26 THE HISTORY AND CULTIVATION OF THE ROSE. 



Lancaster, when the adherents of the one party assumed 

 the red, and those of the other the white Rose, significant 

 of the cause which each espoused. Hence the old striped 

 Rose of our gardens, in which the colours of red and white 

 are blended, is very aptly named " York and Lancaster." 

 The late Mr Loudon, a name that must be ever dear to all 

 who take an interest in horticultural pursuits, mentions in 

 his Encyclopaedia of Gardening, published in 1822, that 

 the lists of the London and Paris nurserymen contained 

 upwards of 350 names, most of which were Gallica and 

 Chinese Roses. So great has been the improvement 

 among Roses of late years, that although there are 

 collections in this country consisting of 2000 varieties, 

 very few of those of 1822 would be found among them. 

 In the lists published at that time the varieties were 

 merely arranged alphabetically, but in the Rose growers' 

 catalogues of the present day we have the varieties cast 

 in various groups, and a Rose-grower's catalogue presents 

 a distinct system of classification. This method, which is 

 approved by the most eminent cultivators of the day, is 

 more floricultural than botanical. In the first place we 

 have two grand divisions Summer and Autumn Roses. 

 Each of these is again divided into sections or groups, 

 the varieties of each group are then arranged alpha- 

 betically, and described. With respect to the botanical 

 arrangement of the Rose, full information may be obtained 

 by consulting a work published on the Rose some years 

 since by Dr Lindley, or by referring to Loudon's 

 Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum. 



I shall now very briefly remark on each section into 

 which the Rose stands divided, according to the Rose 

 growers' catalogues of the present day ; instead, however, 

 of taking them in order as they are placed there, I shall 

 take them according to their date of introduction, and here 

 I should say that I very much regret that there are no 

 flowers at this season of the year by which I might point 

 out the distinctive features of each group. I have brought 



