PREFACE. Vll 



which English amateurs are chiefly engrossed) 

 almost out of the question ; and as the French 

 adhere to the wise custom of repairing to their 

 country-seats in May, and quitting them in 

 December, their attention and money are ap- 

 propriated to the improvement of such plants 

 as adorn the flower-garden during the summer 

 season. They care little for any that cannot 

 be brought to perfection in the open air ; and 

 precisely the same motive which promotes the 

 cultivation of the dahlia in England, has brought 

 the rose to greater perfection in France. The 

 extent of importation is, however, a convincing 

 proof, that though the more opulent classes of 

 our countrymen are induced to pass the mid- 

 summer days of the rose-season in London, out 

 of sight of their beautiful flower-gardens, a 

 sufficient number of amateurs remain in the 

 country for the promotion of the interesting 

 branch of horticulture to which the following 

 pages are devoted. 



The first impulse was given to the culture 

 of the rose in France at the commencement of 

 the present century, under the auspices of the 

 Empress Josephine ; who caused her own name 



