2/8 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES. 



he dare. He, too, likes a few words with the 

 judges before they make their awards. He never 

 saw them in such wonderful health : in fact, their 

 youthful appearance is almost comic. They will 

 find the Roses rough and coarse (which means 

 that his own are too small) ; or there is a sad 

 want of size in the blooms this morning (which 

 means that his are overblown). 



In accordance with the old and true proverb, 

 his dishonesty does not thrive. He steals several 

 paces in front of his brother archers, but for one 

 arrow hitting the gold, he misses breaks, or loses 

 fifty. I remember some years ago, just as we had 

 commenced our survey as judges at one of the 

 provincial shows, an exhibitor reappeared, hot and 

 out of breath, and " begged pardon, but he had 

 left a knife among his Roses." He had a magnif- 

 icent Rose in his coat, and, ** from information 

 which I had received," I thought it my duty to 

 watch his movements without appearing to do so. 

 He left the tent with a much smaller flower in his 

 button-hole, and I went immediately to his box. 

 There was the illustrious stranger, resplendent, 

 but with a fatal beauty. The cunning one had 

 hoist himself with his own petard, for he had for- 

 gotten another bloom of the same Rose, already 

 in his 24, and I at once wrote " Disqualified for 



