BEST VARIETIES WITH CHARACTERISTICS 



"A"— very good, "B"— good, "C"— fair, "D"— 

 poor, "V" — varies, are used to describe each 

 variety. 



Under the heading "Form of Rose" the abbrevia- 

 tion "Si" indicates that the rose is single. 



Under the heading "Size of Bloom," "L"- large, 

 "M"— medium, "S"— small. 



It will readily be understood that under "Growth," 

 for example, all the roses marked "A" are not abso- 

 lutely the same in growth, but for all practical pur- 

 poses they form an approximate class under "A," 

 all of which come up to a certain standard. This 

 principle applies to all headings. Growth is marked, 

 not only for the height and strength, but also for the 

 number of canes and uniformity. 



Under "Hardiness" the system is changed to give 



the number of inches of good wood left in the spring. 



Where a rose kills down to the ground level the letter 



"G" is inserted in the column, and where a certain 



percentage winter kill, the letters "W K" have been 



added. Last year, with a new shipment of a thousand 



roses, chiefly new varieties, about twenty plants, or 



two per cent., have been lost, and some of the new 



plants were very small and weak. This immunity 



from deaths is due to the fact that the roses are 



"hilled up" every autumn, as described in the chapter 



on "Cultivation." 



73 



