50 MASSACHUSETTS HOKTICULTUltAL SOCIETY. 



borrowed (Avithout permission) three eyes of Souvenir de la 

 Malmaison, then a new rose. 1 am sorry to have to confess it at 

 tliis late day, but a clear confession, it is' said, is good for the 

 soul ; anyway, having watched an elder brother doing considerable 

 budding, and wishing to try my hand at it, I borrowed, as above 

 stated, three eyes from my father's garden and took them to a 

 neighboring hedge, where I found a Avild rose on which I budded 

 them. One of them grew and the next season produced three fine 

 flowers, and from that day on, the rose (and this variety in particu- 

 lar) has always held a charm for me. 



During all these years I have seen many, very many, changes in 

 them, though some of the varieties that were then in their glory 

 have not yet been eclipsed and still retain their places in the front 

 rank. Among these are General Jacqueminot, Geant des Bat- 

 ailles, and man}' others too numerous to mention here. Among 

 the Tea roses, Niphetos, Lamarque, Gloire de Dijon, and others 

 still rank as first favorites ; the same may be said of all the 

 other branches of this family. But no one can gainsay that many 

 great improvements in the family have been introduced within the 

 last ten or twenty years ; take, for instance, the maguificen't 

 Ulrich Briinner, INIrs. John Laing, p]arl of Dufferin, T. W. Girdle- 

 stone, and man}' others of the same family. Among the Teas, 

 the most graceful of all, com])ining, as this class does, elegance of 

 form, beautiful color, and fragrance, stand preeminently Catherine 

 Mermet and her offspring. The Bride, the latter today recognized 

 all over the civilized world as the finest white Tea rose in cultiva- 

 tion ; and of this year's introduction, the glorious Waban now 

 before you, and its mother and sister grown and produced at the 

 celebrated Waban Conservatories here in your own State. These 

 clearly demonstrate the fact that the cultivation of the rose has 

 wonderfully advanced within the last decade. 



It may not be out of place at this time to give a few remarks on 

 the cultivation of the rose here. Twenty years ago the principal 

 roses grown for our markets were Bon Sil^ne, Safrano, Lamarque, 

 and a few others of like character. The only roses of any size 

 then grown were Mar^chal Niel and Cornelia Cook; today they 

 are almost entirely supplanted by much superior varieties, such as 

 you now see before you, and many others of a like size and 

 beauty. To attain this end considerable skill has been brought to 

 bear on their cultivation. Twenty years ago possibly five thou- 



