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The Meillands trace their business success to a trip that Francis Meilland made to the U.S. in 1935. He traveled 15,000 miles cross-country in a secondhand car and studied the American rose industry—from breeding to selling. When Meilland went home, he became the first in Europe to use color plates in his catalogues and promote sales campaigns with colored posters He also fought persistently for European patent laws that would protect his new plants. Until his lobbying achieved success all over the Continent, his best products were pirated by competitors Today, with the law behind it, the Meilland is the top rose of the world.