(1930)  Page(s) 535.  
 
...The following original remarks of Firminger are therefore reprinted, as they are records of actual experience and are therefore of permanent value.
Firminger writes, in the third edition [1874], as follows:-
"It must be within the memory of those now living that the garden sof Bengal at least, if not all India, hardly possessed a Rose that was worthy of the name. It is over fifty years ago that the Rose Edouard was introduced. Previous to that there was nothing better to represent this lovely race than the common China, the Musk, and the Bussora, putting forth a show of blossom for one short season, and shabby and disagreeable all the rest of the year...