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UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
, LIBRARY

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LIBRARY

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AMHERST, MASS.

. THE ROSE:

ITS

HISTORY, POETRY, CULTURE,

AND

CLASSIFICATION.

BY S. B. PARSONS.

NEW YORK,

WILEY & PUTNAM, 161 BROADWAY.

1847.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, by

S. B. PARSONS,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.

.^

stereotyped by C. Davison & Co.,
33 Gold street, N. Y.

PREFACE.

The commencement and partial preparation of this work assisted
to beguile the tedium of a winter's residence from home, where. even
Orange and Magnolia groves, with the luxuriant vegetation of a semi-
tropical region, could scarcely dispel the ennui attending a life of
idleness. Oiir especial object has been to throw around the culture
of the Rose a halo of pleasant thoughts and associations ; and while to
the mere cultivator there may seem much irrelevant matter of his-
tory, poetry, and the like, we think that it will not thus seem to all.
For the classical scholar, the early history of the Rose, and its con-
nection with the manners and customs of the two great nations of a
former age, will impart to it no slight interest ; while the various
poetic effusions, which we have endeavored to string together in a
multifarious garland, will clothe our favorite flower with additional
charms in the eyes of many, and render it perhaps more attractive
with the gentler sex, to whom pre-eminently belong the culture and
the care of flowers.

For many interesting facts in the History and Culture of the Rose,
we are indebted to Deslongchamps, Vibert, Laffay, and several anony-
mous writers. To the former we wish most fully to express our obli-
gations, both for the plan of this work and for many interesting facts
and researches, to which we cannot conveniently attach his name in
the body of the work.

Upon the classification we have bestowed much thought, and al-
though 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 think, find the labor of selection much dimin-
ished by the increased simplicity of the mode we have adopted, while
the commercial gardener will in nowise be injured by the change.

IV PREFACE,

In directions for culture, we give the results of our own experience
and have not hesitated to avail ourselves of any satisfactory results
in the experience of others, which might enhance the utility of the
work.

The colored engravings were drawn from nature, by one of the best
Parisian artists, and are deemed correct portraits.

While we do not claim exemption from hyper criticism in any form,
we readily express our willingness to be ever open to conviction, in a
field where, among the varied results of experiment and skill, there
is much room for diflference of opinion.

For our labor we shall feel abundantly compensated, if the publica-
tion of this work shall in any way tend to produce a more general ad-
miration and increased culture of the most beautiful denizen of the
floral kingdom. S. B P

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. PAGE

Early History of the Rose, and Fables respecting its origin. - - 7

CHAPTER II.
Luxurious Use of the Rose, ........... 14

. CHAPTER III.
The Rose in Ceremonies and Festivals, and in the Adornment of Burial
Places r 21

CHAPTER IV.
The Ro^ in the Middle Ages, 29

CHAPTER V.
Perfumes of the Rose, ......38

CHAPTER VI.

Medical Properties of the Rose, -..-------51

CHAPTER VII.
General Remarks, -....---.55

CHAPTER VIII.
Poetry of the Rose, .-...---------61

CHAPTER IX.
General Culture of the Rose, 127

CHAPTER X.
Soil, Situation, and Planting, 146

CHAPTER XI.
Pruning and Training, 151

CHAPTER Xir.

Potting and Forcing, * - ... 157

1*

VI CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIII. PAGE

Propagation, 168

CHAPTER XIV.
Multiplication by Seed and Hybridizing, 181

CHAPTER XV.
Diseases of the Rose, -----------. .191

CHAPTER XVI.
Botanical Classification, -.-..._.... .21 1

CHAPTER XVII.
Garden Classification, 237

HISTOET OF THE ROSE.

CHAPTER I.

THE EARLY HISTORY OP THE ROSE, AND FABLES RESPECTING

ITS ORIGIN.

|ERY little is known of the early histoiy of the
Rose, or who were its first cultivators ; and on
this point all is conjecture. Mention of it is
made in the ancient Coptic manuscripts, while
nothing concerning it can be distinguished, with
any degree of certainty, on the Egyptian
monuments which are left us. Bocastre, the French traveler,
observes, that he carefully searched all the monuments in
Egypt, and could find neither sculpture nor painting, figure
nor hieroglyphic, that would lead us to suppose that the Rose
was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians. We are, however,
induced to believe that this beautiful flower was known to
them, from the fact that several varieties are now found in
Egypt. Dr. Delile, Director of the Botanic Garden at Mont-
pelier, and with whom we enjoyed some pleasant intercourse
during a recent visit to that place, was with Napoleon in his
expedition to Egypt. In his valuable published account of
that expedition, he mentions that he found there two varieties
of the Rose — Rosa alba and Rosa centifolia ; and there is also
reason to believe, that under Domitian the Egyptians cultivated

8 EARLY HISTORY OF THE ROSE.

another variety — Rosa hifera. It is quite probable that the Rose
was planted in the celebrated gardens of Babylon, the formation
of which is attributed to Semiramis, about 1200 years before the
Christian era ; and it also appears probable, from the testimony
of modern travelers, that several kinds of roses crossed over
into Persia.

It is very certain that the Rose was cultivated by the Jews
during the reign of Solomon, about two centuries after Semi-
ramis ; for mention of this flower is made in the Scripture books
attributed to that king. In the Song of Solomon, he says :
" I am the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the valleys ;" and in
the Apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon — " Let us crown ourselves
with rose-buds before they be withered."

It also appears, by several passages of the Book of Ecclesi-
asticus, the author of which lived about 700 years after Solo-
mon, that the Jews possessed beautiful gardens of roses, particu-
larly at Jericho. " I was exalted like a palm-tree in Engaddi,
and as a rose-plant in Jericho :" xxiv. 14. " Hearken unto me, ye
holy children, and bud forth as a rose growing by the brook of
the field :" xxxix. 13. " And as the flower of roses in the
spring of the year :" 1. 8. These passages prove that this
most fertile and beautiful portion of Palestine abounded in
roses, palms and cedars. They no longer, however, abound ;
for while "the cedars wave on Lebanon," and the solitary
palm stands in its isolated beauty, the Rose has entirely disap-
peared ; and that now called the Rose of Jericho, is but a little
plant of the family of CrucifercB. The Greeks cultivated the
Rose at an early period, during the time of Homer, who lived
about 200 years after the wise Hebrew monarch. In the
Iliad and Odyssey he borrows the brilliant colors of the Rose to
paint the rising of the sun. Aurora, according to this poet, has
fingers of roses, and perfumes the air with roses. Few poets
are more celebiated than Homer for beauty of conception, and
for his frequent similes borrowed from natural objects. His
selection, in this instance, evinces that the Rose was neither
an unknown nor an unadmired flower. Herodotus, who lived

EARLY HISTORY OF THE ROSE.

about 400 years before the Christian era, mentions that in Mace-
donia, in the gardens which were supposed to have belonged to
Midas, there were roses of sixty petals, which grew spontaneously
without culture, and emitted a most delightful perfume.

Ancient writings are full of allusions to the Rose and fabulous
accounts of its origin. From its brilliant colors, melting into
each other as the shades of night melt into the glowing richness
of the rising sun, it was frequently consecrated to Aurora. It
was also consecrated to Harpocrates, the patron of Silence, of
which it was considered the symbol. Thus the expression '■'■sub
rosa " (under the Rose), signified that all that was said should
remain secret ; and there is scarcely used a more expressive de-
vice for a seal, than the simple figure of a Rose. It was the cus-
tom, in some of the northern countries, to suspend a Rose over the
table in the dining-room, reminding the guests that silence should
be observed respecting all that might be said during the meal.

Anacreon, Bion, Theocritus, Apollodorus, and others, relate
various fables respecting its origin and its obtaining the bright
color for which it is distinguished.

One fable relates that Flora, having found the dead body of one
of her favorite nymphs, whose beauty could only be equalled by her
virtue, implored the assistance of all the Olympian deities, to aid
her in changing it into a flower, which all others should ac-
knowledge to be their queen. Apollo lent the vivifying power of
his beams, Bacchus bathed it in nectar, Vertumnus gave its per-
fume, Pomona its fruit, and Flora herself gave its diadem of
flowers. A beetle is often represented on antique gems, as expir-
ing, surrounded by roses ; and this is supposed to be an emblem
of luxurious enervation ; the beetle being said to have such an
antipathy to roses, that the smell of them will cause its death.

From the earliest period, the Greeks gave to the Rose the pref-
erence over all other plants, and distinguished it as the " Q,ueen
of Flowers." In the fragments which still exist of Sappho, who
lived about 600 years before the Christian era, there are lines in
which the Rose is placed in the highest rank.

It is, however, in the ode which Anacreon has especially

10 EARLY HISTORY OF THE ROSE.

devoted to the praise of the Rose, that there seems a truly enthu-
siastic love for that beautiful floVer. Nothing which has been
written on this subject, can equal the beauty of this little gem,
even clothed, as it is, in the somewhat inflated style of the au-
thor. It will be found on another page.

Since Sappho and Anacreon, many poets, both ancient and
modern, have celebrated, in their songs, the charming qualities
of the Rose. They have chosen it for an emblem of the most
beautiful things — for the most pleasing and delightful com-
parisons ; and they have united in making it the symbol of inno-
cence, of modesty, of grace, and of beauty. Quite a volume
might be collected of all the verses and pleasant sentences that
have been inspired by the elegant form of the Rose — its charm-
ing color and delightful fragrance. Some of these we have in-
serted in another part of the work. Nothing proves better the
preference which has always existed for this beautiful flower,
than the thoughts expressed by Sappho. Anacreon and the
other poets of antiquity have since imitated her in almost every
language, and the lines of these have sacrificed nothing of her
elegance and freshness.

The poets and writers of the East have abundantly celebrated,
in their works, the beauties of the Rose. According to the Boun-
Dehesch, of Zoroaster, the stem of that flower was free from
thorns until the entrance of Ahrimanus (the evil one) into the
world ; the universal spirit of evil, according to their doctrine,
affecting not only man but also the inferior animals, and even
the very trees and plants. The same work states, that every
flower is appropriated to a particular angel, and that the hun-
dred-leaved Rose (Rosa centifolia) is consecrated to an archangel
of the highest order. Basil, one of the early fathers, had un-
doubtedly seen these passages in oriental works, when he related
that at the creation of the world the Rose had no thorns, and
that they were gradually furnished with them as mankind be-
came more corrupt.

The oriental writers also represent the nightingale as sighing
for the love of the Rose ; and many beautiful stanzas have arisen

EARLY HISTORY OF THE ROSE. 11

from this fable. According to the Language of Flowers ; "In a
curious fragment by tlie celebrated Persian poet Attar, entitled
Bulhul Nufjieh, the Book of the Nightingale, all the birds appear
before Solomon, and charge the nightingale with disturbing their
rest, by the broken and plaintive strains which he warbles forth
all the night, in a sort of frenzy and intoxication. The nightin-
gale is summoned, questioned, and acquitted by the wise king ;
because the bird assures him, that his vehement love for the Rose
drives him to distraction, and causes him to break forth into
those passionate and touching complaints which are laid to his
charge." The same work also mentions that the Persians assert,
that " the nightingale, in spring, flutters around the rose-bushes,
uttering incessant complaints, till, overpowered by the strong
scent, he drops stupified on the ground. The invention of these
fables, extravagant as they are, evince the Persian fondness for
this beautiful flower. The Ghebers, or Persian fire-worshipers,
believe that Abraham was throwi\ into the fire by Nimrod, when
the flame turned into a bed of roses. According to the Hindoo
mythology. Pagoda Siri, one of the wives of Vishnu, was found
in a rose.

Among the many stories of roses in the East, is that of the
philosopher Zeb, related by Madame de Latour. " There was at
Amadan, in Persia, an academy with the following rules : Its
members must think much, write a little, and be as silent as pos-
sible. The learned Zeb, celebrated through all the East, learning
that there was a vacancy in the academy, endeavored to obtain
it, but arrived, unfortunately, too late. The academy was
annoyed because it had given to power what belonged to merit,
and the president, not knowing how to express a refusal without
mortifying the assembly, caused a cup to be brought, which he
filled so full of water, that a single drop more would have made
it run over. The wise philosopher understood, by that emblem,
that no place remained for him, and was retiring sadly, when he
perceived a rose petal at his feet. At that sight, he took courage,
seized the petal, and placed it so delicately on the water, that not
a single drop escaped. At this ingenious allusion to the rules of

12 EARLY HISTORY OP THE ROSE.

the academy, the whole assembly clapped their hands, and the
philosopher was admitted as a member." Madame de Genlis
relates very nearly the same anecdote, but attributes it to Abdul-
kadri, a person celebrated among the Turks, who was desirous of
residing at Babylon, where they were unwilling to receive him.

The Turks themselves, matter of fact as they are, have also
seen something marvelous in the beautiful and vivid tints which
the hand of nature has painted on the corolla of the Rose ; but
their imagination, less glowing than that of the Greeks, furnished
them an idea more singular than pleasing. They suppose that
the Rose owed its origin to the perspiration which fell from
Mahomet ; for which reason they never tread upon a rose-leaf,
or suffer one to lie on the ground.

Meshilu, the Turkish poet, speaks of " a pavilion of roses, as
the seat of pleasure raised in the garden ;" of " roses like the
bright cheeks of beautiful maidens;" of the time when "the
plants were sick, and the rose-bud hung its thoughtful head on
its bosom ;" and of the " dew, as it falls, being changed into rose-
water." They also sculpture a rose on the tomb-stone of a female
,who dies unmarried.

The early Roman Catholics have made the Rose the subject of
various miraculous events — one of which is attributed to the
canonized Elizabeth, Q,ueen of Hungary. As the French author,
Montalembert, relates it in his history of that queen, Elizabeth
loved to carry to the poor herself, by stealth, not only money, but
even food and other things which she had provided for them.
She went thus loaded and on foot, by the steep and hidden paths
which led from the chateau to the town, and to the cottages in
the neighboring valleys. One day, when, accompanied by her
favority maid, she was descending by a rough and scarcely visi-
ble path, carrying under her cloak some bread, meat, eggs, and
other food, for distribution among the poor, she was suddenly met
by her husband, who was returning from the chase. Astonished
to see her thus bending under the weight of her burden, he said
to her, " Let me see what you are carrying." At the same time
he threw open the cloak, which she held, with terror, to her

EARLY HISTORY OF THE ROSE. 13

breast, but found, as the legend says, nothing there but some
white and red roses, the most beautiful he had ever seen.

D'Orbessan, in his work on the Rose, states that, in the church
of Sainte-Luzanne, at Rome, is a mosaic of the time of Charle-
magne, in which that prince is represented in a square mantle,
and on his knees, while St. Peter is placing in his hands a stan-
dard covered with roses.

