88 ON NEW ROSES. 



south and west of England receive annually thousands of 

 Roses which would not flourish in the north, and thousands 

 travel to the north which would not meet with general 

 approval if transmitted to the south or west. 



Again, the United States and some of our colonies 

 absorb a different stock, while the West Indies and similar 

 climates take varieties which would be rejected by all 

 others. Now, I apprehend it should be the object of a 

 large grower to meet the requirements of all ; if he culti- 

 vate only for one class of customers he must rest satisfied 

 with a very limited trade. But I will go back to the ques- 

 tion of taste, and seek an illustration from an analogous 

 point of view the article of dress. What is it that draws 

 the crowds from various parts of the country to the large 

 drapers' shops in London and elsewhere ? Evidently not 

 quality and cheapness alone or combined, though these 

 may have much weight in the matter ; the grand secret is 

 novelty and variety, the power of choice. Where, then, is 

 the advantage of the small list over the large one the 

 difference being only as 450 to 700. The large collection 

 includes the various items of the small, and many equally 

 select besides. Never was a greater fallacy promulgated 

 than to say the small list offers the purchaser advantages, 

 provided that, which is a fair assumption, nothing bad is 

 inserted in the other, and the descriptions are equally 

 accurate. Those who know Roses can easily pick out the 

 best for their individual purposes ; those who do not, will 

 not find perplexity in the smallness of the difference. The 

 question of a large or small collection of a flower seems to 

 me more a grower's than a buyer's question. If a grower 

 does not mind the trouble of cultivating a moderately 

 large collection of Roses of different degrees of merit, do 

 the interests of the buyer suffer ? Nay, rather the reverse. 

 Many buyers are not willing to pay first-class prices, and 

 there are many purposes for which first-class Roses are 

 not absolutely required. The grower of a moderately 

 large collection acts on the principle of the publisher who 



