232 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES. 



time to think seriously of discarding it." But then he adds, 

 and I pray you to mark the reservation, " Exhibitors will 

 not do so, I believe, for the maiden blooms from a Brier are 

 superior to those from the Maiietti!' But no earnest lover of 

 the Rose will be satisfied with inferior blooms, having the 

 hope of better ; and it should have been stated accordingly, 

 not that the Brier is doomed, nor to be discarded, but that 

 it is short-lived, specially illustrating the sorrowful fact, 



" Contra vim mortis, 

 Non est medicamen in hortis," 



that in some soils it grows feebly, and in some grows not 

 at all. 



If your lot is cast, my amateur, in these latter diggings — 

 but do not so decide without a patient trial — you may grow 

 Roses, beautiful Roses, on the Manetti, or their own roots, 

 and in pots, but I do not urge you to compete. If the 

 Brier flourishes in your district, order 500. 



Here, I know, the young aspirant will protest, because I 

 have often heard him, '' Does this fellow desire to ruin me, 

 or has he got an idea that I am Lord Overstone V And I 

 reply with dignity, " No, my friend ; I invite you, on the 

 contrary, to buy a glorious garden of Roses for the sum 

 which you would pay for five new Tricolor Pelargoniums 



