10 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chap. 



for their cultivation, both of which items — growing 

 them by themselves apart from other plants, and 

 moving the soil to the depth of two feet — have still 

 to be insisted on in this twentieth century. 



During the long strange sleep of civilisation which 

 in the Middle Ages followed the Fall of Eome, the 

 culture of the Eose was probably somewhat neglected ; 

 but gradually, no doubt, as the pursuits of peace 

 began to prevail, gardening, and with it the love of 

 the queen of flowers, revived. 



The National Eose Society gives 1596 as the date 

 at which it is known that the Centifolia (Provence 

 or Cabbage) Eose, the common Moss, and the Aus- 

 trian Yellow and Austrian Copper were grown. But 

 Eose progress was very slow till about 1815, when, 

 in spite of the troublous times, Mons. Vibert, the 

 earliest of the great French raisers, founded his 

 nursery. The way had been prepared for him by 

 the patronage of the Empress Josephine, who made 

 Eoses fashionable, and caused search to be made 

 for all existing varieties for her garden at Malmaison. 

 Mons. Laffay soon followed Mons. Vibert, and after 

 them we have a grand array of famous French 

 Eosarians, Jacques, Hardy, the Guillots, Lacharme, 

 Gonod, Pernet, Ducher, Margottin, the Verdiers, 

 Levet, Liabaud, Nabonnand and others, to whom 

 we are still indebted for some of our best Eoses. 



Mons. Desportes in 1829 issued a catalogue con- 

 taining the names of 2000 varieties, but the majority 

 of these were no doubt worthless or not distinct, and 

 by 1860 there were still but few Eoses which we 

 should now consider good, though we had General 

 Jacqueminot andSenateur Vaisse among H.P.s, and 

 among Teas, Devoniensis, Madame Bravy, Eubens, 



