II HISTORY AND CLASSIFICATION 17 
the moss-like covering of the calyx, has been so 
popular that great efforts have been made to increase 
the number of varieties and improve the quality of 
the flowers. Mr. Cranston, writing in 1855, says 
that even then several hundred varieties of the Moss 
Rose had been raised, but though different colours, 
from white to crimson, have been gained, and one 
or two perpetual sorts have been issued, very little 
success in the way of actual improvement has been 
achieved, the common or old Moss Rose, to which 
the N.R.S. Catalogue gives the date of 1596, being 
still the best in the popular bud state. There are 
now so many beautiful buttonhole Teas very much 
superior in beauty of colour and shape, that it seems 
likely that Moss Roses, which are only valuable in 
the bud, not of long and pointed form, and 
apparently incapable of improvement, will suffer 
somewhat from their rivalry; but many, no doubt, 
will still be found to cherish them from sentiment 
or old associations. 
The Moss Roses do not do well as_ standards, 
and some of them are not very strong growers. 
They will grow on manetti, but are generally con- 
sidered to do best on their own roots, and should be 
pruned hard, and highly cultivated. Some miniature 
Moss Roses have been issued, with prettily shaped 
rosette-like flowers, one of the best of which is 
Little Gem (W. Paul & Son, 1880). 
The Double Yellow Rose (R. sulphurea) is con- 
sidered by some to be a form of the Provence. Fifty 
or sixty years ago, this was the best yellow Rose, if 
it could be got to bloom; but its ‘‘ manners and 
customs’’ were so very bad, and the blooms so 
generally malformed or refusing to open at all, that 
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