250 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES. 



The carelessness of porters reminds me to add, 

 that exhibitors who cannot accompany their Roses 

 — a terrible separation to the true lover, and one 

 which I have never known — will do well to have 

 painted in white letters upon the dark-green lids 

 of their boxes : '* Flowers in water — keep 

 level." 



The amateur must now have the cards in 

 readiness, on which he has written with his best 

 pen the names of his show-Roses. These are cut 

 from ordinary cardboard, and must be of the 

 regulation size — 3 inches in length by i in width. 

 They should be kept in a box, divided into com- 

 partments and lettered, so that they may be 

 quickly found when wanted. They are placed 

 sometimes on the moss in front of the Rose, but 

 they have a more neat and uniform appearance if 

 inserted on sticks about 5 inches long (I use osier- 

 twigs painted green), cleft at the top to receive 

 them, and pointed at the bottom to penetrate the 

 moss more easily. 



The young knight will not be armed cap-a-pie 

 until he has supplied himself with a couple of 

 helmets. If the weather is showery, or the sun 

 scorches, just before a show, many Roses may be 

 advantageously shaded by having a zinc cap 

 placed over them 8 inches in diameter, 5 inches 



