THE NATIONAL NUESERYMAN 
258 
may be a little l)ett(‘r a])le to dispose of new varieties as 
tlu'v eoiiu' along, lu' too is slow to weave into his list the 
worthy new sorts as they ai'e inirodueed—why? First 
Ijeeanse the general j)uhlie do not now readily take hold 
of new sorts and seeond heeause the grower himself laeks 
hi'st hand information regarding the new roses. 
Fxeej)t for one or two firms who are doing s])lendid 
test woi'l< for their own information, our present means 
and imMliods for testijig new roses and disseminating in- 
formation are woefully ineflieient and inade(jiiat(‘. 
Ho\\ many of ns realize that new roses are being intro- 
dneed at tin' I’ate of sevtm hundred every live years yet 
how many of us know what we are getting when we huy 
new roses from abroad and therefore go slow and in eoii- 
Robert Pyle, of Conard & Jones Co., West Grove, 
Pa., in (centre) 
The Editor of the National Nurseryman (on right) 
sequence are so far hehind our Euroi)ean brother as to 
give him the cream of the American trade. 
Can this he true? 
It is distinctly so in some sections. Just for example 
last week at the Syracuse Hose Show where I acted as 
judge, there was one amateur alone who showed one hun¬ 
dred and liftv varieties out of a eolleetion of something 
over 250 in his garden, and he was only one of many 1 
met there who were obtaining their stock directly from 
across the water. Several other amateurs with whom 
1 have come in contact, typical of those who show a dis¬ 
criminating interest in having the best obtainable, seem to 
feel that it is only natural that they should go to the 
source of sup])ly in Europe for what tliey want in the way 
of roses. 
I have it on good authority that one enthusiast not from 
New York State or Ohio during the past year has bought 
upwards of seven dozens of rose bushes none costing less 
than ^3.50 a hush and a greater number $5.00 each, hav¬ 
ing imported all of them from abroad, and from among 
the number only one the Rose Richmond was hybridized 
in this country. I believe that this tendency to go abroad 
for roses is growing, not so much because of the superior 
quality of the stock as the new varieties there introduced 
and then' early available. 
Let us compare. The average number of roses offered 
by the six leading rose firms in America, the past spring 
was about 400. The average numher of roses offered by 
the six leading rose firms in England was over 1,000. 
The total numher of varieties offered by eleven leading 
Anierican linns was a little over 1,000, and only 18 kinds 
were offered by them all. 
In these eleven catalogs of 1914, I find ninety-one new 
roses not formeily listed by any of them. I calculate 
that American linns have begun adding on the average 
more than twice as many new roses annually as they did 
live years ago. Rut in selecting them it is largely guess 
work and consequently we still crawl along in the dark. 
Therefore, in order that we may walk in the light, in 
order that w(; may not become burdened with the 1000 
long list of the Europeans—in order that we may elimin¬ 
ate before they reach the Nurserymen’s hands the var¬ 
ieties unsuited to our needs ;in order that we may build 
our sales upon “make good” sorts only—I advocate that 
Americaji growers provide adequate means for obtaining 
country wide tests of roses for Americans. 
Having once established a means of obtaining regularly 
a dependable list of roses that , will make “come back” 
( aslomeis, may we not turn to the other phase of our suh- 
Ject, tliat of creating throughout the country a greater in¬ 
terest in and a bigger demand for roses. 
Painted ii])on the wall of a certain high building in 
Cleveland, you will notice a spectacular advertisement 
showing an Indian standing on a rock overlooking a great 
city completely illuminated. The Indian is made to ex- 
])lain “all light -no night”—a condition that is typical of 
every first class American city. What has made possible 
our magnificent illuminating systems? Because one 
Benjamin Franklin, of Philadelphia, detected evidences 
of a wonderful power lying latent about him. He blazed 
the way for modern electrical engineers; and electricity, 
which was a scattered force, and to the Indian unnoticed, 
has been brought under control and direction and is now 
used. 
In the same sense and in no less a degree there is lying 
loose around us a love for the beautiful, which needs to 
be centralized, organized, controlled and used. The love 
for flowers is instinctive. The power of a beautiful 
rose to beget enthusiasm for more roses you all know. 
It is tremendously contagious, and do you know that if 
by means of roses the love for beauty, lying latent all 
over this big country. 
If the rose men of America were to combine in a na¬ 
tional advertising campaign (just as the lumber men and 
