THE ROSE CONTROVERSY. 179 



The sentence " I also fail to see the justice of the 

 simile between a well- cultivated plant, with all its parts in 

 healthy fine condition, and a Dives removed from luxury 

 to penury," is open to question. No such simile exists. 

 A gorged plant in which the natural equilibrium of wood, 

 pith, sap, fibre, &c., is disturbed cannot be called "a well 

 cultivated plant, with all its parts in healthy fine condi- 

 tion," although it is a Dives removed (and too often 

 harshly removed) from luxury to comparative penury. I 

 do not contend for starvation or repletion; neither is, in my 

 judgment, good cultivation. The best cultivation in 

 relation to maiden plants of Roses (and it is mostly 

 maiden plants that are sold by the nurseryman, and it is 

 from them for the most part that the prize blooms are 

 derived) is that which ignores too much fat, and produces 

 moderate solid wood, no stronger than our climate will 

 thoroughly ripen, and roots no coarser than can be 

 withdrawn from the ground without doing violence to the 

 plants. 



STANDARD ROSES. 



[From the "Journal of Horticulture? August 24^, 1882,^. 170.] 



THERE is a cry recently raised against Standard 

 Roses which I venture to think has been taken 

 up and pushed beyond the bounds of reason and common 

 sense, as many a cry has been in times gone by. If I were 

 asked, "Whence this cry?" I should answer that it has 

 apparently been started by those who are innocent of this 

 particular form of the Rose while abounding in dwarfs. I 

 cannot understand why Standard Roses, which in the past 

 have been admitted on the highest authority indispensable 

 in the composition of garden scenery and otherwise 

 desirable in both large and small gardens, should be 



