A BOOK ABOUT ROSES 



acted as one of the judges/ a chief hero of former 

 days was a Northamptonshire butcher, Thorneycroft 

 of Floore. He told me that by rising early, some- 

 times at 3 A.M., and by working late, he not only 

 carried on an extensive trade, but found time to put 

 up three glass-houses of his own handiwork ; and 

 that, in addition to his plants, fruits, and vegetables, 

 he had in cultivation several thousand Rose-trees, 

 most of which he had budded, and all of which he had 

 pruned and cared for likewise with his own hands. 

 From his houses he showed beautiful seedling 

 Gloxinias, which won first prizes and special com- 

 mendations ; obtained prizes for specimen plants of 

 recent introduction, as well as for those of a more 

 ordinary kind ; while from his Rose-garden he 

 brought collections which often took first and 

 second honours, and were always meritorious. 



Ascending some rungs of the social scala^ passing 

 from the bluecoat school of Rosists to the black, 

 we floral ecclesiastics may congratulate ourselves, 

 thankfully and happily, upon our status in the world 

 of Roses. And here again, how often will the poor 

 curate, with something more than a good gardener s 



^ On one of these occasions some very pretty collections were shown, 

 not only of wild-flowers, but of wild ferns and grasses. In three of 

 the latter, exhibited by children of one family, I observed asparagus ; 

 and upon my saying to the exhibitors that this was not contemplated by 

 the schedule, my ignorance was at once enlightened, — 'Please, sir, it 

 says ferns and grasses, and this is sparrow grass.' 



