CHAP. XI 



EXHIBITING 183 



assertion loses weight, as his standard of excellence may 

 be a low one. 



It is odd to notice how generally those Rose lovers 

 who do not exhibit are set against Rose shows, and 

 have hardly a good word to say for them. According to 

 these critics, the least lovely of Roses are most shown 

 and encouraged, the manner of exhibition is fixulty, the 

 grace and beauty of the flowers are lost, and the public 

 taste is generally led astra}^. Even the accusation of 

 ignorance is sometimes laid at the doors of men who 

 have made the Rose the study of their lives, though such 

 a charge naturally defeats itself 



It is not unlikely that some good has been done to 

 the Rose and to Rose showing by such critics. Any cause 

 is purified and strengthened by a little healthy oppo- 

 sition : there may be a grain of truth here and there in 

 the sweeping charges made, and there is no doubt 

 that a mania for exhibition does sometimes tend to the 

 destruction of good useful types, and to the setting up 

 of unnatural and undesirable ideals. 



It is, perhaps, owing to a reaction against show Roses 

 of approved form that there has been- of late a good 

 deal of interest taken in what are called " garden " 

 Roses. Many of these varieties of " the common or 

 garden" Rose are merely old sorts which have been 

 superseded as florists' flowers, but are still cherished by 

 some from sentiment and love of the old-fashioned, or 

 memories of childhood. 



An immense number of new Roses are put forth 

 every year, and those few only survive which stand the 

 test and prove superior in comparison with existing 

 varieties. A very small proportion indeed of those thus 

 failing in the struggle for existence are retained as garden 

 Roses, only those which in colour, habit, growth, or 



