28 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES. 



difficulties are multiplied where men are thick 

 upon the ground, and where at present little in- 

 terest is taken in the matter, either by the clergy 

 or the rich. These difficulties come from the 

 temptations incidental to the annual show, and the 

 annual show is, according to my experience, a 

 necessity. Emulation is the stimulus, with which 

 we cannot dispense. My Lord won't ride his be^st 

 hunter over a nasty brook, when nobody is there 

 to see ; and Bill Smith won't dig and delve after 

 work-hours, if no one is to admire his big pota- 

 toes. Large and lovely is the rhubarb of Jones, 

 but never so large, never so lovely, as when it 

 rests beside the rhubarb of Robinson, having won 

 the premier prize. Alas ! to win premier prizes 

 men are tempted to be dishonest, and they fall. 

 ^' If you please, sir. Bob Filch went a-cadging 

 miles and miles for them cut flowers as w^on last 

 show." *' Lor' bless your reverence, I knows for 

 a fact that Jim A. gave Jack B. one and nine for 

 that Senateur Vaisse in his six." • And his rever- 

 ence, moreover, knows for fact, that Roses have 

 not only been begged and bought, but stolen, just 

 before a show. His reverence could name some 

 of his Nottingham friends who have slept in their 

 greenhouses, fearing a raid, for nights before the 

 contest came. This very Society of St. Ann has 



