10 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE CHAP. 
for their cultivation, both of which items—growing 
them by themselves apart from other plants, and 
moving the soil to the depth of two feet—have still 
to be insisted on in this twentieth century. 
During the long strange sleep of civilisation which 
in the Middle Ages followed the Fall of Rome, the 
culture of the Rose was probably somewhat neglected ; 
but gradually, no doubt, as the pursuits of peace 
began to prevail, gardening, and with it the love of 
the queen of flowers, revived. 
The National Rose Society gives 1596 as the date 
at which it is known that the Centifolia (Provence 
or Cabbage) Rose, the common Moss, and the Aus- 
trian Yellow and Austrian Copper were grown. But 
Rose progress was very slow till about 1815, when, 
in spite of the troublous times, Mons. Vibert, the 
earliest of the great French raisers, founded his 
nursery. The way had been prepared for him by 
the patronage of the Empress Josephine, who made 
Roses fashionable, and caused search to be made 
for all existing varieties for her garden at Malmaison. 
Mons. Laffay soon followed Mons. Vibert, and after 
them we have a grand array of famous French 
Rosarians, Jacques, Hardy, the Guillots, Lacharme, 
Gonod, Pernet, Ducher, Margottin, the Verdiers, 
Levet, Liabaud, Nabonnand and others, to whom 
we are still indebted for some of our best Roses. 
Mons. Desportes in 1829 issued a catalogue con- 
taining the names of 2000 varieties, but the majority 
of these were no doubt worthless or not distinct, and 
by 1860 there were still but few Roses which we 
should now consider good, though we had Général 
Jacqueminot and Senateur Vaisse among H.P.s, and 
among Teas, Devoniensis, Madame Bravy, Rubens, 
