i62 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES 



declared the Hallelujah Chorus to be ' very pretty/ 

 It must have been a tailor who substituted the name 

 of his beloved esculent for a word so full-fraught with 

 sweetness, so suggestive of the brave and the beautiful, 

 of romance and poesy, sweet minstrelsy and trumpet- 

 tones. The origin of the title Provence is, I am aware, 

 somewhat obscure. Mr. Rivers thinks that it cannot 

 have been given because the Rose was indigenous to 

 Provence in France, or our French brethren would 

 have proudly claimed it, instead of knowing it only 

 by its specific name. Rose a cent feuilles ; but we may 

 have received it, nevertheless, from Provence, just as 

 Provence, when Provincia, received it — Rosa centifolia 

 — from her Roman masters, and may have named it 

 accordingly; or we may have had it direct from 

 Italy, as stated in Hadyn's ' Dictionary of Dates.' 

 Be this as it may, we have all the rhyme, and enough 

 of the reason, to justify our preference for the more 

 euphonious term, and to vote ' Old Cabbage ' to 

 the pigs. 



The Rosarian should devote a small bed of rich 

 soil, well manured, to the cultivation of this charming 

 flower, growing it on its own roots, and pruning closely. 



The Double Yellow Provence Rose, of a rich, 

 glowing, buttercup yellow as to complexion, and 

 prettily cupped as to form, full of petal, but of 

 medium size, has almost disappeared from our 



