2 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chap. 



writers on general horticulture are never weary of 

 recounting the errors and absurdities of Bose- 

 growers and, above all, Bose exhibitors. It is not 

 so that I know of with other flowers ; the foremost 

 prize-takers in chrysanthemums or auriculas, for 

 instance, are at least supposed to know as much 

 about the things necessary for the welfare of those 

 plants as other people ; and in common life we 

 do not find general physicians proclaiming the 

 ignorance and absurdity of oculists, aurists, and 

 dentists in their several departments ; yet the 

 specialists of the Bose are frequently told by 

 authorities in horticulture that their maxims and 

 modes are erroneous and faulty. 



I must confess, though the idea may appear 

 heretical to some, that I do not consider the Bose 

 pre-eminent as a decorative plant ; several simpler 

 flowers, much less beautiful in themselves, have, to 

 my mind, greater value for general effect in the 

 garden ; and even the cut blooms are, I imagine, 

 more difficult to arrange in water, for artistic 

 decoration, than lighter, simpler, and less noble 

 flowers. A good Bose should stand in a vase by 

 itself as a queen should ; then let any other flower 

 or combination of flowers rival her if they can. So, 

 with all the best Boses I should not wish for or expect 

 any general display at a distance, but come close and 

 be content if I can find but one perfect bloom. 



In my estimation, the value of the Bose is in the 

 glory of its individual flowers ; and, in these pages 

 at least, the idea is not the Bose for the garden, 

 but the garden for the Eose.^ 



' See Editors note at end of Chapter with reference to this and 

 the foregoing paragraph. 



