wil 
ee 
: 
om 
a4 
f 
io 
foe 
Ea 
; 
be 
© 
ae. 
mi 
i 
| ae 
i ® 
i} 
ea 
me i 
SPF 3 St 
BFZ 

To TH1s—THE ENLARGED “LITTLE Rose Liprary,” 
Our GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
CBy ©WWay of ©Fntroduction 
This catalogue differs from many catalogues you will receive; it has 
no expensive colored illustrations, and, I hope, no extravagant claims. 
But it does offer you the benefit of long 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. My occasional personal comments about the Old 
Roses, will, I trust, be excused, for they come from the heart. 
—FrRaANcis E. LESTER—CATALOGUE, 1941 
In case you have never tried to write a rose catalogue, permit us to 
comment it is a task of no mean proportions, says the catalogue 
writer, as he surveys somewhat ruefully, the formidable pile of garden 
notes, letters, and reference books from which this edition will be 
composed. 
Last year, our introduction was keyed by a letter included from 
Dr. John G. Gage, Arcadia, California, which set forth, in the 
doctor’s inimitable manner, what he considered a “good rose cata- 
logue.” I might add, we received a rather tart letter saying—‘Dr. 
Gage told you how to write your catalogue; why don’t you do it!” 
4 3 
