338 MY COUNTRY WANDERINGS 



the ground, and the Rose is most undecorative. 

 You must not, my dear sir, judge a Rose by a 

 specimen bloom. You must take into account 

 the habit of the tree, its stately character, its 

 decorative effect, its foliage." 



Then came Smith with his beautiful sweet- 

 scented silvery-pink blooms of La France, and 

 Brown followed with Mrs. Sharman Crawford, the 

 finest pink Rose — so Brown said — ever grown! 

 That Rose of pearly whiteness, Frau Karl Druschki,. 

 next came into blossom in Brown's rosary. This 

 maddened Smith to distraction almost, for he 

 hadn't Frau Karl in his collection. He possessed,, 

 however, the Hon. Edith Giiford, but the first 

 blooms came badly, and he had to admit defeat. 

 Excitedly and anxiously he watched the Duchess, 

 of Portland — the Rose tree, of course, not the 

 charming Duchess herself — Souvenir de Pierre 

 Notting, Anna Olivier, and The Bride. The 

 latter — as was fit — ^was the first to show herself,, 

 and the initial blossom was a beauty. This time 

 Smith scored, for Brown hadn't a Bride! 



And so the Wars of the Roses continued. Then 

 came the reds. First Liberty, glowing like a ball 

 of fire in the June sunlight, and especially towards 

 evening. Then Ulrich Brunner, with her rich 

 scarlet blossoms, followed by Gustave Piganeau,. 

 Gruss an Teplitz, and others. 



" Go where you will," said Brown one mornings 