Michaud, in his Biographie Universelle^ speaks of Clemence
Isaure, a French lady, who lived in the latter part of the 15th
century. She bequeathed to the academy of Toulouse a large
income, exclusively for the celebration of floral games, and for
the distribution of five prizes for as many pieces of poetry. The
prizes consisted of an amaranth and rose of gold, and of a violet,
marigold, and lily, of silver. The will also required that every
three years, on the day of the commencement of the floral games,
among other ceremonies to be observed, the members of the
academy should visit and spread flowers upon her tomb. Ron-
sard, the French poet, having gained the first prize in the floral
games, received, in place of the accustomed rose, a silver image
of Minerva. Mary, Q-ueen of Scots, was so much delighted with
Ronsard's beautiful poetry on the Rose, that she sent him a mag-
nificent rose of silver, valued at £500, with this inscription : —
" A Ronsard. VApollon de la source des Muses."

CHAPTER II.

LUXURIOUS USE OF THE ROSE.

HE arfcients possessed, at a very early period^
IY\ the luxury of roses, and the Romans brought
it to perfection by covering with beds of these
flowers the couches whereon their guests
were placed, and even the tables which were
used for banquets ;' while some emperors
went so far as to scatter them in the halls
of their palace. At Rome, they were, at one time, brought from
Egypt, in that part of the year when Italy could not produce
them ; but afterwards, in order to render these luxuries more
easily attainable during the winter, by the leaders of the ton in
that capital city of the world's empire, their gardeners found the
means of producing, in green-houses warmed by means of pipes
filled with hot water, an artificial temperature, which kept roses
and lilies in bloom until the last of the year. Seneca declaimed,
with a show of ridicule, against these improvements ;* but,
without being discouraged by the reasoning of the philosophery
the Romans carried their green-houses to such perfection, that,
at length, during the reign of Domitian, when the Egyptians

1 " Tempora subtilius pinguntur tecta coronis,

Et latent injecta splendida mensa Rosa." (Ovid, lib. v.)

2 " Non vivunt contra naturam, qui hieme concupiscunt Rosam 1 Fomentoque
aquarum calentium, et calorum apta imitatione, bruma lilium florem vernum,
exprimunt." {Seneca, epistle 122-8.)

LUXURIOUS USE OF THE ROSE. 15

thought to pay him a splendid compliment in honor of his birth-
day, by sending him roses in the midst of winter, their present
excited nothing but ridicule and disdain, so abundant lied winter
roses become at Rome, by the efforts of art. Few of the Latin
poets have been more celebrated for their epigrammatic wit than
Martial ; and his epigram " to Cassar, on the Winter Roses,"
serves to show that the culture of roses at Rome was carried to
such perfection, as to make the attempts of foreign competitors
subjects only for ridicule.^

"The ambitious inhabitants of the land watered by the Nile
have sent thee, O Caesar, the roses of winter, as a present valu-
able for its novelty. But the boatman of Memphis will laugh
at the gardens of Pharaoh as soon as he has taken one step in
thy capital city — for the spring, in its charms, and the flowers in
their fragrance and beauty, equal the glory of the fields of Pses-
tum. Wherever he wanders or casts his eyes, every street is bril-
liant with garlands of roses. And thou, O Nile ! must now,
yield to the fogs of Rome. Send us thy harvests, and we will
send thee roses."

By this passage it is evident that the cultivation of roses,
among the ancients, was much farther advanced than is gene-
rally supposed. In another epigram Martial speaks again of
roses, which were formerly seen only in the spring, but which
in his time had become common durinsr the winter. We are

3 Ad CiESAREM DE ROSIS HiBERNIS.

" Ut nova dona tibi, Caesa, Nilotiea tellus
Miserat hibernas ambitiosa Rosas :
Navita derisit Pharios Memphiticus hortos,
Urbis ut intra vit limina prima tuse.
Tantus v^ris honos, et odore gratia florae,
Tantaque Pa;stani gloria ruris erat.
Sic quaciimque vagus, gressum oculosque ferebat,
Textilibus sertis omne rubebant iter.
At tu Romanse jussus jam cedere brumae,
Mitte tuas messes, accipe, Nile, Rosas."

Martial, lib. vi.. epig.

16 LUXURIOUS USE OF THE ROSE.

also but copyists of the Romans, in the cultivation of flowers in
windows ; for vases of every style of beauty, and filled with
roses, were a frequent ornament of their windows. Martial says
that a miserly patron had made him a present of a very small
estate, and adds that he has a much better country place in his
window. Much that illustrates the use w^iich the ancients made of
roses in their ceremonies, in their festivals, and in their domestic
life, may be found in various authors, evincing still more how
very common the use of them had become. Florus relates that
Antiochus, king of Syria, being encamped in the island of Eu-
boea, under woven tents of silk and gold, was not only accompa-
nied by a band of musicians, but that he might yet more enhance
his pleasures, he wished to procure roses ; and although it was
in the midst of winter, he caused them to be collected from
every quarter.

The gallants of Rome were in the habit of presenting their
favorite damsels with the first roses that appeared in spring;
and " Mea rosa " was an affectionate expression they often used
to their betrothed.

We frequently find in old Latin authors, an entire abandon-
ment to pleasure and excessive luxury signified by such expres-
sions as, living in the midst of roses, sleeping on 7'oses, &c.
(Vivere in rosa, dormire in rosa.)

Seneca speaks of Smyndiride, the most wealthy and voluptu-
ous of the Sybarites, w^ho could not sleep if a single one of the
rose-petals with which his bed was spread, happened to be curled.

Cicero, in his ^^ de finibusj'^ alludes to the custom which pre-
vailed at Rome at that time, of reclining at the table on couches
covered with roses ; and comparing the happiness which virtue
gives, to the pleasures of luxury, says that " B-egulus, in his chains,
was more happy than Thorius drinking on a couch of roses and
livino" in such a manner that one could scarcely imagine any
rare and exquisite pleasure of which he did not partake."

The same author, in his celebrated speech against Verres, the
greatest extortioner whose name is recorded in history, reproached
him not only with the outrageous robberies and cruelties which

LUXURIOUS USE OF THE ROSE. 17

he committed during the three years that he was governor of
Sicily, but yet more with his effeminacy and licentiousness.
" When spring commenced," said the Roman orator, " that season
was not announced to him by the return of Zephyr, nor by the
appearance of any heavenly sign ; it was not until he had seen
the roses bloom, that spring was visible to his voluptuous eye.
In the voyages which he made across the province, he was ac-
customed, after the example of the kings of Bithynia, to be car-
ried in a litter borne by eight men, in which he reposed, softly
extended upon cushions made of transparent material and filled
with roses of Malta, having in his hand a net of the finest linen,
and equally full of these flowers, whose fragrance incessantly
gratified his eager nostrils."

Laiinus Pacatus, in his eulogium on the Emperor Theodosius,
inveighs against the luxury of the Romans, whose sensual de-
sires, he says, were not satisfied until they had reversed the
order of the seasons, and produced roses in the winter season to
crown their cup of wine, and until their Falernian during the
summer, was cooled in large vessels filled with ice. The forcing
of roses in winter, is no longer extensively practiced in Rome ;
but during the summer they are more abundant, and we recollect
being much struck with admiration of some beautiful hedges of
the Daily rose in the villas near Rome.

After reading the preceding statements of the abundance of
roses among the ancient Romans, it is with some surprise that
we recollect the great scarcity of that flower during the gayest
and most animated festival of the modern Romans — the Carni-
val. As we slowly walked along the Corso, submitting with as
quiet a grace as possible to the various fantastic tricks of the
masqued figures around us, and occasionally pelted with hands-
ful of sugar-plums from the windows, or passing carriages, we
looked in vain for roses or camellias in the numerous bouquets
that were cleaving the air around us. Little bouquets of violets
were numerous, and the air was thick with them, as our eyes,
nose, and mouth could bear striking witness ; and we recollect,
too, the contemptuous curl of the lip, and rush of the aris-

2*

18 LUXURIOUS USE OP THE ROSE.

tocratic blood into the face of a fair English girl, in one of
the carriages, whose blue eyes had been nearly closed by an
awkward cast of one of these petits bouquets from the hand of a
plebian performer. But we only recollect catching a glimpse
now and then, of a single rose or camellia, skilfully passed by a
cavalier below, into the hands of some dark-eyed beauty in the
balconies above ; the bright sparkle of whose eye convinced us
that the single flower was of value, and a mark of especial regard.
The Rose appeared to be valued as some rare exotic, and not
to be idly bestowed where there was small probability of its due
appreciation ; it was indeed a " rara flora in urbe,^' and quite
superseded by the very pretty and abundant violets.

The modern Romans have not only lost .many of the good
qualities of their early ancestors, but the}'- have also escaped
much of the effeminate softness which characterized the Romans
under some of the later emperors ; and as belonging to this state
of luxury, the cultivation of the Rose has in modern times been
much neglected. The homage of the Romans is now reserved
for art, and the beautiful products of nature are in their opinion,
worthy only of secondary consideration. The Rose is now
mostly confined in that city to the residences of the wealthier
classes, and can scarcely be said to have resumed its old place in
Roman esteem, until it is again a favorite with the mass of the
people.

When Cleopatra went into Cilicia to meet Marc Antony, she
gave him for several successive days festivals, in which she dis-
played a truly royal magnificence. She caused to be placed in
the banqueting hall twelve couches, each of which would hold
three guests. The walls were covered with purple tapestry, in-
terwoven with gold ; all the vases were of gold, admirably ex-
ecuted and enriched with precious stones.

On the fourth day, the queen carried her sumptuousness so
far as to pay a talent (about six hundred dollars) for a quantity
of roses, with which she caused the floor of the hall to be covered
to the depth of eighteen inches. These flowers were retained by
a very fine net, in order that the guests might walk over them.

LUXURIOUS USE OP THE ROSE. ' 19

In connection with this fact, it is curious to notice the following
anecdote related by Pliny.

"At the time that Marc Antony was preparing for the battle
of Actium, he felt suspicious of Cleopatra, and made her taste of
all the dishes which were served up to him, she all the while
ridiculing his fears.

" One day, while giving him a banquet, she placed on his

head a. crown, bordered with poisoned flowers ; and when

Antony was heated with wine, she proposed that each should

drink his crown. He at once consented, and hasteninsf to

• . . . .

tear off his crown, placed it in his cup and was about to drink it,

when the queen stopped him, saying: 'Why do you suspect
me of deadly intentions towards your person ? if it were pos-
sible to live without you, see how easy I could send you from
the world.' At the same time having ordered a criminal from
prison, she gave him the cup to drink, and he expired in a
moment."

At a later period, and after the loss of the battle of Actium,
Antony, not wishing to survive his defeat, from fear of falling
into the hands of Augustus, thrust himself through with his
sword, and requested Cleopatra to scatter perfumes over his tomb
and to cover it with roses.

The greatest profusion of roses mentioned in ancient history,
and which is scarcely credible, is that which Suetonius attributes
to Nero. This author says, that at a fete which the emperor
gave in the gulf of Baiae, when inns were established on the
banks, and ladies of distinction played the part of hostesses, the
expense incurred for roses alone, was more than four millions
of sesterces — about $100,000. Since Nero, many of his succes-
sors have nearly equalled him in prodigal enjoyment of the
luxury of roses. Lucius Aurelius Verus, whose licentiousness
and destitution of every manly quality equalled that of the worst
emperors, but whom no one reproaches with any act of cruelty,
was the inventor of a new species of luxury. He had a couch
made, on which were four raised cushions, closed on all sides by
a very thin net, and filled with leaves of roses. Heliogabalus,

20 LUXURIOUS USE OP THE ROSE.

celebrated for luxury and vice of every kind, caused roses to be
crushed with the kernels of the pine (Pinus maritima), in order
to increase the perfume. The same emperor caused roses to be
scattered over the couches, the halls, and even the porticoes of the
palace, and he renewed this profusion with flowers of every kind :
lilies, violets, hyacinths, narcissus, &c. Gallien, another equally
cruel and luxurious prince, lay, according to some authors, under
arbors of roses ; and, according to others, on beds covered with
these flowers. And finally, Carrius, another licentious and pro-
digal emperor, who reigned only a few months, caused roses to
be scattered over the chambers of his palace, and on the couches
upon w^hich were placed his guests.

CHAPTER III.

THE ROSE, IN CEREMONIES AND FESTIVALS, AND IN THE ADORN-
MENT OP BURIAL PLACES.

MONG the ancients, the Rose was con-
spicuous in all the sacred ceremonies,
and in public and private fetes. The
Greeks and the Romans surrounded tlie
statues of Venus, of Hebe, and of Flora,
with garlands of roses. They were lavish
of these flowers at the festivals of Flora ;
in those of Juno, at Argos, the statue of the Olympian Queen
was crowned with lilies and roses. In the festivals of Hymen,
at Athens, the youth of both sexes, crowned with roses and
adorned with flowers, mingled in dances which were intended to
represent the innocence of primeval times. At Rome, in the public
rejoicings, they sometimes stiewed the streets with roses and other
flowers. It is thus that Lucretius gives a description of the man
ner in which was celebrated the festivals of Cybele.^

To scatter flowers on the passage of the funeral procession
of a private citizen, was an honor not common at Rome. Pliny
informs us, however, that a Scipio, belonging to the illus-
trious family of that name, who v/hile he was tribune, fulfilled

1 " Ergo cum primum, magnas invecta per urbes
Munificat tacita mortales muta salute ;
Mre atque argento, sternunt iter omne viarum.
Largifica stipe dilantes, ninguntque Rosarum
Floribus, umbrantes matrem comitumque catervas."

Lucretius, lib. ii., ver. 625.

22 THE ROSE IN CEREMONIES, FESTIVALS, ETC.

his duties to the satisfaction of the people, dying without leaving
sufficient to pay his funeral expenses, the people voluntarily con-
tributed to pay them, and on the appearance of the body, cast
flowers upon its passage.

At Baiee, when fetes were given upon the w^ater, the whole
surface of the lake of Lucina, appeared covered with roses.

The custom of encircling the head, of surrounding the neck,
and also the breast with crowns and garlands of roses, on differ-
ent occasions, and particularly during the last days of a gay
festival, when, after the solid dishes, they passed to the dessert
and the rare wines, is well known by the odes of Anacreon, and
from the writings of several of the ancient poets.

The voluptuous Horace, when he abandoned himself to plea-
sures, was always supplied wuth roses. In congratulating one of
his friends on his safe return from Spain, he recommended that
these flowers should not be wanting at the festival. On another
occasion, he told his favorite servant that he cordially disliked
the pompous displays of the Persians, and escaped them by
searching in what place the late Rose was found. Drawing
a picture of luxurious ease for his friend Hirpinus, he speaks
of " lying under the shade of a lofty Plane or Pine tree, per-
fuming our spotless hair with Assyrian spikenard, and crown-
ing ourselves with roses." We can very well judge how general
had become the custom of making crowns of roses, from the
number of times w^hich it is mentioned in Pliny, and the fre-
quency with which Martial speaks of it in his epigrams. The
latter author also informs us, that in the very height of Roman
luxury and reveling, the most favorable time for soliciting and
obtaining a favor was wdien the patron was entirely given up
to the pleasures of the table and of roses.'*

Whatever doubt may exist of the use of crowns of roses, as
objects of luxury, it is well authenticated, that among medical

2 " Hffic hora est tua, dum furit Lyseus
Cum regnat Rosa, cum madent capilli,
Tunc me vel rigidi legant Catones."

