HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE 245 



my youth I heard a professor remark at Oxford (he 

 styled himself professor and teacher of the noble art 

 of self-defence, but the condition of his nose was more 

 suggestive to me of one who was taking lessons) that ^he 

 never could fight until he'd napped a clinker/ Then 



' His grief was but his grandeur in disguise, 

 And discontent his immortality.' 



So felt I, and so fought and conquered ; and I advise 

 the amateur with a good courage to plant those Tea 

 Roses which are mentioned on the list for exhibition. 

 Budded close to the ground on the Brier, and pro- 

 tected with a thick blanket of farmyard manure 

 through the winter, they are always safe. They 

 should not be pruned before April, and then sparingly. 



Set up your Roses boldly, with the tubes well 

 above the moss, and keep a uniform height. Most 

 of the show varieties will hold themselves erect and 

 upright, but some are of drooping habit, and their 

 spinal weakness requires the support of wire or of 

 wood, or of moss pressed firmly round them after 

 they have been placed in the tube. Turn your Rose 

 slowly round before you finally fix it, so that you 

 may present it in its most attractive phase to the 

 censor. I have seen Roses looking anywhere but at 

 the judge, as though they had no hopes of mercy. 



Do not be induced to admit a Rose only because 



