How New Roses Came About
Some few of the new roses were accidents, so called because good Mrs. Bee carried some strange rose pollen to the pistil of one or more of the old-fashioned roses, and the new rose seed-babies took on a new nature. When the little plants from the new rose seed-baby bloomed, rose lovers were delighted with the more perfect loveliness of the new flower.
They carefully saved the new plant, and tenderly cared for it. When it was old enough and strong enough, they took “cuttings” from its shoots, and grew more plants like it.
Now, rose lovers after noticing what good Mrs. Bee had done by accident, thought, “I wonder if a person could not dust the pollen from a very different rose on the pistil of some particular rose.” This was tried, and to-day we have such wonderful improvements on the old-fashioned roses that no other flower gives quite the pleasure to garden lovers as the rose.