Lib. X., epig. 19.

THE ROSE IN CEREMONIES, FESTIVALS, ETC. 23

men of antiquity, endeavors were made to determine what kinds
of flowers were suitable to place in crowns without detriment to
health ; and according to the report made on this subject, the
parsley, the ivy, the myrtle, and the Rose possessed peculiar
virtues for dissipating the fumes of the wine. According to
Athenffius, a crown of roses possessed not only the property of
alleviating pain in the head, but had a very refreshing effect.

Pliny mentions two Gree(c physicians — Mnesitheus and Cal-
limachus, who wrote on this subject.

The custom of crowning with roses had passed from the Greeks
to the Romans, and it also existed among the Hebrews, who had
probably borrowed it from some of the neighboring nations, either
from the Egyptians, in the midst of whom they had spent many
years, or from the Babylonians, with whom they had in the cap-
tivity much connection. The practice of this custom among the
Israelites, is attested by the previously quoted passage, in the apoc-
ryphal "Wisdoi:ft of Solomon."

At Rome it was not only at the religious festivals that they
crowned themselves with roses and other flowers, but it was the
custom to wear these crowns during public and private fetes ;
they were strictly forbidden at some other times, and above all
on certain public occasions, where to appear with such an orna-
ment, would pass for an insult to a public calamity. Pliny
informs us, that during the second Punic war, which lasted six-
teen years, a banker named Lucius Fulvius, for looking from his
gallery on the Forum, and wearing a crown of roses on his head,
was, by order of the Senate, sent to prison, from which he was
not liberated until the end of the war.

This anecdote, moreover, proves that crowns of roses were in
fashion at Rome at an early period, and before licentiousness and
luxury had yet made many inroads upon the national char-
acter.

It may readily be supposed, that at Rome, under the emperors,
the use of crowns of flowers was hke every other species of luxury
at that time, constantly on the increase. At first they wore the
crowns interwoven with leaves of flowers, then thev wore them

24 THE ROSE IN CEREMONIES, FESTIVALS, ETC.

composed partly of roses, and finally they were not satisfied unless
they consisted of these flowers only.

Martial, as we have already mentioned, speaks often of his
crowns of roses. The crown sent by this poet to his friend
Sabinus, was composed entirely of these flowers, and he was
desirous that they should be considered the production of his own
gardens.

From the poverty of Turkish history, little is known of the
early use of the Rose among- them. We have, however, some
account of its use among the Mohammedan Persians.

Although wine was forbidden by the laws of Mahomet, the
Persians frequently made use of it ; and in the time of Tavernier
and of Chardin, they frequently drank it to excess. One of their
kings, Soliman III., was intoxicated almost every day ; and it
was the custom then in Persia, to serve the wine in crystal decan-
ters, which, when the season permitted, they corked with roses.

The most interesting purpose to which roses were devoted,
was the adornment of tombs and burial-places. The Greeks
employed generally for this object, the myrtle and the amaranth ;
but the Romans gave the preference to the lily, the saffion-plant,
and above all, the Rose.

The ancients were careful to renew the plants which were
placed around the sepulchral urn, in order that it might be sur-
rounded by a continual spring. These flowers were regarded as
sacred, and as a relic of the deceased.

The Romans considered this pious care so agreeable to the
spirits of the departed, that wealthy citizens bequeathed by will
entire gardens, to be reserved for furnishing their tombs with
flowers. They also often ordered that their heirs, or those to
Vv'hom they left a legacy for the care of their ashes, should meet
together every year, on the anniversary of their death, and dine
near their tomb, scattering roses about the place. This custom
is attested by several stories of ancient Roman tombs. One with
an ancient inscription was found at Ravenna, and others in some
other parts of Italy.

D'Orbessan, in his ^^Essai sur les Roses" mentions having

THE ROSE IN CEREMONIES, FESTIVALS, ETC. 25

seen, at Torcello, a city about five miles from Venice, an inscrip-
tion of this kind, mentioning a donation made by an emanci-
pated slave to the assembly of the Centimi, consisting- of gardens
and a building to be employed in celebrating his obsequies and
those of his master. It requested that roses should not be spared,
and that food should be then distributed in abundance. Gene-
rally, the donation made on condition of covering the funeral
monument with roses, was transferred to another, if that con-
dition was not fulfilled. Sometimes the most terrible maledic-
tions threatened those who dared to violate these sacred gardens.
That which proves how frequent among the Romans was this
custom of ornamenting tombs with roses, is, that those who were
not rich enough to make such bequests, often directed to be
engraved upon the stone which covered their remains a request
to the passers by to scatter roses upon their tomb. Some of these
stones still exist, with the following inscription: " Sparge, p7'e-
cor, Rosas supra mea busta, viator.''^ It was, perhaps, because
they compared the short duration of human life to the quick
fading existence of the Rose, that this flower was devoted to the
burial place of the dead ; and there can certainly be chosen no
more beautiful emblem of this transitory state of existence. This
supposition is somewhat strengthened by the following passage
from Jerome, one of the early Christian fathers :

" The ancients scattered roses over the urns of the deceased, and in their wills
ordered that these flowers should adorn their graves, and should be renewed every
year. It was also the custom for husbands to cast roses, violets and lilies on the
urns which enclosed the ashes of their wives. These modest flowers were emble-
matic signs of their grief Our Christians were content to place a Rose among
the ornaments of their graves, as the image of life."

In Turkey, females that died unmarried had a rose sculptured
at the top of their monument.

At the well-known cemetery of Pere la Chaise, which has
often excited the ecstasy, admiration or praise of many travelers,
but which in reality exhibits neither elegance, sentiment nor taste,
wreaths of roses and other flowers are frequently seen upon the
thickly crowded tombs, either as mementos of afllection, or in

3

26 THE' ROSE IN CEREMONIES, FESTIVALS, ETC.

compliance with a popular custom ; while the street leading to
the cemetery is filled with shops in which are exposed for sale the
wreaths of flowers.

The prevalence of the same custom in Denmark, is alluded to
by Shakespeare, in Hamlet, in the scene of Ophelia's burial.

The custom still remains also in some parts of Great Britain.
In Wales, when a young girl dies, it is customary for her female
companions to bring flowers with them to her funeral, and place
ihem in her coffin. They plant lilies and snow-drops over the
graves of children, and wild and cultivated roses over those of
adults.

Gwillym, a Welsh poet, thus speaks of the custom in one of
his elegies : — " Oh ! while the season of flowers and the tender
sprays, thick of leaves, remain, I will pluck the roses from the
brakes, to be offered to the memory of a child of fairest fame ;
humbly will I lay them on the grave of Ivor."

Evelyn tells us that " the white rose was planted at the grave
of a virgin, and her chaplet was tied with white riband, in token
of her spotless innocence ; though sometimes black ribands were
intermingled, to bespeak the grief of the survivors. The red
rose was occasionally used in remembrance of such as had been
remarkable for their benevolence : but roses in general were ap-
propriated to the graves of lovers."

Drummond, the Scotch poet, requested one of his friends to

have the following couplet placed over his grave :

" Here Damon lies, whose songs did sometimes grace
The murmuring Esk : — may roses shade the place."

The first Christians disapproved of the use of these flowers,
either at their festivals or as ornaments for their tombs, on
account of its connection with the pagan mythology, and the
custom thus became extinct. Tertullian wrote a book against
crowns and garlands. Clement of Alexandria thought it im-
proper that Christians should crown themselves with roses. A
little later, however. Christians relaxed from this strictness, and
the Christian poet Prudence, did not fear to invite his brethren
" to cover with violets and with verdure, and to surround with

THE ROSE IN CEREMONIES, FESTIVALS, ETC. 27

perfumes those bones which the voice of the All-Powerful would
one day restore to Hfe."

The Roman Catholics of this day admit flowers to their
churches and ceremonies, and on feast days they adorn the altars
with bouquets and garlands. At the most imposing of these
solemnities, the day of the '•' Fete-Dieu," rose petals, during the
processions, are scattered in the air, and blended with the per-
fume of censers, directed towards the Host ; in many of the
towns, particularl}^ those in the south of France and of Europe,
the streets through which the procession passes are scattered
throughout with fragrant herbs and flowers of every kind.

Since the extinction of paganism in a greater part of the
world, the custom of wearing crowns of flowers at festivals has
passed entirely away. Women only use roses as an ornament
for their hair, or employ them in different parts of their toilet.
In our own country the toilet of a bride is never considered per-
fect unless she wears a wTcath of roses and other flowers, whose
snow-white hue is an emblem of her departing maidenhood.
Sometimes she is provided only with a bouquet of wdiite roses
and camellias, and her bridesmaids wear similar ornaments of
nature's manufacture.

The Rose is abundantly used by children in their beautiful
celebration of May-day. We w^ell recollect our own enjoyment
of one of these scenes some seven years since. We were return-
ing from a ride in the vicinity of Charleston, S. C, on the first
day of this, the sunniest of the months of Spring — a day dedi-
cated not to the spirit of motion, and celebrated not by proces-
sions of furniture carts, amid the bustle and noise of a populous
city, but dedicated there, at the sunny south, to innocent and
joyous festivity, and celebrated amid all the fresh and fragrant
luxuriance of southern vegetation, surrounded by the delicate
sweetness of the magnolia, the Rose, and other flowers, while
the mocking-bird, with its sweet and varied note, is the min-
strel for the occasion. Riding quietly along the road, we were
suddenly stopped by a procession which had just dismounted from
a number of carriages in a beautiful grove hard by. It consisted

3*

28 THE ROSE IN CEREMONIES, FESTIVALS, ETC.

mostly of noble-looking boys and beautiful girls, of all ages under
fourteen, the latter dressed in white and crowned with wreaths
of roses and other flowers. The manly attention of the boys to
the fair creatures with whom they walked hand in hand, would
not have disgraced the gallantry of Bayard, or the politeness of
Chesterfield. As the procession wound slowly from our view,
under the shade of the lofty live oak and the rich magnolia, we
could not help reflecting how beautiful was this graceful enjoy-
ment of the sunny days of childhood, and how preferable to the
mental excitement and precocious training of many of the infant
philosophers of this most enlightened nineteenth century.

It is much to be regretted that in circles where fashion reigns
supreme, nature is gradually giving way to art; and instead of
the fresh and natural beauty of a newly-gathered Rose, various
forms of artificial flowers are found upon the center table, or in
the hair of those whose quick discernment and refined taste
should lead them to perceive the great inferiority of these arti-
ficial toys to the delicate beauty and welcome fragrance of a
Rose just from its parent plant.

Very much additional matter could be inserted respecting the
early history of the Rose, and its connection with ancient
superstitions. Sufficient, however, has been given to show the
esteem in which the Rose was held by the ancient Greeks and
Romans.

CHAPTER IV

THE ROSE IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

• N Great Britain, according' to Loudon, " one of
the earliest notices of the Rose occurs in Chau-
cer, who wrote early in the 13th century ; and
in the beginning of the 15th century, there is
evidence of the Rose having been cultivated for
commercial purposes, and of the water distilled
from it being used to give a flavor to a variety
of dishes, and to wash the hands at meals — a custom still pre-
served in some of the colleges, and also in many of the public
halls within the city of London."

In 1402, Sir William Clopton granted to Thomas Smyth a
piece of ground called Dokmedwe, in Haustede, for the annual
payment of a rose to Sir William and his heirs, in lieu of all ser-
vices. The demand for roses formerly was so great, that bushels
of them were frequently paid by vassals to their lords, both in
England and France. The single rose, paid as an acknowledg-
ment, was t}\e diminutive representation of a bushel of roses —
as a single peppercorn, which is still a reserved rent, represents a
pound of peppercorns — a payment originally of some worth, but
descending by degrees to a mere formality. Among the new-
year gifts presented to Q,ueen Mary in 1556, was a bottle of rose-
water ; and in 1570 we find, among the items in the account of
a dinner of Lord Leicester, when he was Chancelor of the Uni-
versity of Oxford, three ounces of rose-water. In an account of
a grant of a great part of Ely House, Holborne, by the Bishop of

3*

30 THE UOSE IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

Ely, to Christopher Hatton, for twenty-one years, the tenant
covenants to pay, on midsumraer-day, a red rose for the gate-
house and garden, and for the ground (fourteen acres) ten loads
of hay and £10 per annum; the Bishop reserving to himself
and successors free access through the gate-house, for walking in
the gardens and gathering twenty bushels of roses yearly. In
1597, we find Gerard speaking of the Damask rose of Damascus
and the Cinnamon rose as common in English gardens. Hak-
luyt says that the rose of Damascus was brought to England by
De Linaker, physician to Henry IX. ; and his successor, Sir
Richard Weston, who wrote in 1645, says, " We have red roses
from France." In the reign of James I., the ke^er of the robes
and jewels at Whitehall, among a variety of other offices, had
separate salaries allowed him, " for fire to air the hot-houses, 40s.
by the year ;" and, " for digging and setting of roses in the
spring gardens, 40s. by the year."

It would seem, by these incidents, that previous to the seven-
teenth century, roses were far from being abundant, and indeed
were so rare, that a bottle of distilled water was a fit present for
Royalty, and a few roses an amply sufficient rent for house and
land.

In the times of chivalry, the Rose was often an emblem that
knights were fond of placing in their helmet or shield, implying
that sweetness should always be the companion of courage, and
that beauty was the only prize worthy of valor. It was not,
however, always taken for such emblems, nor did it always
bring to mind pleasant and agreeable images, but was often the
signal for bloodshed in a desolating civil war which raged in
England for more than thirty years.

The rival factions of the White and the Red Rose arose in
1452, during the reign of Henry VI., between the houses of Lan-
caster and of York. The Duke of York, a descendant of
Edward III., claimed that his house possessed a nearer title to
the crown than the reigning branch. He adopted a white rose
on his shield, for his device, and the reigning monarch, Henry
VI., of the house of Lancaster, carried the I'ed rose. After sev-

THE ROSE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 31

eral furious civil wars, after having flooded the whole kingdom
with blood, and after the tragical death of three kings, Henry
VII., of the house of Lancaster, re-united, in 1486, the two fam-
ilies by marrying Elizabeth, the heiress of the house of York.

The adoption of the red rose, by the house of Lancaster, was
at a period far prior to these civil wars. About 1277, the Count
of Egmont, son of the King of England, and who had taken the
title of Count of Champagne, was sent by the King of France to
Provence, with some troops, to avenge the murder of William
Pentecote, mayor of the city, who had been killed in an insurrec-
tion.

When this prince returned into England, after executing his
orders, he took for his device the red rose, that Thibaut, Count
of Brie and of Champagne, had brought from Syria, on his re-
turn from the crusade some years before. — That Count of Eg-
mont was the head of the house of Lancaster, who preserved the
red rose on their arms, while the house of York, on the other
hand, adopted the white rose as their device.

An anecdote is told of the Prince of Bearne, afterwards Henry
IV. of France, who was not 15 years of age when Charles IX.
came to Nerae, in 1.566, to visit the court of Navarre.

