PREFACE. 



In offering a new edition of this work, the preparation 

 of which gave us pleasure more than twenty years ago, 

 we have not only carefully revised the garden classifica- 

 tion, but have stricken out much of the poetry, which to 

 he cultivator may have seemed irrelevant if not worthless. 



For the interest of the classical scholar we have retain- 

 ed much of the early history of the Rose, and its connec- 

 tion with the manners and customs of the two great na- 

 tions of a former ao-e. 



For many interesting facts in the History and Culture 

 of the Rose, we are indebted to Deslongchamps, Vibert, 

 Laffay, and several anonymous writers. To the former we 

 wish most fully to express our obligations, both for the 

 plan of this work and for many interesting facts and re- 

 searches, to which we cannot conveniently attach his name 

 in the body of the work. 



Upon the classification we have bestowed much thought, 

 and although we do not feel quite satisfied with the system 

 we have adopted, it is the best that occurs to us in the 

 present condition of rose culture. The amateur will, we 



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