ON NEW ROSES. 



ON NEW EOSES. 



[From " The Gardeners' Chronicle? Nov. 29^, 1856,^. 788.] 



IT seems to have become a fashion to depreciate " New 

 Roses," for what reason it is difficult to divine. Per- 

 haps the fable of the " Fox and the Grapes " is not 

 altogether inapplicable in the case. But that it is a 

 fashion, and a mere fashion founded on a little truth and 

 much error is my conviction, and for that reason I am 

 induced to offer an investigation of the matter. Let me 

 admit at the outset that numbers of worthless New Roses 

 are annually palmed on the public at high prices, but this 

 does not establish the position of your correspondent 

 " A. R." that " the old Roses are the best yet." Surely he 

 has just awakened from a long long sleep to recommend 

 among 12 "not beaten yet" such second-rate kinds as La 

 Reine, Madame Laffay, General Jacqueminot (Hybrid 

 China), Louis Buonaparte, and William Jesse. The first 

 is sometimes fine but very uncertain ; the second small 

 and transitory ; the third loose, flimsy, and often washy in 

 colour ; the fourth of indifferent shape ; and the last little 

 more than semi-double. Where would " A. R." find him- 

 self if he relied on such kinds in competition ? Surely at 

 the bottom of his class ; and their position is about the 

 same viewed from the mere decorative point of view. No 

 one can regret more than I do the dishonest practice of 

 sending out with falsely flaming descriptions so-called New 

 Roses, which are neither novelties nor improvements. The 

 practice is too general with flowers and fruits too, and 

 deserves to be strongly reprobated. I have known a 

 raiser of seedlings to offer from 10 to 25 new kinds in one 

 year at from 10 to 25 francs each, and not one of them 

 prove worth as many sous. The remedy is, I apprehend, 

 to be found not in repudiating novelties in toto, but by 

 keeping a watchful eye on the sources whence real 



