PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. IN giving a Second Edition of this little work to the public, I have to again beg indulgence, for I fear that more than I have been able to perform will be expected. Still I am induced to hope that my hints and instructions for raising roses from seed, most certainly original, will meet with the approbation of rose amateurs. And when I adduce as a fact, that some very pretty hybrid China Roses were raised from seed in Yorkshire, from a blush tea-scented rose, trained up the rafters of an old greenhouse, and fertilised with various hardy roses, it will certainly encourage those who live further south to hope for success without the aid of glass. The fear of being tedious, and the little knowledge I yet possess of the habits and flowers of many of the new roses, has induced me not to attempt a description of all of them; for till they have bloomed in the open ground, and under different circumstances, at least two seasons, a proper estimate cannot be formed of their qualities. As the leading characters of those are given in the catalogue published annually in the autumn, which will always be sent by post on a paid application, I flatter myself this seeming omission will be excused. Instructions for budding, grafting, and other modes of propagating roses are given in every gardening book; I have not, therefore, thought it worth while to endeavour to impart any of my knowledge in those matters. But my principal motive for omitting this branch of rose culture is the impossibility of conveying by words any tangible idea of the nicer modes of practice: it is very easy to show how to insert a bud, or put on a graft, but almost impossible to tell it. Roses may be struck from cuttings, and budded and grafted from March to September if the buds, grafts, and stocks are in a proper state. It is only incessant practice that can give this knowledge, as almost every family, and even different varieties of the same family, require peculiar treatment. A small volume might be written on this subject. Perhaps when the hoar frost of age has powdered me more plentifully than at present, and when the cultivation of this favourite flower is followed more for my pleasure than my business, I may possibly again attempt to make a little book about roses. Sawbridgeworth, |