Only bags of stuffy nitrate from a far Pacific shore,
From a dreary West Coast harbour that I'll surely fetch no more;
Only bags of stuffy nitrate, with its faint familiar smell
Bringing back the ships and shipmates that I used to know so well;
Half a lifetime lies between us and a thousand leagues of sea,
But it called the days departed and my boyhood back to me.

C.F.S.

* * * * *

ROSES ALL THE WAY.

Fired by an Irish rose-grower's pictures of some of his beautiful new
seedlings we are tempted to describe one or two of our own favourite
flowers in language similar to his own. This is an example of the way he
does it:--

"LADY MAUREEN STEWART (_Hybrid Tea_).--A gloriously-finished globular
slightly imbricated cupped bloom with velvety black scarlet cerise
shell-shaped petals, whose reflex is solid pure orangey maroon without
veining. An excellent bloom, ideal shape, brilliant and non-fading
colour with heavy musk rose odour. Erect growth and flower-stalk.
Foliage wax and leathery and not too large. A very floriferous and
beautiful rose. 21s. each."

Why not also these?--

DAVID (_Hybrid Tory-Lib._).--A gloriously-finished true-blue-slightly-
imbricated-with-red-flag coalition rose whose deep globular head with