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THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 



disbud, they might get a bloom larger and forward enough for the show day, 

 which else will be left behind, and an inferior one will be taken in its place. 

 The difficulties of getting good blooms, and conveying them in condition long 

 distances, are sufficient already. None but those who exhibit know what a 

 toil it is. The best way is to have no rule at all. Those who have a good 

 Rose with clean buds will be sure to take it. A good Rose with bad buds is 

 spoiled. The best twenty-four Roses that I ever saw in my life, and by far 

 the finest, were exhibited by Mr. J. Keynes at the Floral Hall, Covent Garden, 

 some years back. Such of them as were not natively single had all been dis- 

 budded. I give him credit for his good sense : he won the first prize rightly. 

 Mr. Cranston's were second; they had their buds, and were, though not quite 

 the size, very fine Roses. They were the best twenty-four that I ever saw 

 with their buds on. "What we w r ant at exhibitions is good specimens. I can 

 assure your readers that, having acted twice as censor at the National Rose 

 Show with Mr. Wood, a fair and most painstaking censor, together with others 

 not less so, the proportion of bad, indifferent, and out-of- condition Roses, even 

 in winning-boxes, quite astonished me. In the year 1862 this was especially 

 the case. In that year the Roses from Reed Hall were as good as if they had 

 been turned in a lathe : moreover, their condition was good. Mr. Hedge 

 must be crowned king. 



As regards trebles, I agree with Mr. W. Paul, that they afford an opportu- 

 nity of seeing a Rose in different stages of development ; but if they are not all 

 three good and in good condition, the bad one and the indifferent one make my 

 eyes ache so, that I cannot enjoy the good one. I, for one, do not care for 

 effective boxes or effective bushes. I look for good specimens in both cases. 



I was in a neighbouring county at a Rose Show some years back, where 

 effectiveness was the order of the day. The boxes were with one exception , 

 besides my own, all more or less dressed with leaves. I observed to a gardener 

 whose box was a " wiggery of false hair," " I do not like your system of dress- 

 ing-up." He looked at me seriously and full in the face, and said, " Why, 

 Mr. Radclyffe, I am ' stonish'd' at you — a gentleman as knows a Rose so well 

 as you ! Why you would entirely ' disappint ' the public and ' spile ' the Show 

 outright ! " I laughed heartily, won during the year three second prizes and 

 an extra prize for collection of 106 Roses in September, paid my subscription 

 for another year like a man, and withdrew from further " effectiveness." 



Nothing should be added to the truss, but I would permit disbudding. 

 Some Roses, such as Duchesse d' Orleans and Soeur des Anges often cast five 

 buds of the same size and age, four of which should be removed, or they will 

 spoil each other. In some cases the buds are so close to the centre one that 

 it would not expand without the removal of the surrounding ones. 



4. Rose Judges. — It is not every judge of florists' flowers that is fit for a 

 Rose judge. None but extensive growers are really fit for it; and for this 

 reason — Roses alter so much on travel that three Roses, usually quite distinct, 

 may look like each other. I have seen Auguste Mie, Duchesse d'Orleans, and 

 the H.P. Queen of Denmark look so like each other that a non-rosarian would 

 have disqualified the box. On one occasion I saved a gentleman from this 

 disgrace, and he got a prize — I think a fourth prize. The Roses were rightly 

 tallied. 



5. Pot-plants — Novelties. — These generally arrive tied to a Currant twig, 

 which roots faster than the stock. The ties should be cut with a pair of 

 scissors, and the twig should be removed and replaced with dead wood. 

 Scissors are better than a knife to cut the ties, as you are less likely to bruise 

 the unhardened wood, which looks like a seedling Asparagus three weeks old. 

 If the novelty arrives in the autumn, take it out of the pot and plant it in the 



