THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
141 
been given to me most unworthy, as it has been given to so 
many of you, not only to enjoy things beautiful your¬ 
selves, but to promote the love of beauty. 
“It is a source of gratitude to me that I have in some 
little measure been allowed to promote happiness by the 
love of flowers. We know what it is, and we know what 
a gracious permission it is to extend to those who have not 
much of an inducement to grow flowers, to excite the 
love and to instruct the ambition. Well, then, I remem¬ 
ber of the very great joy which the rosarians of England, 
professional and amateur, gave me, when they presented 
me with a piece of plate, which I value more than any¬ 
thing I have in that form—a very beautiful silver urn, 
from these, my brothers. So you will see how much joy 
I have had from my love of the rose.” 
Robert Craig of Philadelphia in response to the toast, 
“ The Rose,” said: “ Before I say a word about the 
’ Queen of Flowers,’ permit me to express the thought 
which is uppermost in my mind, and which, I take it, is 
uppermost in the minds of all who are here, and that is 
one of gratitude that we are permitted to be here to-night 
to meet the genial, kindly, thoughtful man whom we have 
before learned to love and to revere. Dean Hole comes 
not to America a stranger; his charming book has pre¬ 
ceded him, and we have all. read it with delight, time and 
time again. We have enjoyed the delicate vein of humor 
in these pages, and the beautiful sentiments with which 
he has entwined his remarks about the flower he loves so 
well, and we have profited, too, by the practical informa¬ 
tion, the immense amount of it, iit the pages of that book. 
I take it that none of us practical gi'owers to-day can tell 
of anything that will furnish him with moi'e practical 
information than Dean Hole’s ‘Book About Roses.’ 
“In America we have to depend on a very few varieties 
in the open air to get a profusion of bloom. I may men¬ 
tion as a worthy rose which does well here Alfred Colomb ; 
(in the fall of the year, in the cool, clear nights in the 
early part of October we do get exquisite blooms of that 
variety), Paul Neyron, Countess of Oxford and some 
few other kinds, but most of the out-door kinds do 
very imperfectly here. Papa Gontier, which is not 
thought of as coming up to the standard of per¬ 
fection reached in other roses in England, is a very 
useful rose here in America. It will grow and flower well 
all through the summer, and is particularly beautiful in 
the cool nights of the fall. Kaiserin Augusta Victoria 
is another rose that does well in America. I recollect, 
thirty years ago, when I was a boy, in Philadelphia, we 
used to grow the old rose Mrs. Bosanquet and others of 
that type. Souvenir de Malmaison and Multiflora. In one 
year, from small plants planted out in the spring, we 
could grow plants three feet high and two feet through, 
covered with flowers the whole season, but late years we 
cannot do that. The trouble seems to be a fungus known 
as the ‘ black spot,’ which attacks most of our outdoor 
roses and prevents them growing as they did in days of 
yore. But we can grow roses in the winter time. I wish 
Dean Hole could be with us in January and February to 
see the marvelous Ulrich Brunners, Mrs. John Laings and 
Baroness Rothchilds that are grown in this country. I 
think he would admit that they compare favorably with 
the roses grown in England in the summer time. 
“ She is no doubt the ‘ Queen of Flowers,’ and has been 
admitted to be so, through all ages and through all times; 
poets have written about her ; the greatest minds of all 
ages have found their best recreation and their keenest 
enjoyment in the cultivation of the rose ; and it is cer¬ 
tainly a very important thing for us to inculcate in this 
country, as best we may, a love for the ‘ Queen of 
Flow'ers.’ We need in this country a society devoted to 
the rose—an organization. We have in America, as an 
outgrowth of the Society of American Florists, a special 
society called the Carnation Society, and another one, 
the Chrysanthemum Society ; and recently at the con¬ 
vention at Atlantic City there was organized a Rose 
Society. Without my knowledge or consent, I was 
elected president of that society. We have not been able 
yet to do much practical work ; but we hope to gather 
together, in the near future, funds which we may devote 
for the purpose of developing rose culture in America. I 
see no reason why liberal premiums should not be given 
for seedlings of American origin. Very little has been 
done in that direction here. But there have been some 
famous roses raised here in America; I may mention 
Cornelia Cook as one American rose which is in the very 
first rank, and I think all it needs is an incentive to 
growers to set them to work to produce roses.which will 
be equal to any grown in either P'ranee or England. I 
hope that every gentleman here will give some little 
thought to the matter of a Rose Society in America, and 
will make a little sacrifice to advai ce its interests. 
“ I might wish, with your chairman, that someone like 
our distinguished guest to-night may rise up in this 
country with something of his character, something of his 
enthusiastic love for the rose, who may write as he so 
charmingly does for the common people to get them 
interested. I can think of no one thing that would 
advance the culture of roses in America more than the 
presence of such a person. Let us hope that we may 
meet him soon.” 
Charles A. Dana, editor of the New York Sun was 
introduced by Mr. Barry as “a man whose love for hor¬ 
ticulture is manifested in the most focible manner at his 
home—Dosoris, where the rarest and most beautiful trees, 
shrubs and plants are to be found growing with a vigor 
which indicates exceptional skill and care in the manage¬ 
ment. I divulge no secret in saying that each tree and 
shrub has for him a particular interest; they are friends 
whose company he enjoys, and we are proud to say that 
the leading editor in America is also the leading horti¬ 
culturist in America.” 
Mr. Dana said : “ It is a great pleaure to me, as I 
know it is to all the rest of you, to have this opportunity 
of paying my respects and expressing my gratitude to 
Dean Hole. He is a public benefactor; not merely in 
the little island of England, but over the whole broad 
