ROSES 183 



this object I will mention two or three points which 

 recommend them. They are all very easy of culti- 

 vation. 'The first quality of the rose,' said St. Francis 

 de Sales, ' is that it grows ■without artificial aid, and has 

 hardly any need of being cultivated, as you see roses 

 in the fields growing up without any cultivation,' and 

 on this he founds a good lesson. This is especially 

 true of the wild species : they are better let alone, 

 they do not require, and indeed they dislike, the knife. 

 Another point of excellence in them is that, although 

 (with the exception of the China roses) they are in 

 flower but a short time, they are followed by fruit of 

 great variety and much beauty. No one who has not 

 seen a collection of these roses can have any idea of the 

 variety and beauty ; they are of all colours, from black 

 and green to brilliant red, and of all sizes and shapes. 



The literature of the rose, both botanical and other- 

 wise, would fill a good space in any library, and I must 

 not attempt to say more than that a very good selection 

 of the poetry of the rose was published in 'E. V. B.'s ' 

 pretty little book, Ros Bosarum. It was, however, only a 

 selection, and did not pretend to be more. But on one 

 literary point I must say a few words. Favourite as 

 the rose is, and always has been, in England, it has no 

 English name, and seems never to have had one. I 

 fancy that its old English name was brier, a true 