The fifteen days that he spent there, were marked by sports
and fetes, of which, the young Henry was already the chief orna-
ment. Charles IX. loved to practice archery ; in providing for
him that amusement, they thought that none of his courtiers,
not even the Duke of Guise, who excelled at this sport, would
venture to prove himself more adroit than the monarch. The
young Henry, however, advanced, and at the first shot, carried off
the orange, Avhich served for a mark. According to the rules of
the sport, he wished, as victor, to shoot first in the next trial ; the
King opposed it, and repulsed him with warmth ; Henry stepped
back a little, drew his bow, and directed the arrow against the
breast of his adversary ; the monarch quickly took shelter behind
the largest of his courtiers, and requested them to take away
"that dangerous little cousin." Peace being made, the same
sport was continued on the following day ; Charles found an

32 THE ROSE IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

excuse for not coming. This time the Duke of Guise carried
away the orange, which he split in two, and no other could be
found for a mark.

The young prince perceived a Rose in the bosom of a young
girl among the spectators, and seizing it, quickly placed it on the
mark. The Duke shot first, and missed ; Henry succeeding him,
placed his arrow in the middle of the flower, and returned it to
the pretty villager with the victorious arrow which had pierced
its stem.

At Salency, a village of France, the Rose is the reward of ex-
cellent traits of character ; they attribute the origin of the fete of
La Rosiere, in that country, to Medard, bishop of Noyou, who
lived at the end of the fifteenth, and beginning of the sixteenth
century, during the reign of Clovis. That bishop, who was also
Lord of Salency, had established a fund, giving a sum of
twenty-five livres (five dollars), and a crown or hat of roses to
the young girl on his estate, who enjoyed the greatest reputation
for amiability and excellence of character. Tradition states that
the prelate himself gave this desired prize to one of his sisters,
whom the public voice had named to be Rosiere. Before the
revolution of 1789, there could be seen, beneath the altar of the
chapel of St. Medard, at Salency, a tablet, where that bishop was
represented in pontifical dress, and placing a crown of roses on
the head of his sister, who was on her knees, with her hair
dressed.

The bishop had set aside, on a part of his domain, since called
the " Manor of the Rose," an annual rent of twenty-five livres,
at that time a considerable sum, for paying all the expenses of
this ceremony. It is stated that Louis XIIL, being at the chateau
of Varennes, near Salency, about the time of this ceremony, was
desirous of adding to its eclat by his personal presence ; but
finding himself indisposed, he sent to La Rosiere, by a marquis
of rank and first captain of his guards, a ring and his blue riband.
" Go," said he to the marquis, " and present this riband to her
who shall be crowned. It has been long the prize of honor ; it
shall now become the reward of virtue." Since that time La

THE ROSE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 33

Rosiere has received a ring-, and she and her companions have
worn the bhie riband.

The Ijord of Salency at one time enjo)^ed the right of choosing
La Rosiere from three of the village girls, who were presented
W the inhabitants. But in 1773 a new lord, who purchased the
estate of Salency, wished to take away the right enjoyed by the
inhabitants, of naming and presenting to him the three candi-
dates for the Rose. He assumed the nomination of La Rosiere,
without any assembling, election, or presentation, and suppressed
entirely the pomp and ceremonies which until that time had
always been observed. On the complaint of the inhabitants of
Salency, the Court of Chancery at once set aside the pretensions
of their lord ; but he, not wishing to yield them, instituted a civil
process before the Parliament of Paris, which gave a decree in
favor of the inhabitants of the place, by which it confirmed to
them all the ancient customs of the fete of La Rosiere, of which
the Lord of Salency was ordered to pay all the expenses.

The ceremony of La Rosiere "was suppressed during the ex-
cesses of the Revolution, but was again re-established when the
times had become more quiet. The celebration takes place in
the tirst summer month, and would be well worthy the attend-
ance of foreign travelers.

We have mentioned this custom very much in detail, as it is
one of the few ceremonies still existing, in which the Rose occu-
pies a prominent position, and is made alone the reward of merit.
Other festivals of the Rose, similar to those of Salency, were
established in several other villages of France and the neighbor-
ing countries. When Louis XVIII. was staying at Blakenbourg,
in Germany, during the years of his exile, he was invited to
assist at a festival of La Rosiere. When he had placed the
crown on the head of the young girl who was designated as the
most virtuous, she said to him, ingenuously, " My Prince, may
your crown be restored you."

There exists a touching custom in the valley of Engadine, in
Switzerland. If a man accused of a crime is able to justify
himself the same day on which he is liberated from prison, a

34 THE ROSE IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

young and beautiful girl offers him a white rose, called the Rose
of Innocence.

It is somewhat singular that, although the Rose was in these
instances employed as the emblem of virtue and innocence, it
has been considered, at other times and places, as a sign of dis-
grace and dishonor.

The synod held at Nismes, about the year 1284, ordered the
Jews to w^ear on their breast a rose to distinguish them from
Christians, in order that they might not receive the same atten-
tions. At one time, in certain German provinces, a crown of
red roses was the punishment of immorality.

It appears that, in the middle ages, roses were much more
abundantly cultivated in certain provinces than they have been
since ; for the following passage is found in Marchangy's History
of France in the 14th century : " For the ornament of certain
festivals, they cultivate, in the vicinity of Rouen, fields of flowers
of several roods ; and the annual sale of bouquets and wreaths
of roses is valued at 50,000 frants. The business of maker of
wreaths, and that of rose merchant, is in France very common
and very profitable. The above sum will not seem surprising,
when we think of the enormous consumption uf rose-water at
that time. In all family parties, companies and associations,
many bouquets ^vere presented ; at table, during festivals, they
crowned themselves with flowers, and scattered them on the
table-cloth and the floor."

The Marquis de Chesnel, in his History of the Rose, mentions
that, among the old customs of Auvergne, Anjou, Tours, Lodu-
nois, and Maine, there was one in the noble families, that a father
who had sons, frequently gave to his daughters, on their mar-
riage, only a wreath of roses. In Normandy, also, the daughters
received, for their legitimate portion, a hat adorned with the
same flowers. Among the ancient seignorial rights in France,
in the 14th century, was one by which each tenant was obliged
to furnish a bushel of roses for the manufacture of rose-water for
the lord of the soil. Madame de Genlis mentions, however, that
about the same period, every one was not allowed to cultivate

THE ROSE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 35

these flowers ; but permission to do so was granted to privileged
persons. Whether it was ever a royal monopoly she does not
state ; but it would certainly be no more singular than the
monopoly of the sale of butter by the King of Naples at the
present day.

We have already mentioned the wars of the White and Red
Rose, which during so long a time deluged England with blood.
There is also an instance in French history, where this flower,
associated as it is with innocence and pleasant thoughts, served,
under the reign of Charles VI., as the rallying sign of the faction
of Burgundy against that of Armagnac, The Parisians, urged
by the agents of the Duke of Burgundy, established the order of
St. Andre for their partisans, in order to manage them more
easily ; and the church of St. Eustache was chosen as their ren-
dezvous. Each church member wore a crown of red roses, of
which more than seven hundred were made in the space of
twelve hours, and the flowers were sufficiently abundant to per-
fume the whole church.

According to an ancient custom, the dukes and peers of France
were formerly obliged to present roses to the Parliament of Paris,
at certain periods of its session. The peer who was chosen to
do the honors of this ceremony, caused all the chambers of Par-
liament to be scattered with roses, flowers, and fragrant herbs ;
and entertained at a splendid breakfast the presidents, councilors,
and even the notaries and door-keepers of the court. He after-
wards went into each chamber, accompanied by a page with a
large silver basin, which contained as many bouquets of roses
and other flowers as there were public officers, with an equal
number of crowns composed of the same flowers. The Parlia-
ment also had its cultivator of roses, called the Rosier de la
Cour^ from whom the peers could obtain the roses for their
presents.

Under the reign of Fi-ancis I., in 1541, there was a dispute
between the Due de Montpensier and the Due de Nevers respect-
ing the presentage of the roses to Parliament. It was decided
that the Due de Montpensier, from his rank as prince of the

36 THE ROSE IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

blood, should be entitled to the first piesentage. Among the
princes of the royal family who submitted to this ceremony at
later periods, are numbered the dukes of Vendome, Beaumont,
Angouleme, and several other distinguished names. Henry IV.,
while only King of Navarre, proved to the procureur-general
that neither he nor his predecessors had ever failed to perform
that duty.

About the year 1631, there was published a very curious book
on the Rose, by a German named Rosenberg. About 250 octavo
pages are devoted entirely to the praise of the curative properties
of the Rose in almost every known disease, making, in fact, this
flower a universal panacea for the many ills to which flesh
is heir. The author also claims for it supernatural qualities,
particularly for driving away evil spirits. The work closes by
asserting, as a positive fact, supported by several authorities
which he quotes, the remarkable regeneration or resurrection of
the Rose. He gives also the process of this reproduction, which
is scarcely worth inserting here, being, Ijke the story of the
Phoenix, a fable engendered by superstition upon ignorance. It
is somewhat surprising that this fable should have been very
gravely reproduced, in a French work on the Rose, published in
1800. The author states that, " notwithstanding the many
marvelous things which we already know respecting the im-
proving, forcing, changing, and multiplying of roses, we have yet
to describe the most surprising of all — that of its regeneration ;
or, in other words, the manner of reproducing that flower from
its own ashes. This is called the imperial secret, because the
Emperor Ferdinand HI. purchased it of a foreign chemist, at a
very high price." The conclusion is a rather amusing instance
of Munchausenism in the 19th century. " Finally, all this
material being placed in a glass vessel, with a certain quantity
of pure dew, forms a blue powder, from which, when heat is
applied, there springs a stem, leaves, and flowers, and a whole
and perfect plant is formed from its own ashes."

It is difficult to credit the fact that, in any part of this
enlightened age, an author could be found who would gravely

THE ROSE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 37

and in sincerity advance such opinions and state such facts as
the above ; and it is but an additional proof, if such were want-
ing, that nothing can be advanced too monstrous or too incredi-
ble to be entirely without believers.

If the sight of roses, or their delicate fragrance, has been gene-
rally delightful and pleasing, there have also been those who
could not endure them. Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIIL,
of France, although otherwise very fond of perfumes, had such
an antipathy to the rose, that she could not bear the sight of
one even in a painting. The Duke of Guise had a still stronger
dislike, for he always made his escape at the sight of a rose.
Dr. Ladelius mentions a man who was obliged to become a re-
cluse, and dared not leave his house, during the season of roses ;
because, if he happened to imbibe their fragrance, he was imme-
diately seized with a violent cold in his head.

The odor of the rose, like that of many other flowers, has
often occasioned serious injury, particularly in closed apartments ;
and no one should venture to sleep with them in his chamber.
Some authors of credibility mention instances of death caused
by a large quantity of roses being left during the night in a
sleeping apartment. Thus it is, that the most beautiful things
in life contain the elements of death.

4

CHAPTER V.

PERFUMES OF THE ROSE.

T an early period in the cultivation of
the Rose, and after its admission among
the luxuries of the wealthy, human skill
was exerted to extract its delightful per-
fume.

Several authors have considered the
invention of the essence of the Rose very
ancient, and have even traced it back as far as the siege of Troy.
This however can scarcely be admitted, for nothing relating to
the essence, or essential oil of roses can be found in Homer, or
in any other author for many subsequent years. The discovery
of these valuable articles of commerce was made at a much later
period. If the essential oil of roses had been known to the
ancient Greeks or Romans, it would probably have been more
particularly mentioned by Pliny, and the mode of preparation
even would have been described. In speaking, however, of vari-
ous perfumes, he says nothing of any distillation from the petals
of the Rose, but simply mentions that as early as the siege of
Troy, the expressed juice of roses was known, and being mixed
with a delicate oil, formed an agreeable perfume.

In speaking of artificial oils in general, Pliny also observes
that the oil of roses was made by simply steeping the rose-petals
in oil. According to the same author, oil was the body of nearly
all the perfumes used at that day, and for a perfuming substance

PERFUMES OF THE ROSE. 39

roses were most frequently used, because they grew everywhere
in the greatest abundance.

Perfumes of ever}' kind were more abundantly used among
the ancient Greeks and Romans, than at the present day.
Athenseus, in his Feast of Wise Men, states that nearly all of
these were drawn from the Rose, and says that the most sweet
were those of Cyrene, while those of Naples, Capua, and Faseoli,
were the best and most delightful of all.

This agrees with the subsequent researches made on the same
subject, by D'Orbessan. "The cities of Naples, Capua, and Pre-
neste," says the latter, " obtained their roses from Campania, where
there is yet a considerable tract of land, commonly called 11 maz-
zone delle Rose.

" This field is sometimes called Rosetinus, on account of the
prodigious quantity of roses which grow there without culture,
and in greater abundance than in any other section of that
country."

Athenaeus states that the perfume of roses was frequently used
in culinar}'- preparations, and gives a curious receipt for a sort of
pot-jwurri, made by the cook of the King of Sicily. " This is
what I call potted roses, and it is thus prepared : I first pound
some of the most fragrant roses in a mortar ; then I take the
brains of birds and pigs, well boiled and stripped of every particle
of meat ; I then add the yolks of some eggs, some oil, a little
cordial, some pepper, and some wine : after having beaten and
mixed it well together, I throw it in a new pot, and place it over
a slow, but steady fire." "As he said these things," so runs the
story, "the cook uncovered the pot, and there issued forth a
most delicious fragrance, perfuming the whole dining-hall and
overcoming the guests with delight." This is a point in gastro-
nomic luxuiy to which Americans have not yet attained.

Although the perfume of roses was considered more choice
than any other, it was frequently used v/hen men were least in
the state to enjoy it ; for D'Orbessan states that slaves were made
to burn it around their masters while sleeping.

If the essential oil of roses was known in the time of Pliny,

40 PERFUMES OF THE ROSE.

that ciuthor would have mentioned it among the most esteemed
and precious perfumes. So far from this, however, he only
speaks of the "Royal Perfume," so called because it was pre-
pared expressly for the King of the Parthians. This was com-
posed of the oil of Ben, an Arabian tree, with several aromatic
substances. According to Langles, who has carefully examined
a great number of oriental works, no writer previous to the 16th
century has mentioned the essential oil of roses, although these
flowers abounded at that time, and mention is made of rose-
water as an agreeable perfume. Besides these negative proofs
against the ancient existence of this perfume, Langles quotes
several oriental historians, from which it seems evident that its
discovery dates about the year 1612, and was owing entirely to
accident.

According to Father Catron, in his History of the Mogul
Empire, in the fetes which the sultana Nourmahal gave to the
great Mogul Jehan-guire, their chief pleasure was sailing together
in a canal which Nourmahal had filled with rose-water.

One day that the Emperor was thus sailing with Nourmahal,
they perceived a sort of froth forming and floating upon the water.
They drew it out, and perceived that it was the essential oil
which the heat of the sun had disengaged from the water and
collected together on the surface. The whole seraglio pro-
nounced the perfume the most exquisite known in the Indies ;
and they immediately endeavored to imitate by art that which
nature had made. Thus was discovered the essence, essential
oil, otto or attar of roses.

