CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 133 



flesh-colored, which is the most common of them all." Farther 

 on the same author adds : "The number of species is supposed 

 to be large : the Mountain or Wild ; the Double, which is varie- 

 gated with red and white shades ; and the Chinese. The Double, 

 however, is the most beautiful, and is composed of 40 to 50 petals." 



The Moors multiplied roses by all the various methods which 

 are employed at this day : by suckers from the root, by cuttings, 

 by budding, and by grafting. The pruning-knife was also freely 

 used, in order to form regular heads. 



There is a farther translation of De la Neuville, from a Span- 

 ish version of the "Book of Agriculture," written by Ebu-Al- 

 wan, who lived in the 12th century, and who, in addition 

 to his own experience, quoted largely from some Chaldaic 

 and Arabic writers. He states that the Moors practised two 

 methods of sowing the seeds of the Rose. The first was in 

 earthen pans a mode adapted to delicate plants ; they were 

 watered immediately after being sown, and afterward twice a 

 week until autumn, when such care became unnecessary. The 

 other method was sowing broadcast as grain is sown, then cover- 

 ing the seed-beds an inch deep with carefully sifted manure 

 or fine mould, and giving them the requisite watering. The 

 plants from these seed-beds did not produce flowers until the 

 third year after their being thus prepared, and until they had 

 been transplanted into squares or borders ; such is still the case 

 with nearly all our summer roses, the only kind the Moors appear 

 to have possessed. They also understood the art of forcing roses. 

 " If you wish," says Haj, another author, " the Rose tree to bloom 

 in autumn, you must choose one that has been accustomed to 

 periodical waterings ; you must deprive it of water entirely dur- 

 ing the heat of summer until August, and then give it an abund- 

 ance of moisture ; this will hasten its growth, and cause the ex- 

 pansion of its flowers in great profusion, without impairing its 

 ability to bloom the ensuing spring, as usual." " Or else," adds 

 the same author, "in the month of October, burn the old branch- 

 es to the level of the earth, moisten the soil for eight consecutive 

 days, and then suspend the watering ; alternate these periods of 



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