DESCRIPTION OP THE ROSE. 97 



with traces of its parentage. These are the patriciaps of 

 the floral commonwealth, gifted at once with fame, beau- 

 ty, and rank. 



>. 

 The various wild roses differ greatly in their capacity 



of improvement and development. In some cases, the off- 

 spring grow rapidly, in color, fulness, and size, with every 

 successive generation. In other cases, they will not im- 

 prove at all ; and the rose remains a wild rose still, good 

 only for the roadside. With others yet, there seems to be 

 a fixed limit, which is soon reached, and where improve- 

 ment stops. It requires, even with the best, good culture 

 and selection through several generations before the high- 

 est result appears. In horticulture, an element of stability 

 is essential to progress. When the florist sees in any rose 

 a quality which he wishes to develop and perfect, he does 

 not look for success to the plant before him, but to the 

 offspring which he produces from this plant. But this 

 production and culture must be conducted wisely and 

 skilfully, or the offspring will degenerate instead of im- 

 proving. 



There are different kinds of culture, with different 

 effects. That which is founded in the laws of Nature, and 

 aims at a universal development, produces for its result 



not only increased beauty, but increased symmetry, 



7 