According to Langles, the word AHlcer, AHhr or Othr, which
the Arabs, Turks, and Persians use to designate the essential oil
of Roses without adding the name of that flower, is Arabic, and
signifies perfume. It is necessary, the same author states, to
recollect the distinction between AHher or AHher gul and gu-
lab, which is simply rose-water.

From the very small quantity congealed on the surface of
the water, the manufacture is limited and the cost of the arti-
cle immense. Lansrles states that the rose-water is left ex

PERFUMES OF THE ROSE. 41

posed to the freshness of the nighi, and in the morning a very
small quantity of attar is found collected on the surface.

Dr. Monro, according to Loudon, gives the manner of making
the attar in Cashmere, which is apparently more simple, without
the tedious process of distilling.

" The rose-petals are put into a wooden vessel with pure water,
and exposed for several days to the ]ieat of the sun. The oily
particles being disengaged by the heat, float upon the surface of
the water, whence they are taken up from time to time, by ap-
plying to them some very fine dry cotton wool. From this wool
the oil is pressed into little bottles, which are immediately after-
wards sealed hermetically."

Another method is, exposing the rose water to strong heat,
then suddenly cooling it, and collecting the drops of congealed
oil which float upon the surface.

Bishop Heber describes the method used in India, which is very
similar to that of Langles. The attar has the consistency of
butter, and never becomes liquid except in the warmest weather.

Loudon states that " a wretched substitute for otto of roses, is
said to be formed by the apothecaries of Paris. The petals of
Rosa damascena are boiled in a large caldron of water, along
with as much hog's lard as will cover its surface with a thin
stratum of grease. The oil of the rose-petals, on separating from
them by boiling, unites with this grease, from which it is again
separated by spirits of wdne." A large portion of the attar im-
ported into the United States is probably of this manufacture ;
and the corn-fed animals of the West yield a part of their unctu-
ous bodies to be sent to France, and returned to us in a shape fit
for the lady's handkerchief or boudoir.

The quantity of genuine attar produced from a given weight
of rose-petals is not always the same ; it is very liable to vary
according to the nature of the cHmate, the temperature of differ-
ent seasons, the period of bloom at which the roses are picked,
the process of manufacture, and the skill of the manufacturers.
Generally a hundred pounds of roses will scarcely produce a
drachm of attar, sometimes only half a drachm, and at others a

42 PERFUMES OF THE ROSE.

drachm and a half. Bishop Heber states that in India, at Gha-
zepoor, two hundred thousand well grown roses are required to
produce one rupee's (165 grains) weight of attar. The calyx is
sometimes used with the petal, but as the oil of that contains
little or no perfume, although it may increase the quantity of
attar, it must sensibly weaken its properties.

The color of attar is generally green, sometimes lemon or rose
color, and occasionally brownish. These differences in color are
owing to the various processes of manufacture, and the different
periods at which the roses are picked. The attar is prepared in
Barbary, Syria, Arabia, Persia, India, in the island of Scio, at
Fayoum in Egypt, at Tunis, and many other places in the East.
That made in Syria and Barbary is considered veiy inferior ;
while the best is made in Chyraz, Kerman, and Cashmere. In
some parts of France and Italy, it is also prepared, but in com-
paratively small quantities.

The attar is very costly, although not so dear as formerly.
The French traveler Tavernier. who visited Ispahan about the
year 1666, stated that the price of attar at Chyraz rose and fell
every year, on account of the unequal produce of flowers; and
that an ounce of that article sold at one period for ten tomans
(about 92 dollars).

At the time another Frenchman, Chardin, traveled in Persia,
some years after Tavernier, the attar was sometimes much
higher. He states that forty pounds of rose-water were required
to produce half a drachm of attar, an ounce of which some-
times sold in India for 200 ecus. Langles states that in India,
half an ounce of attar is worth about forty dollars. Bishop
Heber also speaks of its enormous price at Ghazepoor, where
the variation in price is also very great, being, according to
Langles, sometimes as low as eight dollars an ounce.

At one time, soon after its discovery, it was valued at about
five times its weight in gold. Until quite recently it was worth
its weight in gold, but now sells in Paris for about one quarter
that value.

Attar is rarely found pure in commerce ; it is always more or

PERFUMES OF THE ROSE. 43

less adulterated. In the countries where it is manufactured,
they frequently increase the quantity of the attar, by mixing
scrapings of sandal-wood with the rose-petals during the process
of distillation. Kaempfer, a German writer, states this mode of
adulteration to have been known a long time, and adds that the
sandal-wood gives additional strength to the attar ; but another
author, who has also made some researches on the subject,
asserts that the sandal-wood injures the delicacy of the attar,
which is more sweet and agreeable when mild, than when
strong.

The quality, as well as the quantity of attar, which they ob-
tain from roses, depends upon the proportion of aroma which they
contain ; and this is found more developed at the south and in
a warm climate. The kinds of roses used in distillation have
also a great influence on the quality of the attar. In Persia
and the East, the Musk Rose is generally used ; and the Damask
is employed in France.

Although roses are distilled in large quantities at Paris, for
perfumery and for medical purposes, very little attar is made,
because the proportion of the manufactured article to the roses
requiredj^s in that climate extremely small ; so small in fact,
that, according to one writer, five thousand parts in weight of
rose-petals, will scarcely produce one part of essential oil. This
limited manufacture exists only at Grasse and Montpelier in
France, and at Florence in Italy.

Some years since, the adulteration of attar was successfully
practised in the south of France, by mixing wath it the essence
distilled from the leaves of the Rose Geranium {Pelargonium
odoratissimum). This adulteration is very difficult to detect,
because this last essence possesses the same properties as the
attar ; its odor is almost the same — like that, it is of a lemon
color, it chrystalizes at a lower temperature, and its density is
very little greater.

The attar, when pure, is, beyond comparison, the most sweet
and agreeable of all perfumes. Its fragrance is the most delicate
conceivable, and equals that of the freshly expanded Rose. It is

44

PERFUMES OF THE ROSE.

also SO strong and penetrating, that a single drop, or as much as
will attach itself to the point of a needle, is sufficient to perfume
an apartment for several days ; and if the small flask in which
it is sold, although tightly corked and sealed, is placed in a
drawer, it will perfume all the contents.

When in a congealed or chrystalized state, the attar will
liquify at a slight heat, and if the flask is merely held in the
hand, a few minutes will suffice to render it liquid. In the
East, much use is made of the attar, particularly in the harems.
In Europe and America, it is employed in the manufacture of
cordials and in the preparation of various kinds of perfumery.

Rose-water, or the liquid obtained from rose-petals by distilla-
tion, is very common, and is found in almost every country
where the arts and luxuries of life have at all advanced.

Pliny tells us, that rose-water was a favorite perfume of the
Roman ladies ; and the most luxurious used it even in their
baths. ^ This, however, must have been some preparation differ-
ent from that now known as rose-water, and was probably a
mere tincture of roses.

The ancients could have known nothing of rose-water, for
they were entirely ignorant of the art of distillation, which only
came into practice after the invention of the alembic by the
Arabs. Some attribute this discovery to Rhazes, an Arabian
physician who lived in the early part of the tenth century ; and
others attribute it to Avicenna, who lived at Chyraz, in the latter
part of the same century. It is also attributed to Geber, a cele-
brated Arabian alchemist, who lived in Mesopotamia in the
eighth century. Subsequent, therefore, to this discovery of the
alembic, we find, according to Gmelin, in his history of the pre-
paration of distilled waters, that the first notice of rose-water is
by Aben-Zohar, a Jewish physician, of Seville, in Spain, who
recommends it for diseases of the eye. From the Arabs this in-
vention passed among the Greeks and Romans, as we are in-
formed by Actuarius, a writer of the eleventh or twelfth century.

In France, the first distillation of rose-water appears to have

PERFUMES OF THE ROSE. 45

been made by Ainaiid de Villeneuve, a physician, who Hved in
the latter part of the thirteenth century.

The Orientals made great use of this water in various ways
in their houses, and in the purification of their temples, when
they thought they had been profaned by any other worship than
that of Mahomet. There are many anecdotes told by historians,
of the use of rose-water by the Sultans on various occasions ;
and several of these, as Chateaubriand remarks, are stories
worthy of the East. It is related of Saladin, that when he took
Jerusalem from the Crusaders, in 1187, he would not enter the
Mosque of Omar, which had been converted into a church by
the Christians, until the walls and courts had been thoroughly
washed and purified with rose-water brought from Damascus,
^ive hundred camels, it is stated, were scarcely sufficient to
convey all the rose-water used for this purpose. An Arabian
writer tells us, that the princes of the family of Saladin, hasten-
ing to Jerusalem tow^orship Allah, Malek- Abdul and his nephew,
Taki-Eddin, distinguished themselves above all others. The
latter repaired with all his followers to the " Chapel of the Holy
Cross," and taking a broom himself, he swept all the dirt from
the floor, washed the walls and the ceiling several times with
pure water, and then washed them with rose-water ; having
thus cleansed and purified the place, he distributed large alms to
the poor.

Bibars, the fourth Sultan of the Mameluke dynast)^, who
reigned from 1260 to 1277, caused the Caaba of the temple of
Mecca to be washed with rose-water.

Mahomet II., after the capture of Constantinople, in 1453,
would not enter the Mosque of St. Sophia, which had been for-
merly used as a church, until he had caused it to be washed
with rose-water.

It is stated by a French historian, that the greatest display of
gorgeous magnificence at that period, was made in 1611, by the
Sultan Ahmed I., at the dedication of the new Caaba, which
had been built or repaired at his expense ; amber and aloes were
burnt in profusion, and, in the extravagance of eastern language,

46 PERFUMES OF THE ROSE.

oceans of rose-water were set afloat, for washing the courts and
interior surface of the walls. Rose-water is by no means so
generally used now, as for a few hundred years subsequent to its
invention. In France, during the reign of Philip Augustus, it
was a necessary article at court. It was formerly the custom to
carry large vases, filled with rose-water, to baptisms. Illustrat-
ing this custom, Bayle relates a story of Rousard, the French
poet : " It nearly happened that the day of his birth was also
that of his death ; for when he was carried from the Chateau de
La Poissoniere to the church of the place, to be baptized, the
nurse who carried him carelessly let him fall ; his fall, however,
was upon the grass and flowers, which received him softly ; it so
happened that a young lad\^, who carried a vase filled with rose
water, and a collection of flowers, in her haste to aid in helping ♦
the child, overturned on his head a large part of the rose-water.
This incident was considered a presage of the good odor with
which France would one day be filled, by the flowers of his
learned wiitings."

At one time rose-water was largely consumed in the prepara-
tion of food, and the seasoning of various dishes. In the "Pri-
vate life of the French," it is mentioned that in the fourteenth
century, the Comte d'Etampes gave a feast, in which a large
part of the dishes, and even the chestnuts were prepared with
rose-water. It is still used to flavor various dishes, but its prin-
cipal use is in afllections of the eyelids, or as a perfume for the
toilet. The principal consumption of rose-water is however in
the East, where the inhabitants are very fond of perfumes. In
Persia a very large quantity is made annually, for domestic use.
They deem it an excellent beverage mixed with pure water.

The Corinth Grape, mixed with rose-water, and a slight infu-
sion of spices, is the nectar so much in vogue among the Greeks
of Morea. The Persians, according to Lebruyn, sprinkle with
rose-water those who visit them. They also make it an impor-
tant article of commerce ; large quantities are sent to different
parts of the East, and entire cargoes are sometimes shipped
to India.

PERFUMES OF THE ROSE. 47

In Egypt, the nobles and wealthy inhabitants consume large
quantities of rose-water ; they scatter it over their divans, and
other places where they spend their time ; they also offer it with
confectionary, to their visiters.

The custom of offering rose-water to a guest, is alluded to by
Shakspeare, who makes one of his characters in Padua say :

" What is it your honor will command 1
Let one attend him with a silver bason
Full of rose-water, and bestrewed with flowers."

Almost all the rose-water used in this country is distilled in
the province of Fayoum, from the pale rose. "About the mid-
dle of February, in Fayoum," says a French writer, "they pluck
the roses every morning before sunrise, while the dew is yet
upon them ; they then place them immediately in the alembic,
not allowing them to become dry or heated by remaining too
long a time without distillation. This lucrative branch of manu-
facture has not escaped the monopoly of Mehemet Ali. No
private individual can now distil roses in Egypt, and those who
cultivate them are obliged to sell the petals to government at a
low price. The value of all the rose-water distilled in Fayoum,
annually, is estimated at 50,000 or 60,000 francs." Of the pror
fusion with which rose-water is used in India, some idea may
be formed from the narrative of Bishop Heber, who was shown,
in the ruins of the palace of Ghazepoor, a deep trench round
an octagonal platform of blue, red, and white mosaic pavement.
This trench, he was told, was filled with rose-water when the
Nawab and his friends were feasting in the middle. " The
ancient oil of roses," according to Loudon, " is obtained by bruising
fresh rose-petals, mixing them with four times their weight of
olive oil, and leaving them in a sand -heat for two days. If the
red Rose de Provins is used, the oil is said to imbibe no odor ;
but if the petals of pale roses are employed, it becomes per-
fumed. This preparation was celebrated among the ancients.
Pliny says that, according to Homer, roses were macerated for
their oil in the time of the Trojans. The oil is chiefly used for

48 PERFUMES OF THE ROSE.

the hair, and is generally sold in perfumers' shops, both in
France and England, under the name of Vhuile mitique de RoseJ^

Spirit of roses is made by distilling rose-petals with a small
quantity of spirits of wine, and forms an agreeable article for
external applications. The green leaves of the sweet briar are
sometimes, in France, steeped in spirits of wine, to impart a fra-
-/ grance ; and in England they are frequently used to flavor cow-

slip wine.

As the petals of the rose preserve their fragrance for a long
time after being dried, many are in the habit of making annu-
ally little bags filled with them. These, being placed in a
drawer or wardrobe, impart an agreeable perfume to the linen
or clothing with which they may come in contact. The petals
can be obtained from almost any garden, in sufficient quantity
for this purpose, and can be dried by the process mentioned here-
after. The confectioners, distillers, and perfumers, of France,
draw from the Rose the greater part of their perfumes, particu-
larly from damascena and centifolia, in fixing their sweet odors
in sugar-plums, creams, ices, oils, pomatum, essences, and fra-
grant powders.

The petals of the Rose, after being freshly picked and bruised
in a marble mortar, until they are reduced to a sort of paste, are
employed in the preparation of different kinds of confectionary.
Of this paste the French also make little perfume balls, of the
size of a pea. They are made round in the same manner as
pills, and before becoming hard, they are pierced with a needle
and thread on a piece of silk. In a little while they become hard
like wood, assume a brownish color, and emit a delightful per-
fume. This rose scent continues very long, and one writer re-
marks, that he has known a necklace, made in this style, possess,
at the end of 25 years, as strong a perfume as when first made.

