1 66 ROSES AT THE ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY. 



years' standing, and a raiser of some of our best English 

 Roses, I heartily endorse put the matter before the public 

 in such a way that it might be turned to practical and 

 profitable account. I know it to be true that that series of 

 Rose beds, and the combination of colours, was " the talk 

 of the town the next day." But to my task. I assume at 

 the outset that there are two classes of Rose growers (i) 

 those who grow for prizes, and (2) those who grow for 

 garden and house decoration. As the " blue riband " 

 has been introduced, I may say that in my opinion these 

 classes are as distinct as that which breeds and rears race- 

 horses is from that which breeds and trains horses for the 

 commoner and more useful purposes of life. 



In paragraph 2 of my nephew's letter he seems to 

 ignore the fact that for many years, so long as I exhibited 

 for prizes, I took more first prizes than any other 

 exhibitor, having not very long since won five silver cups 

 in one day, and on another and more recent occasion, I 

 took thirty-seven first prizes in one week. I ought here to 

 be permitted to say that I discontinued exhibiting for 

 prizes, because I judged it more to my interest and to the 

 interest of my clients to grow plants for sale rather than 

 plants and flowers for prizes. 



Paragraph 6 says the exhibitor "had no schedule to 

 hamper him, no policeman to turn him out at 10 o'clock, 

 and no need for any special selection of fine flowers." But 

 I had a rough and uneven surface to deal with ; I had to 

 be ready at 8 p.m., as exhibitors for prizes have to be 

 ready by 10 a.m., and as to the quality of the flowers, Mr 

 Wills testified (p. 146) that "the blooms were most 

 brilliant and beautiful." Their freshness, which was 

 remarked on over and over again, was due to the fact that 

 they were cut for the most part on the morning of the 

 show, whereas the prize Roses are usually cut the morning 

 before, and on show days often look fatigued and faded. 

 Paragraph 7 quotes Madame Plantier and Mrs Bosan- 

 quet as examples of the Roses of which my Rose garden 



