NEW ROSES. 



239 



and a white Mrs. John Laing. As to the Teas, why is it that Gloire 

 de Dijon, Caroline Kuster, and William Allen Kichardson are such 

 favourites over and above those varieties which produce magnifi- 

 cent blooms, such as Comtesse de Nadaillac, Cleopatra, Souvenir 

 d'Elise, &c. ? I venture to think it lies certainly not in form, 

 but in their free-flowering qualities. Therefore I would urge 

 upon rose-raisers not to concentrate all their energies upon pro- 

 ducing flowers as large as possible, but introduce anything that 

 will bloom freely and smell sweet, and if to these they can add 

 form they may be quite sure of the support of the general rose- 

 loving public. But one word of warning. Should the new rose, 

 although vigorous and free-flowering, be under the regulation 

 •exhibition size, be careful not to send it out as a Hybrid Per- 

 petual, for these of the garden section are prohibited from the 

 exhibition tables of the National Rose Society in the classes for 

 garden roses. If sent out as a China or Hybrid Tea it may be 

 shown ; but from the Garden Rose section, however suitable for 

 the garden the rose may be — like Boule de Neige, for instance — 

 " all Hybrid Perpetuals are entirely excluded." 



Now as to New Roses : Let us limit ourselves to those sent out 

 during the last seven years. But to give a complete list of all 

 the New Roses even in this period would, in the first place, be 

 of no practical use, and, in the second, I could not afford the 

 time to compile it. To give an idea of the enormous number 

 annually thrown upon the market, I may say in passing that 

 there are classes for new roses in the National Rose Society's 

 exhibition schedules, and these new roses are such as are offered 

 for the first time in the English nurserymen's lists for the 

 previous three years. The National Rose Society used to pre- 

 pare such a list annually, but have now wisely dropped it. The 

 last of the lists appeared in the report of 1894, and contained no 

 fewer than 344 " new roses," giving an average of over 100 

 new roses sent out annually. What becomes of these new 

 roses ? Each raiser doubtless sent his new roses out with a 

 great flourish of trumpets, and with a description rich in flatter- 

 ing adjectives ; but on looking down the list I find only forty that 

 I can remember ever seeing, and of these, speaking from a limited 

 experience, not more than fourteen are really worth growing either 

 for the garden or exhibition. May we not reasonably conclude 

 that the vast majority are worthless, and that those who sent 



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