In Great Britain, in the vicinity of the large cities, and in many
private gardens, the flowers are gathered for making rose-water
or for drying as perfumes. In Holland, the Dutch hundred-
leaved and common cahhage-rosc are grown extensively at
Noordwich, between Leyden and Haarlem, and the dried leaves

PERFUMES OP THE ROSE. 49

are sent to Amsterdam and Constantinople. In Fiance, the
Provins Rose is extensively cultivated near the town of Provins,
about 60 miles south-east of Paris, and also at Fontenay aux
Roses, near Paris, for the manufacture of rose-water, or for
exportation in a dried state. The petals of the Provins Rose
{Rosa gallica) are the only ones that are said to gain additional
fragrance in drying ; all the other varieties losing in this process
more or less of their perfume. A French writer states, that
apothecaries employ both pale and red roses ; the pale give the
most perfume, while the red keep the longest.

Loudon states, that " the petals of roses ought always to be
gathered as soon as the flower is fully expanded ; and the gath-
ering should never be deferred until it has begun to fade ; be-
cause, in the latter case, the petals are not only discolored, but
weakened in their perfume and their medical properties. They
should be immediately separated from the calyx, and the claws
of the petals pinched off; they are then dried in the shade, if the
weather is dry and Avarm, or by a stove in a room, if the season
is humid ; care being taken, in either case, not to spread them on
the ground, but on a platform raised two or three feet above it.
The drying should be conducted expeditiously, because it has
been found that slowly dried petals do not exhale near so much
odor as those which have been dried quickly ; which is also the
case with hay, sweet herbs, and odoriferous vegetables generally.
After the petals are dried, they are free from any sand, dust, or
eggs of insects, which may adhere to them, by shaking them and
rubbing them gently in a fine seive. After this the petals are put
into close vessels, from which the air is excluded, and which are
kept in a dry, airy situation.

" As it is extremely difficult to free the rose-petals entirely from
the eggs of insects, they are taken out of these vessels two or three
times a year, placed in selves, rubbed, cleaned, and replaced."

I have been careful to give the details of the above process,
because it may be useful to those who embark extensively in
the cultivation of roses, for the exportation of petals in a dried in
state. Judging from facts in vegetable physiology, we should

5

50 PERFUMES OF THE ROSE.

suppose that rose-petals produced in this latitude, where the Rose
has a long period of hibernation, would produce more perfume
and be more valuable in a dried state than those grown under the
tropics. The Provins and Damask Rose are both known to suc-
ceed well here and to produce abundant flowers. Their fra-
grance is unsurpassed, and our summer's sun would be abundantly
sufficient to dry the petals without any artificial heat. It is not
too much to hope that the attention of our cultivators may yet
be directed to this subject, and that the manufacture of rose-water
and the preparation of dried petals may yet be an important
branch of domestic industry, and form an important addition to
the list of exported articles.

CHAPTER VI.

THE MEDICAL PROPERTIES OP THE ROSE.

E have hitherto viewed the Rose as the chief
ornament of our gardens, and if we have
found it abounding with charms of fragrance
and beauty, we shall now find it occupying
a prominent place in materia medica. Some
authors have, with a degree of exaggeration,
endeavored to make its medical as brilliant as its floral reputa-
tion. Rosenberg, in his work on the Rose, makes it a specific in
every disease, and even attributes to it supernatural virtue's.

In the opinion of most medical men, the medical properties of
the Rose are about the same in all the kinds, while some writers
assert that the Rosa gallica is superior to all others in a greater
or less degree. We will mention those principall}' used in medi-
cine, and the properties which are especially attributed to each.

The most valuable properties of the Rose reside in its petals,
and in order to preserve these properties, it is highly essential
that the petals should be quickly and perfectly dried. Those of
the Provins Rose [Rosa gallica) have an astringent and some-
what bitter taste, and are tonic and astringent in their effects.

According to an analysis recently made in France, they con-
tain, besides vegetable matter and essential oil, a portion of gallic
acid, coloring matter, albumen, tannin, some salts, with a base of
potash or of chalk, silex and oxyde of iron. A small dose in pow-
der strengthens the stomach and assists digestion. Their pro-

52 MEDICAL PROPERTIES OF THE ROSE.

longed use will sometimes cause a slight constipation of the
bowels, while in a much stronger dose they act as purgatives.

The conserve of the Provins Rose has much reputation in
France, for the trea:tment of all chronics and affections of the
bowels, caused by \veakness and inactivity of the digestive organs ;
it is also employed in colic, in diarrhea, in cases of hemorrhage
and leucorrhoea.

The conserve of any variety of roses is considered excellent in
cases of cold or catarrh. It is prepared by bruising in a mortar
the petals with their Aveight in sugar, and moistening them with
a little rose-water, until the whole forms a homogeneous mass.
Some receipts prescribe powdered petals mixed with an equal
part of sugar ; others direct to use two layers of sugar and only
one layer of pulverized petals.

Opoix, a physician of Provins, states that the true Rose of Pro-
vins has a more sweet and penetrating fragrance than the same
rose grown elsewhere, and even goes so far as to say that they
have acquired properties which they do -not possess in their native
country, the Caucasus. On account of the supposed superior
qualities of this rose, the citizens of Provins, in 1807, addressed
a petition to government to encourage in their territory the culti-
vation of the true Provins Rose, by giving it the preference in all
the hospitals and military dispensaries. This gave rise to a dis-
cussion between two French chemists, but without deciding the
fact whether the Rosa gallica was superior in medical properties
to any other rose. It seems to be acknowledged that those culti-
vated at Provins were superior to the same kind grown else-
where, and this superiority is attributed by some to the presence
of iron in the soil about that city. It was probably owing also
to the very careful cultivation practised there. The petals are
used extensively in several medical preparations, as the sugar of
roses, the ointment of roses, the treacle of roses, &c. Rose-water
is, however, more extensively used in medicine than any other
preparation of the rose. This water, when manufactured from
the gallica or any other vaiiety of the centifoUce, is eiYiployed
internally as an astringent, and is sometimes mixed with other

MEDICAL PROPERTIES OF THE ROSE. 53

medicines to destroy their disagreeable smell and taste. In exter-
nal applications, it is used principally for affections of the eyes,
either alone or with some ointment.

The alcoholic tincture of roses, or spirit of roses before described,
which was formerly given as a stimulus in many cases, has now
fallen very much into disuse, medical opinion being very much
against the employment of any alcoholic medicines excepting in
very rare cases.

The syrup of roses, manufactured from the pale or damask
rose, is sometimes employed as a purgative, and was once highly
esteemed and recommended, as a mild laxative. It is now, how-
ever, scarcely considered^purgative, and its laxative properties are
probably owing in a great measure to the senna and' other arti-
cles which enter into its preparation.

The electuary of roses, which is now no longer used, was also
probably indebted for its medical qualities to the addition of
scammony, a very strong purgative.

Vinegar of roses is made by simply infusing dried rose-petals
in the best distilled vinegar, to which they communicate their
perfume. It is used for cooking and for the toilet, and is valu-
able for headaches when applied in the same Avay as common
vinegar. The ancients prepared this vinegar, and also the wine
and oil of roses, which are no longer used.

Honey of roses is made by beating up rose-petals with a ver}-
small portion of boiling water ; the liquid, after being filtered, is
boiled with honey. This is esteemed for sore throats, for ulcers
in the mouth, and for anything t'.iat is benefited by the use of
honey.

The fruit of the rose is said also to possess some astringent
properties ; tlie pulp of the fruit of the wild varieties, particularly
of the dog-rose, after being separated from the seeds and beaten
up in a mortar with sugar, makes a sort of conserve kno\^ a in
medicine under the name of Cynorrhodon.

Children in the country sometimes eat these fruits after they
have attained perfect maturity, and have been somewhat mel-
lowed by the frost; they then lose their pungent taste and be-

5*

54 MEDICAL PROPERTIES OF THE ROSE.

come a little sweet. Belanger, a French writer who traveled in
Persia in 1825, found in that country a rose whose fruit was very
agreeably flavored. The apple-bearing rose {R. villosa pomifera)
produces the largest fruit of all, and is the best adapted for pre-
serving ; but an English writer remarks, that the fruit of R. sys-
tyla and R. arve?isis, although of a smaller size, bears a higher
flavor than that of any other species. Rose-buds, like the fruit,
are also frequently preserved in sugar, and pickled in vinegar.
Tea is sometimes made of the leaves of the rose, which are also
eaten readily by the domestic animals.

The ends of the young shoots of the sweet briar, deprived of
their bark and foliage, and cut into short pieces, are sometimes
candied and sold by the confectioners.

The Dog-Rose takes its name fioni the virtue which the an-
cients attributed to its root, as a cure for hydrophobia.

The heathen deities themselves, according to Pliny, revealed
this marvelous property, in dream, to a mother whose son had
been bitten by a dog affected with this terrible disease.

The excrescences frequently found on the branches of the Rose,
and particularly on those of the wild varieties, known to drug-
gists by the Arabic name of bCdegna?; and which resemble in
form a little bunch of moss, partake equally of the astringent pro-
perties of the Rose. These excrescences are caused by the punc-
ture of a little insect, known to naturalists as the cy^nips rosce,
and occasionally nearly the same effects are produced by other
insects.

CHAPTER VII.

GENERAL REMARKS.

HE name of the Rose is very similar in mo?(
f^^ languages, but of its primitive derivation very
little or nothing is known. It is rhodon in
Greek ; rhos^ in Celtic ; rosa, in Latin, Ital-
ian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian, and
Polish ; rose^ in French. Saxon, and Eng-
lish ; rose?i, in German ; roose, in Dutch ;
rhosha, in Sclavonic ; ros, in Irish ; riioze, in Bohemian ; oiias-
rath, in Arabic; iiisrin, in Turkish; chabhatzeleth, in Hebrew:
and gill, in Persian. These are the various names by which
the flower has been known from very early times, and a strong
resemblance can be traced through all. The Latin name, I'osa,
also forms a component part of terms used to designate several
other things.

The name of rosary was given to a string of beads used in the
Romish Church to represent a certain number of prayers ; it was
instituted about the year 667, but was not much used until Peter
the hermit excited the Christian nations to the Crusade, about
1096. Dominique, a Romish saint, established, in 1207, the
brotherhood of the Rosary, and the festival of the Rose was in-
stituted in 1571 by Pope Pius V., in thanksgiving for the victory
gained by the Christians over the Turks at Lepante. Subse-

56 GENERAL REMARKS.

quent popes gave to that ceremony more eclat, and caused it to
be established in Spain. The name of rosary was formerly also
given to the vessel used in distilling rose-water. This flower has
also given the idea of new forms of beauty in architecture and
the arts. A rose is sometimes sculptured in the centre of each
face of a Corinthian capital. It is also frequently seen in iron
castings for the banisters of the stone steps of a house, and it
is sometimes displayed upon the pavement in front of some
splendid mansion. This, however, is rare in the United States,
although frequent in Europe.

Among all the imitations of the Rose, none can compare with
those painted on glass, some of which can be found in the win-
dows of celebrated European Cathedrals in Canterbury, Cologne,
Milan, Rheims, St. Denis and others. We can scarcely imagine
anything more beautifully soft than these paintings on glass, as
seen from the interior of a church, in the rich light of a glowing
sun-set ; the Rose thus painted seems to possess all the freshness
and beauty of the real flower.

The nave of the Cathedral of Paris, besides twenty-four large
windows, is lighted by three others, large and magnificent, in
the shape of a Rose, which are each forty feet in diameter. The
paintings on glass which ornament these windows were executed
in the 13th century, and still retain their fresh and bright colors :
that over the grand entrance represents the signs of the zodiac,
and the agricultural labors of each month.

In heraldry, the rose frequently forms part of a shield, in full
bloom, with a bud in the centre, and with five points to imitate
thorns ; it is an emblem of beauty and of nobility acquired with
difficulty.

The Golden Rose was considered so honorable a present, that
none but monarchs were worthy to receive it.

In the lltli century, the Pope introduced the custom of bless-
ing a golden Rose, which he presented to some church, or to
some prince or princess, as an especial mark of his favor.

In 1096, the Pope Urban II. gave a Golden Rose to the Corate
d'Anjou. Alexander III. sent one to Louis, King of France,

GENERAL REMARKS. 57

in acknowledgment of the attentions of that prince during the
pope's A^sit to France, as stated in a letter which he wrote the king".

" In accordance with the custom of our ancestors, in carrying
a rose of gold in their hands on Dimanche Leetare, we do not
think we can present it to one who merits it more than yourself,
from your devotion to the Church and to ourselves."

Pope John, in 1 115, sent the Golden Rose to the Emperor Sigis-
mund. Martin V., in 1418, sent another to the same prince. Pius-
II., in 1461, sent one to Thomas Paleologue, emperor of Con-
stantinople. Henry VIII., of England, before his separation from
the Church of Rome, received the Golden Rose twice ; the first
from Julius II., and the second from Leo X. : and recently, in
1842, the Pope's Nuncio Capaccini presented it to Donna Maria,
Queen of Portugal.

The public ceremony of blessing the Rose was not instituted
until 1366, by Urban V. : that pontiff, wishing to give a particu-
lar mark of his esteem to Joanna, Queen of Sicily, solemnly
blessed a Golden Rose, which he sent her, and made at the same
time a decree, that a similar one should be consecrated every
year. For fifty or sixty years, the Pope gave the Rose to princes
who came to Rome ; and it was the custom to give 500 louis to
the officer who carried it for the Pope. The Rose, in its intrinsic
value, was however sometimes worth double that sum.

We have thus given all the information we have been able
to collect respecting the history of the Rose.

We shall feel abundantly gratified if the facts and anecdotes
we have cited, shall tend to enhance the already growing interest
in this flower ; and by thus connecting it with the lore of an-
tiquity, cast around it a bright halo of pleasant associations.

Among the various riches of the garden, there are many flowers
of great attractions : some we admire for their beautiful forms,
others for their brilliant colors ; and others again for their delight-
ful fragrance : and we scarcely know which to pronounce the
most pleasing. But whatever may be our feelings of admiration
for these beautiful flowers, a desire for something still more

58 GENERAL REMARKS.

beautiful draws us to the Rose, and compels us to pronounce it
superior to all its rivals. It is the Rose alone that never fatigues,
that always exhibits some new beauty, and that is never affected
by fashion ; for while Dahlias and other flowers have had their
hour of favor, and have passed out of notice, the Rose has been
a favorite for some three thousand years, and is still the first and
most beautiful, — the chef d'osuvre of the vegetable kingdom.

