Page Two 
The Lester Rose Gardens 
HIS CATALOGUE differs from many rose catalogues 
you will receive; it has no gaudy and expensive colored 
illustrations, (which the customer pays for), and, I 
hope, no extravagant claims. But it does offer you the 
benefit of a lifetime’s experience with roses; it tries to 
tell the truth; and it offers you nothing that has not been tried out and 
found to be of real merit, not for the expert horticulturist, but for the 
amateur gardener, whom we try to serve faithfully and whose interests 
we hold to be paramount. Descriptions are necessarily brief, but further 
detailed information or any planting suggestions desired will be gladly 
given on request. As for our prices, if you could see our stock you would 
agree they are most reasonable. 
Unless otherwise stated, we PREPAY DELIVERY CHARGES on 
all orders for $1.00 or more to any address in California and elsewhere on 
the conditions indicated. As our Roses are exceptionally large, this is an 
important consideration. Be sure to add the necessary 3 % sales tax, please. 
Terms are cash with order, or we will send C.O.D. if one-third is paid as a 
deposit. Please use the order blank on page nineteen. 
Francis E. Lester 
The OldT^ses* and thej\(ew 
^^Old Friends are BesT’ 
We agree there is a real thrill in growing a new, patented, rose introduction even 
though the price is high and it may be short-lived and a shy bloomer. But, frankly, we are 
very fond of the Old Fashioned Roses with their time-proven merits and their rare charm; 
and it is little wonder that they are today regaining their original popularity, for they 
possess qualities that no new rose can offer. Chief among these is their enduring vitality, 
for while the large majority of our new roses of recent years have disappeared from lack 
of stamina, the old roses are with us today because of their proven ability to withstand 
the hazards of existence and to resist disease and pests. There are still growing in Cali¬ 
fornia, for example, some of the original specimens of the Old Castilian Rose that were 
planted by the Mission Fathers when founding those missions! 
Then, too, only the Old Roses oflFer you that rare quality of association value 
which age and tradition alone can give; the Eglantine is one of these, favorite rose with 
Shakespeare and of the Elizabethan days. Practically all of the Old Roses are deliciously 
fragrant, many with the true attar-of-roses fragrance so markedly absent in our modern 
rose creations. • 
We class as an Old Rose only those varieties that have been continuously grown for fifty years or more. 
