CONCERNING ROSE-SHOWS 189 



Mr. Wood of Maresfield, who had learnt the art of 

 Rose-growing in sunny France, was the next valiant 

 knight who made his bow to the Queen of Beauty, 

 and won high honour in her lists. Then followed Mr. 

 Adam Paul of Cheshunt, and then Mr. Lane of Berk- 

 hampstead. These were the heroes of my youth ; 

 and when I joined the service, a raw recruit, in 1846, 

 the four last named — Rivers, Wood, Paul, Lane — 

 were its most distinguished chiefs. But our warfare 

 in those days was mere skirmishing. We were only 

 a contingent of Flora's army — the Rose was but an 

 item of the general flower-show. We were never 

 called to the front ; we were placed in no van, save 

 that which took us to the show. And yet, then as 

 now, whatever might be its position, the Rose was the 

 favourite flower ; then as now, the visitor, oppressed 

 by the size and by the splendour of gigantic specimen 

 plants, would turn to it and sigh, ^ There is nothing, 

 after all, like the Rose.' 



results of his skill in hybridizing, as Her Majesty, Mrs. John Laing, 

 Grace Darling, Lady Mary Fitzwilliam, and Viscountess Folkestone, 

 not to enumerate other raisers, that we are not dependent upon warmer 

 climates for our more perfect Roses. Why should not others follow his 

 example ? My friend Mr. Hill Gray of Beaulieu, near Bath, a devoted 

 and accomplished Rosarian, has given a great encouragement to such an 

 enterprise by offering a prize for the best essay on the Art of 

 Hybridizing, and such a fascinating pursuit would soon be its own 

 reward. 