The Rose is rendered a favorite by many pleasant associations.
It has been, as we have shown, the cherished flower of the an-
cient poets, and it will be shown again, that with modern poets,
it has lost none of its charms, but is still apostrophized and made
an object of frequent comparison. With the ancients, it was,
as we have seen, the ornament of their festivals, their altars, and
their tombs : it was the emblem of beauty, youth, modesty and
innocence, and was full of tender sentiment and pleasant images.
A French writer, in a somewhat more extravagant vein of lau-
dation, says, " Its name alone gives birth in all sensible minds to
a crowd of pleasant thoughts, while, at the same time, it excites
a sensation of the most delightful pleasures, and the most sweet
enjoyments." The name of " Q.ueen of Flowers," has been
given to the Rose, almost from time immemorial ; but this name
is particularly applicable to the centifolia and the hybrids from
it, among which the Rose figured in this work — La Heine — stands
conspicuous. For size, form and brilliant color, it stands indeed
the Q,ueen among Roses. But the little, modest wild-rose, found
only in woods and hedges, adorns the solitude where it grows,
and possesses for many a charm not surpassed by that of any
of the cultivated varieties : its regularly formed corolla, of a soft
and delicate color, combines in its simplicity many an attraction
not found in the most beautiful flowers of the garden ; and late
in the season, when the fields are stripped of their verdure, the
landscape is enlivened by the bright appearance of its red, coral-
like fruit.

The beauty of the Rose has preserved it and its reputation for
many ages. The most populous nations, the largest cities, the most
wealthy and powerful kingdoms, have disappeared from the earth,

GENERAL REMARKS. 59

or have been involved in the revolutions and subversions of em-
pires, while a simple flower has escaped them all, and still remains
to tell its story. It has seen a hundred generations succeed each
other, and pass away ; it has traveled through ages without
changing its destiny or losing its character : the homage ren-
dered and the love borne it has been always the same : now, as
in the earliest periods of the world's histoiy, it is decreed the first
place in the floral kingdom. In these days, as in those of an-
tiquity, it is par excellence^ the Queen of flowers, because it is
always the most beautiful, and because no other flower can fur-
nish half its charms. To elegance and beauty of form it unites
the freshness and brilliance of the most agieeable colors, and, as
if nature had showered upon it all her most precious gifts, it adds
to its other qualities a delightful perfume, which alone would
suffice to entitle it to a distinguished place among the beautiful
and pleasant things of the vegetable kingdom.

POETRY or THE ROSE.

CHAPTER VIII.

" Round every flower there gleams a glory,
Bequeathed by antique song or story ;
To each old legends give a name,
And its peculiar charm proclaim.
O'er smiling lawn, through shady grove,
Our dreaming poets pensive rove,
And strive to read their language rare,
And learn the lesson latent there."

OETRY has been defined to be that which
suggests to the mind glowing thoughts and
pleasant images. We have the poetry of mo-
tion, whether displayed in the beautiful and
bounding steps of a noble stag, the spirit-stir
ring course of the Arabs' favorite, or the grace-
ful gait and winning gestures of a beautiful
and highly cultivated woman. We have, too, the poetry of form,
whether dwelling in the quiet beauty of Trinity spire, leaning
against the clear, blue sky, or whether breathing in the many
forms of natural beauty around us — the ever-varying expression
of an intellectual human face, the rippling course of flowing
and shaded waters, the stately oak of the forest, the quivering
leaf upon the tree, or the simple flower of the field. Willis dis-
courses eloquently upon unwritten music and the various pleas-
ant tones breathed by Nature into the ear of him whose spirit is
attuned to their harmony. So, also, the world is full of unwrit-
ten poetry ; it is everywhere around us, and always visible to
the eye that is accustomed to look for its presence. There is
poetry in the dreariness of winter, in the purity of the quiet-

d

62 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

falling snow-flake, in the glittering splendor of a whole land-
scape encased with ice, and the rose-bushes bending under the
weight of their gem-like covering. And when th^ bonds of
winter are loosened, and the plant, just awakening from its long
sleep, begins to put forth its energies, it is poetry to watch the grad-
ual swelling of the leaf-bud, the first appearance of the delicate
leaflets, and the full development of the mature leaf and branch.
And when the sun's rays are becoming more powerful, and the
infant bud appears, it is poetry to watch the gradual unfolding
of the floAvers, the opening of the calyx to its ruby-pointed in-
mate, the appearance of the beautifully formed bud, and the full
expansion of the perfect flower. At midsummer, too, it is poetry
to lie under the shade of a noble forest tree, and gaze upon the
various forms of beauty displayed in the roses scattered about

the lawn.

" 'T is poetry to lie
By the clear brook, where the long bennet dips :
To press the rose-bud, in its purity,
Unto the burning lips."

It is this poetry, this appreciation of the various forms of
natural beauty that are always around us, which tends, more
than anything of earth, to elevate the mind and to improve the
moral affections of him who yields himself to their influence.
Its effect is truly conservative, and productive of the happiest
results, when duly appreciated.

This species of poetry cannot, however, be readily put upon
paper ; it is too etherial to pass under the press.

The poetry for our purpose we must define to be the graceful
expression of a beautiful thought; and these expressions and
thoughts we have gathered from various fields into a bouquet,
which we hope will present some features of beauty. Our
selections have in some cases been made from collections of
fugitive poetry, where the authors' names are not given, and we
cannot therefore attach due credit.

Our object in this work is to interest all ; and we hope that
those whose ears are not open to pleasant sounds, will endure

POETRY OF THE 'rose. 63

this chapter for the sake of the more practical matter contained
elsewhere, while some will perhaps be attracted to other chapters
by the pleasure they have derived from this.

TO THE ROSE.

Fruitless and endless were the task, I ween.

With every flower to grace my votive lay ;
And unto thee, their long acknowledged Q,ueen,

Fairest and loveliest ! and thy gentle sway,
Beautiful Rose, my homage I must pay ;

For how can minstrel leave thy charms unsung,
Whose meek supremacy has been alway

Confess'd, in many a clime and many a tongue.
And in wdiose praise the harp of many a bard has sung ?

Mine is unwortliy such a lovely theme ;

Yet, could I borrow of that tuneful bird
Who sings thy praises by the moon's pale beam —

As fancy's graceful legends have averr'd —
Those thrilling harmonies at midnight heard,

With sounds of flowing waters, — not in vain
Should the loose strings of my rude harp be stirr'd

By inspiration's breath ; but one brief strain
Should re-assert thy rights and celebrate thy reign.

I love the Rose — it is a noble flower ;
In color rich, and opulent of leaves :
And when her summer garland Flora weaves,

She sees no fairer beauty in her bower, —

None wdiich, so redolent of perfuijie, flings

A sweeter fragrance on the zephyr's wings.

64 POETflY OF THE ROSE.

I love the Rose — that simple, single one,
Which decks the hedges delicately white ;
Or, blushing like a maiden's cheek so slight,
The eye looks anxious lest the tint be gone
Ere it hath gazed enough, or ere the spray
Can from the parent tree be slipp'd away.

I love the Rose — that monthly one, which blooms
In cottage windows ; which is tended there
With maiden constancy, by maiden care ;

Which through all seasons decorates the rooms,

Like her whose opening charms appear to be

A lovely blowing bud on beauty's tree.

I love the Rose — nor least when I perceive
The thistle's pride in Scotia's bonnet worn ;
The shamrock green on Erin's banner borne :
O, then imagination loves to weave
Of England's emblem flowers a garland meet
To place on beauty's brow, or lay at valor's feet.

I love the Rose — its presence to my eye

Like beauty, youth, like hope and health appears,
Recalling the gay dreams of early years :

And when I smell its fragrance wafted by,

I think of virtue, love, benevolence.

Which moral perfumes round life's paths dispense.

I love the Rose — for bards have ever loved

The queen of flowers — ^the flower of beauty's queen,
When in the hedgerow or the garden seen,

Or pluck'd and proffer'd, by some friend belov'd,

To gentle lady, and by her caress'd.

Then braided with her hair, or worn upon her breast.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 65

I love the Rose — what time the smihng year
Leads forth in summer glory Flora's train ;
When orchard, garden, woodland, bower and plain,

Dress'd in their richest garments all appear ;

Then — then I love the humblest flower that blows,

But chief of all the tribe — I love the Rose.

Bernard Barton.

THE WILD ROSE.

Welcome ! oh, welcome once again.

Thou dearest of all the lausrliing flowers
That open their odorous bosoms when

The summer birds are in their bowers !
There is none that I love, sweet gem, like thee,

So mildly through the green leaves stealing ;
For I seem, as thy delicate flush I see.
In the dewy haunts of my youth to be ;

And a gladsome youthful feeling
Springs to my heart, that not all the glare
Of the blossoming East could awaken there.

Glorious and glad it were, no doubt,

Over the billowy sea to sail,
And to find every spot of the wide world out,

So bright and fair in the minstrel's tale :
To roam by old Tiber's classic tide

At eve, when round the gushing waters
Shades of renown will seem to glide.
And amid the myrtle's flowery pride

Walk Italy's soft daughters :
Or to see Spain's haughtier damsels rove
Through the delicious orange grove.

66 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

Glorious it were, where the bright heaven glows,

To wander idly far away,
And to scent the musk'd, voluptuous rose

Of beauty, blest Circassia !
To spy some languid Indian maid,

Wooing at noon the precious breeze,
Beneath the proud magnolia's shade ;
Or a Chilian girl at random laid

On a couch of am ary Hides :
To behold the cocoa-palm, so fair
To the eye of the southern islander.

Glorious Camelhan blooms to find,

In the jealous realms of far Japan,
Or the epidendrum's garlands twin'd

Round the tall trees of Hindostan.
All this were glad, and awhile to be

Like a spirit wand'ring gaily ;
But oh ! what souls, to whom these are free,
Would give them all to share with me

The joys that I gather daily,
When, out in the morning's dewy spring,
I mark the wild Rose blossoming ! ,

When the footpath's winding track is lost

Beneath the deep o'erhanging grass,
And the golden pollen forth is tost

Thickly upon me as I pass ;
When England is paradise all over ;

When flowers are breathing, birds are singing ;
When the honeysuckle I first discover
Balming the air, and in the clover

The early scythe is ringing ;
When gales in the billowy grass delight,
And a silvery beauty tracks their flight ;

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 67

And, more than all, the sweet, wild Rose,

Starring each bush in lanes and glades,
Smiles in each lovelier tint that glows

On the cheeks of England's peerless maids :
Some, with a deeper, fuller hue.

Like lass o'er the foamy milk-pail chanting ;
Lighter are some, and gemm'd with dew,
Like ladies whose lovers all are true,

And nought on earth have wanting ;
But their eyes on beauteous scenes are bent,
That own them their chief ornament.

And some — alas ! that a British maid

In beauty should ever resemble them ! —
Like damsel heart-broken and betray'd,

Droop softly on their slender stem :
Hid in the wild-wood's deepest shade,

Flowers of such snowy loveliness,
That almost without light fancy's aid,
Seem they for touching emblems made,

Of beauty smitten by distress.
But enough — the wild Rose is the queen of June.
When flowers are abroad and birds in tune.

Mary Howitt.

THE WILD ROSE.

Gorgeous and brigjit is the garden, I ween.
Where thousand-leaved roses are richest in sheen ;
But, lady, the plain little wild Rose for me.
That blooms in the shade of the tall forest-tree.

The proud multiflora, so vain of its charms,

Flaunts wide in the sunshine its broad-spreading arms

68 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

But give me the wild Rose, ashamed to be seen,
That blushes and hides in its mantle of green.

The Rose of the garden may boast its perfume,
And true it smells sAveetly while lingers its bloom ;
But give me the Eglantine, blushing alone,
That still scents the gale when its blossoms are gone.

Let others encircle their brows with the flowers
By culture made bright for a few fleeting hours ;
Far dearer to me is the wild flower that grows
Unseen, by the brook where in shadow it flows.

There hie, gentle maid, where the wild blossoms grow,
And cull me a wreath to encircle my brow :
One sweet little Rose for my bosom shall be ;
And, lady, that sweet httle Rose shall be thee.

THE CHILD AND THE ROSE.

When stirring bud and songful bird
Brought gladness to the earth,

And spring-time voices first were heard
In low, sweet sounds of mirth ;

A little child, with pleasant eyes,
Reclined in tranquil thought.

And, half communing wit^i the skies.
His pretty fancies wrought.

He turned where, cased in robe of green,

A rose-bud met his eye.
And one faint streak the leaves between,

Rich in its crimson dye.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 69

The warm light gathereth in the sky,

The bland air stirreth round,
And yet the child is lingering by,

Half-kneeling on the ground :

For broader grew that crimson streak,

Back folds the leaf of green,
And he in wonder, still and meek,

Watch'd all its opening sheen,
t

"'Tis done, 'tis done !" at length he cried,

With glad amazement wild ;
The Rose, in new-created pride,

Had opened for the child.

O, had we hearts like thine, sweet boy,

To watch creative power,
We, too, should thrill with kindred joy

At every opening flower.

E. Oakes Smith.

THE ROSE GIRL'S SONG.

Come, buy my sweet Roses, ye fair ladies all,

And bless my poor mother and I ;
Nor fresher, nor sweeter, boasts basket or stall :

Come, buy my sweet Roses, come, buy.

Here are scarlet, and damask, and delicate white,
And some with a blush's sweet dye ;

With beautiful moss'd ones, the lover's delight :
Come, buy my fine Roses, come, buy.

70 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

These buds for your bosoms, these blown for your rooms,

Were nursed in warm smiles of July ;
These posies are all of the loveliest blooms :

Come buy my nice Roses, come, buy.

All fresh as the morning, and fragrant as May,

And bright as a young lover's eye.
We gather'd them all at the dawning of day :

Come, buy my fresh Roses, come buy. ^

THE ROSE-BUD.

When nature tries her finest touch,

Weaving her vernal wreath,
Mark ye how close she veils her round,
Not to be traced by sight or sound,
Nor soil'd by ruder breath ?

Whoever saw the earliest Rose
First open her sweet breast ?
Or, when the summer sun goes down,
The first, soft star in evening's crown
Light up her gleaming crest ?

Fondly we seek the daw^ning bloom

On features wan and fair ;
The gazing eye no change can trace,
But look away a little space,

Then turn, and lo ! 'tis there.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 71

But there's a sweeter flower than e'er

Bhish'd on the rosy spray —
A brighter star, a richer bloom,
Than e'er did western heaven illume •

At close of summer day.

'T is love, the last best gift of heaven —

Love gentle, holy, pure ;
But tenderer than a dove's soft eye :
The searching sun, the open sky,

She never could endure.

Even human love will shrink from sight

Here in the coarse, rude earth :
How then should rash, intruding glance
Break in upon her sacred trance,

Who boasts a heavenly birth !

So still and secret is her growth,

Ever the truest heart,
Where deepest strikes her kindly root
For hope or joy, for flower or fruit.

Least known its happy part.

God only and good angels look

Behind the blissful screen —
As when, triumphant o'er his woes,
The Son of God by moonlight rose,

By all but heaven unseen :

As when the Holy Maid beheld

Her risen Son and Lord :
Thought has not colors half so fair
That she to paint that hour may dare,

In silence best adored.

72 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

The gracious dove, that brought from heaven

The earnest of our bliss,
Of many a chosen witness' telling,
On many a happy vision dwelling,

Sings not a note of this.

So, truest image of the Christ,

Old Israel's long-lost son.
What time, with sweet forgiving cheer,
He called his conscious brethren near,

Would weep with them alone.

