THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
211 
Thus far we have considered how to obtain roses in 
quantity, and now quality must engage our attention. There 
are certain principles common to rose culture in all the phases 
and aspects of the art. Thus the rose loves a good, deep, 
rich loam, plenty of moisture all the summer long, and a sur¬ 
face-dressing of manure every winter. All these leading 
principles must be 
observed in rose¬ 
growing for quality; 
but at a certain point 
this branch of the 
subject separates 
from all the rest, and 
we come abruptly 
on certain excep¬ 
tional circumstances, 
as will be seen by 
the very next para¬ 
graph. 
Exhibition Roses. 
—The brier has been 
condemned by the 
writer of this again 
and again, as utterly 
unfit for common 
use in the produc¬ 
tion of garden roses. 
To speak of it truth¬ 
fully and collectively, 
it may be said to be 
the curse of the su¬ 
burban garden, for in 
all small gardens we 
see ghastly spectres 
called “ standard rosesthe best of them are mops, the 
worst are scarecrows. Row, good rosarians, bear in mind 
from the very first, that the brier is your best friend ; 
and if you go into rose-growing in earnest, you will not, 
make much progress until you master the brier root and 
branch, and know every pulse that throbs in the secret 
chambers of its blood.” Yes, the brier is a grand agent in 
the production of quality roses, and you must learn how to 
