334 
THE FLOKIST. 
viz., that I shall not be doing an unpopular thing if I write a few 
thinofs which affect the interest of the Rosarians of England and 
of the National flower. And 
First. Of the time suitable to a National Exhibition. 
I am well aware that the Royal Society were peculiarly situated 
this last year, and equally am I aware, that they only wish to 
know what time would be best to hold the meeting; and this they 
cannot know, unless some one expresses the mind of the nation at 
large. This year was an abnormal year, and can form no prece¬ 
dent. The National Exhibition, for one cause or another, was 
held much too late. It was held but a few days before the second 
bloom here. The show was respectable, but it was not a good 
one. The absence of choice summer roses, of delicate and dark 
tint, was much felt by me; I mean those roses which help to vary 
a show-box, and break the monotony of rose coloured and crimson 
roses. Some, however, of the boxes had a fair sprinkling of light 
coloured roses, chiefly Teas. It is plain that if the Rose Show is to 
be national, the nation by deputation should express their mind; 
and it is equally clear, that if the meeting is to be held in July at 
all, we must move our roses in the south and west. I think that 
the day should be a permanent fixture (excluding Mondays and 
Saturdays, as inconvenient to the clerical florists), to suit the 
north and east one year, and the south and west the next year. I 
believe that, taking an average of seven years, the 30th of June 
would suit the former, and the 20th of June the latter; or the 
day might be fixed, say the 25th, permanently. All persons 
worthy of the name of Rosarians could manage to get their roses 
ready by that time. This would put an end to individuals waiting 
to see which way “the cat jumps !” If roses cannot be got ready 
to show in June, let us no longer talk (poetical absurdity) of the 
rosy month of June. If the roses of England (II. P.’s and 
autumnals), cannot be produced either by the 20th, 25th, or 3()th 
of June, then I naturally ask, when are they going to give us two 
other series, which as Perpetuals^^ they ought to give, besides 
the interstilial ones. I get (with rare exception) from such sorts as 
I keep, three series. If I cannot get this, then such a rose as Boule 
de Nauteuil, which will cost 100 fine roses per tree, in a pro¬ 
longed bloom of five or six weeks, is infinitely superior to II. P.’s 
To myself it is immaterial what time the rose show is held, pro¬ 
vided I know it in time to move such trees as are likely to need 
it. I would just as soon have it in July, August, or September, 
as June, provided the day was a permanent fixture. I should 
then, from knowing the habits of roses, be able to decide whether 
it would be advisable to move them, and when to cut them back ; 
but this cannot be done if the time is fixed after it is advisable to 
remove them. Only fix the day at the fall, say November 1st, and 
you Avill have double the number of roses that you have ever yet had. 
If the above be not approved, the following suggestion may obtain ; 
let five nurserymen and five amateurs (changing them annually), 
from the north, south, east, west, and midland counties, meet an- 
