CH. XI EXHIBITING 205 



competent and impartial judge, or better still, 

 actually tested at a show, the assertion loses weight, 

 as his standard of excellence may be a low one. 



It is odd to notice how generally those Eose lovers 

 who do not exhibit are set against Eose shows, and 

 have hardly a good word to say for them. Accord- 

 ing to these critics the least lovely of Eoses are most 

 shown and encouraged, the manner of exhibition is 

 faulty, the grace and beauty of the flowers are lost 

 and the public taste is generally led astray. Even 

 the accusation of ignorance is sometimes laid at the 

 doors of men who have made the Eose the study of 

 their lives, though such a charge naturally defeats 

 itself. 



It is not unlikely that some good has been done 

 to the Eose and to Eose-showing by such critics. Any 

 cause is purified and strengthened by a little healthy 

 opposition : there may be a grain of truth here and 

 there in the sweeping charges made, and there is no 

 doubt that a mania for exhibition does sometimes 

 tend to the destruction of good useful types, and to 

 the setting up of unnatural and undesirable ideals. 



It is, perhaps, owing to a reaction against show 

 Eoses of approved form that there has been of late a 

 good deal of interest taken in what are called 

 " garden " Eoses. These were originally old varieties, 

 superseded as florist's flowers, but still cherished by 

 some from sentiment and love of the old-fashioned, 

 or memories of childhood. 



An immense number of new Eoses are put forth 

 every year, and those few only survive which stand 

 the test and prove superior in comparison with 

 existing varieties. A very small proportion indeed 

 of those thus failing in the struggle for existence are 



