i68 ROSES AT THE ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY. 



surely the exhibition of masses will equally serve the " high 

 educational purposes " of the landscape gardener. It is 

 amusing to find Mr George Paul claiming for himself and 

 colleagues the merit of teaching amateurs by exhibiting, 

 and pluming himself on the " proofs " (?) that they " have 

 not taught in vain." Where are the "proofs?" Is the 

 improvement in the amateurs' stands due solely or princi- 

 pally to the prize-showing nurserymen ? I think not ; the 

 amateurs' observation and experience in Rose growing, the 

 books he reads, the conversations he holds with his practi- 

 cal friends amateurs, nurserymen, and gardeners surely 

 count for something. By looking at a stand of Roses he 

 may learn how to show them, but cannot learn by that 

 means how to grow them. Paragraph 1 1 tells us that the 

 writer and others could produce double and treble the 

 quantity of flowers of which this garden was composed. 

 So could I. But they have not even produced a like 

 quantity. A hundred thousand blooms might be cut 

 almost any day in July from the acres of Roses growing in 

 my nurseries. Let me say in conclusion that I do not envy 

 exhibitors for prizes, or wish to depreciate their efforts. 

 Honour should be given where honour is due, but some of 

 these men want all the " cakes and ale," and in my opinion 

 Rose showing is not the be-all and end-all of Rose growing. 



P.S. I answer a postscript by a postscript. The idea 

 of holding a Rose show in York Minster is altogether 

 repugnant to my views of the fitness of things. The 

 Germans hold flower shows in their churches, Sunday 

 usually being the opening day, and money being taken at 

 the doors. I should be sorry to see our cathedrals or 

 churches turned into temples where even Roses were 

 bought and sold. W. P. 



