THE HOME FLORIST. 



2 5 



Fig. 29. Climbing Rose Gem of the Prairie. 



THE ROSE FAMILY. 



As a rule I think experienced cultivators are all ready to admit that Roses are easier to rear, 

 in proportion to their value, than any other family of plants in cultivation ; and yet there is 

 scarcely a subject connected with floriculture, in which amateurs generally realize so great a 

 lack of knowledge, as on the subject of Roses and their management. This can be accounted 

 for by the fact that the family is extensive and greatly diversified, and consequently rather diffi- 

 cult to comprehend and become intimately acquainted with ; but by carefully discriminating 

 between the various classes into which the family is divided, bearing in mind the nature, adap- 

 tability and also treatment of each, there need be no more difficulty in becoming familiar with 

 their culture, than with the cultivation of Lilacs and other hardy shrubs, Geraniums, or the 

 tropical Coleus or Cannas, whose real, individual requirements, although simple and generally 

 understood, are together quite as varied, as are the different classes of Roses, but as they do not 

 belong to one natural family, and are known each by the distinct name it bears, their culture 

 collectively appears more simple. Being desirous of rendering all possible aid in making Rose 

 culture as popular as it deserves to be, I have treated the subject, with due regard to simplifying 



