THE HISTORY AND CULTIVATION OF THE ROSE. 27 



four plates of four different groups which may afford some 

 illustration, though they will not serve for the purpose 

 before mentioned. 



The first foreign Rose brought to our country was the 

 Damask (R. damascena), which was introduced from Syria 

 in 1573, where it grows naturally in the form of a bushy 

 shrub, varying in height from 2 to 8 feet. It is the varie- 

 ties of this species, together with those of the Provence, 

 that are cultivated largely in some districts for the purpose 

 of making Rose-water from the flowers. But independent 

 of their yielding an article of commerce to the perfumer, 

 Damask Roses are not without interest to the Rose fancier. 

 To them belong some very pretty pink Roses, with a 

 delicate shade of salmon pervading the flowers, rendering 

 them alike distinct and beautiful. Madame Hardy, too, a 

 well-known and beautiful white Rose is of this class. 

 They are only Summer Roses, but of very free growth, 

 thriving in unfavourable situations. From the Damask 

 Roses have sprung the Damask Perpetual, a class of Roses 

 very sweet and once much valued, but now almost super- 

 seded by the introduction of the Hybrid Perpetual, of 

 which we shall come to speak presently. According to 

 the authority of botanists, the year 1596 saw several new 

 species of Roses introduced to England. The Provence 

 (R. centifolia), a dweller in the groves of the Eastern 

 Caucasus ; the Moss (R. centifolia muscosa), which was 

 received from Holland ; the French (R. gallica), of which 

 the striped Rose before you is a specimen ; the Musk (R. 

 moschata), indigenous to Madeira and the north of Africa; 

 the Austrian (R. lutea), an inhabitant of the south of 

 Europe all these are. said to have been introduced in 1596. 

 The year following was added the R. Alba, a species 

 growing naturally in Piedmont and Denmark. Here were 

 the progenitors of several of the most popular Roses of the 

 present day, brought to our shores at about the same 

 period. Beautiful as they no doubt were then considered, 

 highly as they would be prized by the scientific in those 



