FOREWORD 



By P. Joseph Lynch. General Manager of The Dingee i^ Conard Co, 



]0 COVER the experience of sixty years spent among the Roses, and to give con- 

 cisely plain, practical and helpful information, such as will enable amateur Rose- 

 growers to achieve successful results, is the pleasant task assigned to the writer 

 and the purpose of these pages. It is not without serious misgivings of my ability 

 to do justice to the subject in this brief epitome that I undertake the task, 

 because the past is so fraught with crowding memories and the heart so full of 

 reminiscences, therefore, I crave your indulgence should I become garrubus. 

 There are many to whom Rose-growing is a deep, mysterious 



undertaking, only to be indulged in by the professional grower or 



skilled gardener. There are thousands, too, who, having failed in 



their gardening efforts, have reluctantly abandoned all hope of 



ever succeeding, and have thereby lost one of the most delightful 



and healthful recreations which bountiful Nature has given us. 



The beautifying of one's home surroundings is an elevating, 



refining task. In these pages, we shall endeavor to encourage the 



iminitiated to a beginning, and to instill new hope into those who 



have failed in the past, so they will make another trial. We will 



not forget the successful culturists, but shall hope to render them 



profitable assistance which will still further increase their success. 



If we shall succeed, then we will feel that indeed our efforts have 



been amply repaid. Before entering into the strictly practical field, 



we ask the indulgence of our friends whilst we take them on what 



we hope will prove a pleasant journey into the realms of the up- 

 building of this present great industry^ — the largest of its character 



in the United States — and give them a glimpse of "Sixty years 



among the Roses " in the form of a brief history of our establishment. p r^ :^ Lynch 



For twenty-three years it has been the writer's privilege to be associated with the founder of 

 our Company, Mr. Charles Dingee, and through this contact he has absorbed, in a large measure, 

 many of the traditions which have to do with the past history of our Company. At the age of 

 eighty-four. Mr. Dingee, while not actively engaged in the management of this business, yet is 

 vitally interested in its welfare and in the high moral business principles through which its success 

 has been achieved. Referring to the early life of the Dingee & Conard Company, we can do no 

 better than quote from an open letter written by Mr. Dingee some years ago, addressed to his ''Kind 

 Friends," who constituted at that time 300,000 Dingee patrons, as follows: 



''Nearly fifty years ago, three young men bought out a small nursery here and went to work, 

 determined, if possible, to succeed. I was then thirty-three. Our post-office was served only once a 

 week — Saturday. Our nearest railroad station was fifteen miles away. Now our post-office is served 

 four times daily and our railroad station is within a quarter of a mile of the office. The years gone 

 by have wrought some changes. We wanted Roses for our customers, but they were hard to get, 

 mostly English-grown and budded. No dream then of growing them on own roots by the present 

 methods and sending them safely in growing condition by mail from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 

 from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf! 



"Out of this want, and determined to supply it, The Dingee & Conard Co. was bom. My original 

 partners have been long years in their graves. The Dingee & Conard Co., now a corporation, is still 

 verv' much alive and still at the same old stand. The book in which this letter comes to you is sent 

 with the hope of cementing old friend.ships and making new ones. I think it the best book of its kind 

 the Company has ever issued. I hope you will like it. I do, but I must be honest, — I did not make it. 

 It is altogether the work of young men who have grown up with me and who, in common with myself, 

 will spare no effort to make the patrons of The Dingee & Conard Co., old and new, better satisfied 

 this year than ever before. 



"With very grateful remembrances for past favors, and wishing you one and all a prosperous 

 and happy New Year, I am, Respectfully your old friend, 'Tila.rles Dingee." 



During the years that have elapsed since this kindly letter was written, our Company has made 

 still greater strides, and if honest endeavor counts for anything, has kept all its old friends tind gained 

 many new ones. Today, Mr Dingee bids us renew his sentiments of esteem, anil re-convey the most 

 kindly personal regards to all the patrons of the business. 



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