24 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES 



which said, nevertheless, as plainly as though it 

 were shouted, ' We don't see any wit in lies/ I 

 collapsed at once into my corner, sulking behind 

 my big bouquet, and looking, I fear, very like the 

 Beast when he first showed himself among the 

 Roses to Beauty ; nor did I quite regain my 

 equanimity until, reaching home, I had written 

 and posted an order for an assortment of Roses 

 in pots. 



These Nottingham florists are equally successful 

 in the outdoor culture of the Rose. On several 

 occasions I have attended, as one of the judges, the 

 annual exhibition of ' The St. Ann's Amateur Floral 

 and Horticultural Society,' at Nottingham. The 

 Society consists of artisans, occupying garden allot- 

 ments in the suburbs of Nottingham, and justly 

 prides itself on having developed a taste for garden- 

 ing among the working-classes. Nearly eighty 

 prizes for Roses alone, varying in value from two 

 guineas to two shillings, are offered, and closely 

 fought for. The Roses are excellent, the interest 

 and excitement of the exhibitors intense. The 

 winners (so I was told by their president, Mr. 

 Knight, well chosen to preside over working-men, 

 for he is ever untiring and ubiquitous) are twist- 

 hands, shoemakers, tailors, mechanics, etc. He told 

 me, con arnore^ of their devotion to their gardens 



