76 



PAESOKS OK THE ROSE. 



pruning-tiiife was also freely used, in order to form regu- 

 lar heads. 



There is a farther translation of De la l^euville from a 

 Spanish version of the " Book of Agriculture," written by 

 Ebu- Alwan, w^ho lived in the twelfth century, and who, in 

 addition to his own experience, quoted largely from some 

 Chaldaic and Arabic writers. He states that the Moors 

 practiced 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 covering 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, an- 

 other 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 during 

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

 abundance of moisture ; this will hasten its growth, and 

 cause the expansion of its flowers in great j^rofusion, 

 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 branches to the level of 

 the earth, moisten the soil for eight consecutive days, and 

 then suspend the watering; alternate these periods of 

 moisture and drought as many as five times, and j)robably 

 in about sixty days, or before the end of autumn, the roots 

 will have thrown out vigorous branches, which will in due 

 time be loaded with flowers, without destroying the 



