reason being 

 that, if packed as above in an oblong box, the parcel is 

 often carried perpendicularly in the postman's basket, 

 and the Roses standing on their heads will all work down 

 to one end and bruise the most tender and beautiful 

 parts, the tips of the petals. For choice specimens, or 

 at any time for small quantities, I would recommend 

 that each actual flower be carefully wrapped in soft 

 tissue paper, with a little cotton wool at the bloom end 

 of the package, and much greater security by post can 

 be attained by tying the stems in some simple manner 

 to the bottom of the box to prevent shifting. It is no 

 use sending away full-blown Roses : they should in all 

 cases be undeveloped and scarcely past the bud stage, 

 and another noteworthy and important preparation for 

 a successful journey consists in placing the flowers m 

 water for two or three hours before packing. 



Many of the H.P. Roses gro\vn out of doors will require 

 a considerable thinning of the flower buds, not only for 

 exhibition, but in order to get presentable blooms. 

 The majority of the crimson H.P.s, such as Madame 

 Victor Verdier, form great clusters of buds at the end 

 of the strong shoots, and the result will be most un- 

 satisfactory if they are all allowed to remain. The 

 centre bud will open first or try to do so, but it will be 

 so hampered by want of room and so robbed of its 

 nutriment by its many companions as to fall very far 

 short of what it might have been. It is generally 

 not cut, as its stem is too short unless the other 

 buds are cut imopened, so it withers and spoils 

 the appearance of the "truss" just when two or 

 three of the other poor things come out even 



