230 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES 



exhibitors who cannot accompany their Roses — a 

 terrible separation to the true lover, and one which I 

 have never known — will do well to have painted in 

 white letters upon the dark-green lids of their boxes, 

 * Flowers in water — keep level/ 



The amateur must now have the cards in readiness, 

 on which he has written with his best pen (unless he 

 has purchased them prepared by the printer) the 

 names of his show-Roses. These are cut from ordinary 

 cardboard, and must be of the regulation size — 3 

 inches in length by i in width. They should be kept 

 in a box, divided into compartments and lettered, so 

 that they may be quickly found when wanted. They 

 are placed sometimes on the moss in front of the Rose, 

 but they have a more neat and uniform appearance if 

 inserted on sticks about 5 inches long, painted green, 

 and cleft at the top to receive them, and pointed at 

 the bottom to penetrate the moss more easily ; or still 

 better on brass wires, having two parallel rings 

 twisted at the upper end, so that the card may be 

 inserted between them. 



The young knight will not be armed cap-d-pie until 

 he has supplied himself with a couple of helmets. If 

 the weather is showery, or the sun scorches, just before 

 a show, many Roses may be advantageously shaded 

 by having a zinc cap placed over them 8 inches in 

 diameter, 5 inches in depth, ventilated, and having a 



