INTRODUCTION. 



Custom has made it the privilege of authors to set 

 forth the merit and purport of their productions in 

 some preliminary remarks. Of this privilege I gladly 

 avail myself, to disclaim at once all pretensions to 

 the art of composition. 



These pages owe their existence merely to the re- 

 peated demands of numerous friends and customers, 

 for a work on Roses, simple in its arrangement, and 

 clear in its directions. I have endeavoured to gratify 

 their wishes, and have now only to hope that their 

 satisfaction may bear some proportion to the pleasure 

 I have found in the task. 



This volume contains the result of twenty-eight 

 years' experience on the subject of which it treats, 

 twenty-three of which have been as a nurseryman 

 cultivating the largest collection in the countr3^ I 

 do not wish to be understood, however, as arrogating 

 to myself any greater share of knowledge in rose 

 culture than can be acquired by all practical men. 



