Varieties for Decoration a^nd Exhibition. 65 



the tubes ; then let the lid down on the box, placing a 

 block of wood just to keep it a little open, sprinkle the 

 ground with water, shut the door, go to bed, and sleep if 

 you ran. You will, however, have to be up, not with the 

 lark, but before him, especially if you have any distance 

 to go, for there is one very important matter to attend to. 

 You must get all the spares you can : that is, you must cut all 

 the buds that have advanced at all during the night buds 

 that you thought were not forward enough. You must have 

 another box with tubes, but not so carefully arranged, and 

 in it you must put all your spares (perhaps two or three) in 

 a tube, and prepare them also for their journey. You need 

 not wire them, unless you have time to do the most promising. 

 On arriving at the show-ground, you will be wise to secure a 

 shady spot at the back of the tent, or any place where you 

 are out of the sun's rays. In considerable trepidation you 

 now proceed to open your show-box. " Ah, woe is me! '" 

 you exclaim, " for see how my lovely blossom of Duke of 

 Edinburgh has blown and lost all its colour; my chaste 

 blossom of Merveille de Lyon has shown its eye. A good 

 thing I brought my spares." On looking at these you find, 

 to your surprise, that many blossoms which you put in only 

 as buds have developed into fine blossoms; and you joyfully 

 take out those deceivers on which you relied, and replace 

 them by " spares." We have, indeed, known cases where 

 every blossom that had been placed in the exhibition-box had 

 failed, and had to be replaced. And now, if you have a few 

 minutes to spare, stand by your box, and watch the other 

 exhibitors opening theirs, and patiently await the judges. 



Varieties for Decoration and Exhibition. 



Cross-Fertilisation and Pedigree Roses. 



In former days new varieties of Roses raised were mostly 

 what may be called haphazard Roses; there was no attempt 



F 



