AMONGST THE ROSES 57 



large and leathery, whilst the flowers are of large 

 size. Many unquestionably possess tea blood, 

 naturally Victor Verdier, which I believe is as 

 much a hybrid tea as Captain Christy. Hybridisa- 

 tion of the rose through natural agencies has been 

 taking place ever since roses were known, and the 

 groups have become mixed to so great a degree 

 that to trace the precise origin of many of them 

 is an almost hopeless task. The hybrid tea in 

 most cases can be clearly recognised as inheriting 

 its nature from the two groups, the hybrid per- 

 petual and the tea-scented, but here again the 

 predominance at times is largely on one side. As 

 our knowledge of the Mendelian theory deepens 

 we may be enabled to explain more fully the 

 origin of some of the older groups which we must 

 now regard as mere conjecture. 



With the wealth of material at command, there 

 is no excuse for ugly rose gardens, and yet they 

 abound. As I have more than once pointed out, 

 lovely as roses are and have been hitherto in our 

 gardens, it is scarcely too much to say that the 

 beautiful rose garden has yet to be made. Their 

 culture has been irreproachable, reflecting the 

 utmost credit on gardeners and raisers, but, as far 

 as we are aware, they have not yet been so used as 



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