INTRODUCTION. 



So many rose amateurs have complained that it 

 is extremely difficult to select, from the multi- 

 plicity of roses now under cultivation, such va- 

 rieties as are distinct and adapted for particular 

 situations, though accurately enough described in 

 a catalogue, I have presumed some practical ob- 

 servations might be acceptable. I have also long 

 felt the conviction, that a mere enumeration of 

 the form and colour of the flower is not enough, 

 particularly for the amateur with a small garden ; 

 for he, of course, wishes to select a, few varieties, 

 and those well adapted to the situation they are 

 to occupy. As a guide, then, to the lovers of 

 roses, this little treatise has been written in the 

 few leisure moments allowed me by the unceasing 

 cares of a general nursery business. I give the 

 result of twenty years' experience, gained by the 

 culture of choice roses on a much larger scale 

 than any where in Europe. I say this advisedly, 

 as from ten to twelve acres are here devoted to the 

 cultivation of select named varieties. In noticing 

 and describing the different roses in the following 



