206 
THE FLORIST. 
the agricultural labourers in November and December, when work is 
scarce: many of them earn in a few weeks from eight to ten pounds ; 
enough to carry them comfortably through the winter. 
“ A few years ago, just after the publication of the first edition 
of The Rose Amateur's Guide, the demand for Roses was so out of all 
proportion wdth the supply, that orders to the amount of some hun¬ 
dreds of pounds were annually returned in the spring months, the 
answer being, ‘ No plants left.’ The business was then indeed a source 
of much anxiety, as plants, too small and young, were often sent out 
only because no others were to be had. I am inclined to think that, 
as an article of commerce, no flower has at all approached the Rose. 
Since I have commenced growing the plants extensively, my sales, 
in the aggregate, amount to more than fifty thousand pounds; and I 
have no doubt that other large growers approach to that amount. 
The taste for them has been for several years, and is, steadily in¬ 
creasing ; this is owing, I think, to the moderate prices now charged, 
and to an absence of that extreme puffing which has made some 
fancy flowers so short-lived. Rose-growers in general endeavour to 
describe their Roses faithfully : they sometimes err, but I believe 
only because the Rose is a lady liable to a few caprices. We ought 
to forgive these when ‘ a lady is in the case.’ ” 
MOSS-ROSE LANEI. 
We have received from Mr. Lane a letter objecting to the remarks of 
our correspondent, A. B., No. VII., p. 196. Mr. Lane does not no¬ 
tice the principal objection made by that writer, viz. that the Rose 
was not raised at Berkhampstead. We do not think that a point of 
any great consequence, beyond the simple interest which florists ge¬ 
nerally feel in the parentage, &c. of any new varieties. Mr. Lane 
Ims met the second observation of our correspondent, that the flower 
is not so richly mossed as in the illustration, by forwarding a hand¬ 
some box of cut blooms, and the following are the observations of 
our Censors upon them, taken when they were quite fresh: 
On comparing specimens of Rose Lanei with the representation 
of this flower in The Florist (which is correctly copied from Mr. 
Holden’s drawing), we must acknowledge that the moss is not so 
luxuriant in nature on the buds as it is represented. The stems of 
the flowers are richly covered with spines and moss, so is the 
seed- vessel; but the moss diminishes in luxuriance on the calyx, and 
becomes finer and shorter towards the points; the calyx is very short, 
covering the point of the buds only in a very young state; as the 
buds swell they become bare and exposed, and the appearance of the 
moss is much diminished. In the representation, the points of the 
calyx (on the five upper buds) should not extend beyond the petals, 
and the moss should be shorter; the blue tint on the back of the 
petals is also exaggerated. The flower is at its greatest beauty 
