i88 



A BOOK ABOUT ROSES 



surface of japanned tin cases, in which bottles filled 

 with water were inserted, the dimensions of the case 

 being 30 inches by 18. In 1834, Mr. Rivers won the 

 two gold medals for Roses shown at Chiswick, in- 

 troducing a new and a more effective arrangement, by 

 placing the flowers in fresh green moss — a simple, 

 graceful, natural combination, unanimously accepted 

 by the exhibitors of Roses from that day to this. 

 These prize blooms from Sawbridgeworth, the 

 advance-guard of a victorious army, were shown in 

 clusters or bouquets of five, six, and seven Roses, and 

 were the best specimens which skill and care could 

 grow of the varieties which then reigned supreme — 

 Brennus, George IV., Triomphe d' Angers, Triomphe 

 de Guerin, etc. What a royal progress, what a revela- 

 tion of beauty, has Queen Rosa made since then ! In 

 that same year Mr. Rivers published his first, and 

 the first. Descriptive Catalogue of Roses. It enumerates 

 by name 478 varieties. How many of them, think 

 you, are to be found in our recent lists ? Eleven ! — 

 eight of them Climbing Roses, two Moss, one China 

 — but none of them available for exhibition. Will it 

 be so with our Roses, when fifty more years have 

 passed ? I believe, I hope so.^ 



^ We ought to have every year a large accession to our list of beautiful 

 Roses. Mr. Bennett has proved by bestowing upon us such admirable 



