-Lan4-574-5 779972 HARVARD COLLEGE JUL 28 1888 Mary Osgood fund, 137655 HARRILD, PRINTER, LONDON. SB .H52X PREFACE. AMONG the myriads of books that have been written on the subject of the present volume, the "Rose Amateur's Guide," by Mr. Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, and the "Rose Garden," by Mr. W. Paul, of Waltham Cross, have each had so extensive a circulation, and have exercised so great an influence on rose culture in this country, that on a first consideration of the matter, the addition of another work to the list may appear superfluous. But as different minds take different views of the same subject, I here offer to the lovers of the rose the views of an amateur cultivator, not as opposed to, but as differing from, the views taken by the distinguished professional cultivators whose works have just been named. The book to which I have principally referred in the preparation of this work is the Book of Nature, and the best index to that book in my possession is my own garden, wherein I have acquired such experiences as are here related in detail, in the hope that they may interest amateur cultivators of the rose. If "The Rose Book" should meet with as kind a reception as all my other books have done, I shall enjoy my own roses the more, that, after nearly twenty years' devotion to them, I have at last, by their help, been rendered useful to many kindred spirits. S. H. |