66 Roses for Amateurs. 



at cross-fertilisation, the seed-vessels were gathered promis- 

 cuously, and bees and moths and the gentle summer breezes 

 were the principal agents in fertilising. But a better state of 

 things now exists, and what are called pedigree Roses are 

 much in evidence. The late Mr. Henry Bennett, of Shepper- 

 ton, near Salisbury, first began this good work, and although 

 his earliest productions were not all that he thought them to 

 be, he was evidently on the right track, and he produced some 

 of the most valuable Roses that we have. One has only to 

 mention Her Majesty, Heinrich Schultheis, Viscountess Folke- 

 stone, and Mrs. John Laing, to show how successful he v:as. 

 Of these, Her Majesty and Mrs. John Laing have been 

 awarded a gold medal by the National Rose Society. 

 Taking it all in all, the latter Rose is probably the most 

 useful exhibition flower we have; it is good both early and 

 late, while its blossoms are always well formed and have 

 a very sweet perfume. Mr. Bennett at his death left behind 

 many seedling plants ; these were purchased by various 

 growers, and one or other of them now and then puts forward 

 a claim to distinction. The same line of raising pedigree 

 Roses was taken up by an Irish firm, Messrs. Alexander 

 Dickson and Sons, of Newtownards, and their success has 

 been of a very marked character, they having obtained many 

 gold medals for new seedling Roses. Many of their 'Roses 

 are exceptionally fine. Mrs. W. J. Grant was purchased by 

 an American firm, which gave it another name, Belle Sie- 

 brecht, but the English Rose-growers have adhered to the 

 name for which it received the gold medal. As the firm is 

 still flourishing there is no doubt that we shall obtain many 

 more good Roses from it. 



Enumeration, 



In presenting the following list we have been guided to 

 a great extent by the work of the Committee of the National 

 Rose Society. We have given the names of the raisers and 



