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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 



285 



and late, as the one under notice. Dean Hole says, 

 " Were I condemned to have but one Rose for the rest 

 of my life, I should ask, before leaving the dock, to be 

 presented with a strong plant of Gloire de Dijon." 

 Exhibitors are often blamed for neglecting Roses of 

 real sterling merit like this one for those of weaker 

 growth, but though it has indeed many merits it is not 

 a show flower. A plant of Gloire de Dijon may be a 

 hundred times the size of one of Comtesse de Nadaillac, 

 and may have more than a hundred times the number 

 of blooms ; but take the finest Gloire de Dijon that 

 ever was seen and set it in a stand by a fair representa- 

 tive bloom of the other, and the great inferiority in 

 every respect, even in size, would at once be manifest. 

 The foliage is very fine indeed but not so evergreen as 

 that of Marechal Niel and some other of the Noisettes, 

 nor does it clothe the bases of the branches so well as 

 Reve d'Or. It is not liable to mildew, cares little for 

 rain, and its bushels of blooms come very true to shape 

 which is weak to a florist's eye, and unusually uniform 

 in colour. Last, but by no means least, among its good 

 qualities, it will grow and flourish almost anywhere 

 and anyhow, tolerably well even on a north wall. A 

 Rose of such notoriety, which forms seed vessels freely, 

 has naturally been a prolific parent of varieties of similar 

 manners and customs, forming a race, almost a class, in 

 themselves. All of them are decidedly inferior to the 

 type in freedom of bloom, and many are not so 

 hardy. Otherwise they differ only in colour, in different 

 shades of yellow, salmon and white. Many have been 

 raised on the Continent of late years, but few are of real 

 value. Among the best are Belle Lyonnaise, Bouquet 

 d'Or, Duchesse d'Auerstadt, Emilie Dupuy, Henriette 

 de Beauveau, Kaiserin Friedrich, Madame Berard, 