He could not trust his melting soul

But in his Maker's sight ;
Then why should gentle hearts and true
Bare to the rude world's withering view

Their treasures of delight?

No — let the dainty Rose awhile
Her bashful fragrance hide —
Rend not her silken veil too soon.
But leave her, in her own soft noon.
To flourish and abide.

Kebi.e.

THE SUMMER ROSE.

O, nowhere blooms so bright the Summer Rose,
As where youth cropt it from the valley's breast ;

O, nowhere are the downs so soft as those
That pillow'd infancy's unbroken rest.

From the Danish op Apzelius.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 73

TO THE SWEET-BRIER.

Our sweet autumnal western-scented wind
Robs of its odors none so sweet a flower,
In all the blooming waste it left behind,
As that the sweet-brier yields it ; and the shower
Wets not a rose that buds in beauty's bower
One half so lovely ; yet it grows along
The poor girl's pathway — by the poor man's door.
Such are the simple folks it dwells among ;
And humble as the bud, so humble be the song.

I love it, for it takes its untouch'd stand
Not in the vase that sculptors decorate ;
Its sweetness all is of my native land ;
And e'en its fragrant leaf has not its mate
Among the perfumes which the rich and great
Bring from the odors of the spicy East.
You love your flowers and plants, and will you hate
The little four-leaved Rose that I love best,
That freshest will awake, and sweetest go to rest 1

J. G. C. Brainard.

THE TULIP AND EGLANTINE.

The Tulip called to the Eglantine ;

" Good neighbor, I hope you see
How the throngs that visit the garden come

To pay their respects to me.

" The florist admires my elegant robe,

And praises its rainbow ray.
Till it seems as if, through his raptured eyes

He was gazing his soul away."

74 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

" It may be so," said the Eglantine ;

" In a humble nook I dwell,
And what is passing among the great

I cannot know so well.

But they speak of me as the flower of love,
And that low-whispered name

Is dearer to me, and my infant buds.
Than the loudest breath of fame."

THE ROSE.

How beautiful the Rose, as it unfolds its vernal dyes
And breathes a holy fragrance round, like incense from the skies ;
Casts to the breeze the sparkling dews that glitter on its stem,
And wreaths around its blushing brows a crystal diadem.

But while the bee, with honey'd lip, salutes the vernal flower
That's daily brightened by the sun and cherished by the shower,
The blast of desolation comes and sweeps it to the dust.
When all its beauties perish, as all mortal beauties must.

Behold that gentle maiden, in the fair, fresh morn of youth !
Upon her cheek the holy glow of innocence and truth ;
The sudden shock of sorrow strikes —the bUish no longer glows,
But verifies the fate of her fragile type, the Rose.

Destruction comes alike to all, the meanest and the best,
'T is oft the harbinger of wo, as suflfering is to rest ;
Here beauty is the sure but smiling herald of decay,
As oftentimes the darkest night succeeds the brightest day.

Robert Gaunter.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 75

THE QUEEN OF FLOWERS.

Most glorious Rose !
You are the queenly belle. On you all eyes
Admiring turn. Doubtless you might indite
Romances from your own sweet history.
They 're all the fashion now, and crowd the page
Of many a periodical. Wilt tell
None of your heart adventures 1 Never mind !
All can detect the Zephyr's stolen kiss
In your deep blush ; so, where's the use to seal
Your lips so cunningly, when all the world
Call you the flower of love ?

And now good-bye ;
A pleasant gossip have I had with you,
Obliging visitants, but must away
To graver toils. Still keep your incense fresh
And free to rise to Him who tints your brows,
Bidding the brown mould and unsightly stem
Put forth such blaze of beauty as translates
To dullest hearts His dialect of love.

From " Gossip with a Bouciuet."

A THOUGHT OF THE ROSE.

How much of memory dwells amid thy bloom,
Rose ! ever wearing beauty for thy dower !

The bridal day — the festival — the tomb, —

Thou hast thy part in each, thou stateliest flower ;

Therefore with thy soft breath come floating by
A thousand images of love and grief —

Dreams, filled with tokens of mortality.

Deep thoughts of all things beautiful and brief.

76 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

Not such thy spells o'er those that hailed thee first,
In the clear light of Eden's golden day !

There thy rich leaves to crimson glory burst,
Link'd with no dim remembrance of decay.

Rose ! for the banquet gathered and the bier !

Rose ! colored now by human hope or pain ;
Surely where death is not — nor change, nor fear,

Yet may we meet thee, Joy's own flower, again.

Felicia Hemans.

A SONG OF THE ROSE.

Rose ! what dost thou here 1

Bridal, royal Rose !
How, 'midst grief and fear,
Canst thou thus disclose
That fervid hue of love which to thy heart-leaf glows ?

Rose ! too much array'd
For triumphal hours,
Look'st thou through the shade
Of these mortal bowers.
Not to disturb my soul, thou crown'd one of all flowers !

As an eagle soaring

Through a sunny sky.
As a clarion pouring
Notes of victory.
So dost thou kindle thoughts for earthly life too high —

Thoughts of rapture flushing

Youthful poet's cheek.
Thoughts of glory rushing

Forth in song to break,
But finding the spring-tide of rapid song too weak.

POETRY OP THE ROSE. 77

Yet, oh, festal Rose !

I have seen thee lying
In thy bright repose,

Pillow'd with the dying ;
Thy crimson by the hfe's quick blood was flying.

Summer, hope, and love

O'er that bed of pain,
Meet in thee, yet wove

Too, too frail a chain
In its embracing links the lovely to detain.

S miles t thou, gorgeous flower ? *

Oh ! within the spells
Of thy beauty's power

Something dimly dwells,
At variance with a world of sorrows and farewells.

All the soul forth flowing

In that rich perfume.
All the proud life glowing

In that radiant bloom,
Have they no place but here, beneath th' o'ershadowing
tomb ?

Crown'st thou but the daughters

Of our tearful race ?
Heaven's own purest waters

Well might bear the trace
Of thy consummate form, melting to softer grace.

Will that clime enfold thee

With immortal air ?
Shall we not behold thee
Bright and deathless there,
In spirit-lustre clothed, transcendently more fair ?
7*

POETRY OF THE ROSE.

Yes ! my fancy sees thee

In that light disclose,
And its dream thus frees thee
From the midst of woes,
Darkening thine earthly bowers, O bridal, royal Rose.

Felicia Hemans.

THE ROSE.

Of all flowers,

Methinks a Rose is best

It is the very emblem of a maid ;
For when the west wind courts her gently.
How modestly she blows and paints the sun
With her chaste blushes ! When the north comes

near her,
Rude and impatient, then, like chastity.
She locks her beauties in her bud again.
And leaves him to base briers.

Beaumont and Fletcher.

THE MOSS ROSE

O, I love the sweet-blooming, the pretty moss-rose,
'T is the type of true pleasure and perfected joy ;
O, I envy each insect that dares to repose
'Midst its leaves, or among its soft beauties to toy.

I love the sweet lily, so pure and so pale.
With a bosom as fair as the new fallen snows ;
Her luxuriant odors she spreads through the vale,
Yet e'en she must yield to my pretty moss-rose.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 79

O, I love the gay lieart's-ease and violet blue,

The sun-flower and blue-bell, each flowret that blows ;

The fir tree, the pine tree, acacia, and yew,

Yet e'en these must yield to my pretty moss-rose.

Yes, I love my moss-rose, for it ne'er had a thorn,
'T is the type of life's pleasures, unmixed with its woes ;
'T is more gay and more bright than the opening morn —
Yes, all things must yield to my pretty moss-rose.

Anon.

THE MOSS-ROSE.

Mossy rose on mossy stone.
Flowering 'mid the ruins lone,
I have learnt, beholding thee.
Youth and Age may well agree.

Baby germ of freshest hue,
Out of ruin issuing new ;
Moss a long laborious growth.
And one stalk supporting both :

Thus may still, while fades the past,
Life come forth again as fast ;
Happy if the relics sere
Deck a cradle, not a bier.

Tear the garb, the spirit flies.
And the heart, unshelter'd, dies ;
Kill within the nursling flower'.
Scarce the green survives an hour.

80 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

Ever thus together live,
And to man a lesson give,
Moss, the work of vanished years.
Rose, that but to-day appears.

Moss, that covers dateless tombs ;
Bud, with early sweet that blooms ;
Childhood thus, in happy rest.
Lies on ancient Wisdom's breast.

Moss and Rose, and Age and Youth,
Flush and Verdure, Hope and Truth,
Yours be peace that knows not strife,
One the root and one the life.

John Sterling.

LEGEND OF THE ROSE.

Ah, lady ! list my tale,

I was the summer's fairest pride,
The nightingale's betrothed bride ;
In Shiraz's bowers I sprung to birth
When Love first lighted on the earth ;
And then my pure, inodorous bosom.

Blooming on its thorny tree.
Was snowy as its mother's blossom.

Rising from the emerald sea.
Young Love rambling through the wood.
Pound me in my solitude,
Bright with dew and freshly blown.
And trembling to the zephyr's sighs.
But as he stood, to gaze upon
The living gem with raptured eyes.
It chanced a bee was busy there,
Searching for its fragrant fare ;

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 81

And Cupid stooping-, too, to sip,

The angry insect stung his lip —

And gushing from the ambrosial cell,

One blight drop on my bosom fell !

Weeping-, to his mother he

Told the tale of treachery ;

And she, her vengeful boy to please,

Strung his bow "with captive bees ;

But placed upon my slender stem

The poisoned sting she plucked from them :

And none since that eventful morn

Have found the flower without a thorn.

FLOWER FANTASIES.

Oh, there is music to the spirit's ear

In every sigh
Heaved by the Rose's bosom to the air

That winnows by ;
And there is poetry in every leaf,
Whose blush speaks pleasure, or whose tears tell

There is romance in every stem that bends

In motion soft
Beneath the wind that rustles in the tall

Tree-tops aloft.
And 'mid their branches whistlingly doth blow.
While it but fans the flowers that sleep below.

The fragrance is the spirit of the flower,

E'en as the soul
Is our ethereal portion. We can ne'er

Hold or control
One more than other. Passing sweet must be
The visions^ gentle things, that visit ye !

82 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

How happily ye live in the pure light

Of loveliness !
Do ye not feel how deeply — wondrously —

Ye cheer and bless
Our checker'd sojourn on this weary earth,
Whose wildest, dreariest spots to Flowers have
given birth ?

Do not ye joy to know the pure delight
With which we gaze

Upon your glorious forms ? Are ye not glad,
E'en in the praise

Which our enraptured wonder ever tells,

While poring o'er the wealth that in ye dwells :

That wealth of thought, of beauty, and of love,
Which may be found

In each small common herb that springs from out
The teeming ground ?

Do not ye feel thai ye do deeply bless

Our harsher souls by your dear loveliness ?

Oh, if 'tis given unto ye to know

The thrilling power

Of memories and thoughts that can be read
E'en in a flower,

How ye must all rejoice beneath each look

Which reads your beauty, like an open book !

We love its silent language : strong, though still,

Is that unheard
But all-pervading harmony : it breathes

No utter'd word.
But floats around us, as, in happy dream,
We feel the soft sisfh of a waveless stream.

POETRY OF THE ROSE.

83

So, love of nature's harmony can bless

And gladden ever
The heart and fancy, as pellucid wave

Of fount or river
Flings back more bright what bright doth on it fall.
And its own radiance lends where else were none at all.

Louisa Ann Twamley.

THE ROSES.

I saw them once blowing,

While morning was glowing ;
But now are their wither'd leaves strew'd o'er the ground.

For tempests to play on,

For cold worms to prey on,
The shame of the garden that triumphs around.

Their buds which then flourish'd,

With dew-drops were nourish'd,
Which turn'd into pearls as they fell from on high ;

Their hues are all banish'd.

Their fragrance all vanish'd.
Ere evening^a shadow has cast from the sky.

I saw, too, whole races

Of glories and graces
Thus open and blossom, but quickly decay ;

And smiling and gladness.

In sorrow and sadness.
Ere life reach'd its twilight, fade dimly away.

84 POETRY Of THE ROSE.

Joy's light-hearted dances,

And melody's glances,
Are rays of a moment — are dying when born

And pleasme's best dower

Is nought but a flower,
A vanishing dew-drop — a gem of the morn.

The bright eye is clouded,

Its brilliancy shrouded,
Our strength dis^appears, we are helpless and lone ;

No reason avails us.

And intellect fails us ;
Life's spirit is wasted, and darkness comes on.

BOWRINO.

THE ROSE.

Loved daughter of the laughing May
The light of all that's pure is thine ;
The rosy beams that wake the day,
Upon thy cheeks of velvet shine.
Thy beauty paints the evening skies
It mingles with the rainbow's dyes :
In love's own light its blushes speak
On ruby lip and vermeil cheek.

No wooing zephyrs ever strayed

To whisper love or steal a kiss,
Or dancing sunbeam ever played

Upon a sweeter flower than this.
The night fays o'er thy bosom strew
The sparklet of the nectar dew ;
And on their shrine the pearls have slept
Like tears the dying stars have wept.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 85

Many a pouting' lip has flush'd

In rival beauty by thy side ;
Many a maiden cheek has blush'd

In vain to match thy crimson pride.
The pink may burst its varied hue,
The violet its azure blue,
The lily claim the snow its own ;
But still thou reign'st, undimmed, alone.

Thou hast the tale of love express'd,
In words the faltering tongue forebore ;

And answering- from the heart confess'd,
What eye and cheek had told before.

Young hearts have whisper'd to thy ears

The secret of their hopes and fears ;

When, nestled in a gentle breast,

Thou had'st thy tender folds carest.

Ah ! anxious hope long watch has kept,

Despairingly beneath thy cover;
While fond heart sighed and bright eye wept

The absence of a faithless lover.
And many a vow of love is made.
And fond heart pledged beneath thy shade ;
While friendly moonbeams light thy bower,
And glides too soon the stolen hour.

I love thee, emblem of my youth !

Thou bring'st to mind fond memories —
When fancy wore the garb of truth,

And love made earth a paradise.

But as those dreamy hours have fled

Before the light stern truth has shed

So will thy fleeting beauty fade,

And join the wreck that time has made.

D. Everett Rose.
8

86 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

CUPID AND THE DIAL,

One day, young frolic Cupid tried
To scatter roses o'er the hours,

And on the dial's face to hide

The course of time with many flowers.

By chance, his rosy wreaths had wound
Upon the hands, and forced them on ;

And when he look'd again, he found

The hours had pass'd, the time was done.

" Alas !" said Love, and dropp'd his flowers,
" I've lost my time in idle play ;

The sweeter I would make the hours,
The quicker they are pass'd away."

ANACREON TO THE ROSE.

While we invoke the wreathed spring,
Resplendent Rose ! to thee we'll sing,
Resplendent Rose ! the flower of flowers,
Whose breath perfumes Olympus' bowers ;
Whose virgin blush, of chasten'd dye.
Enchants so much our mortal eye :
Oft has the poet's, magic tongue
The Rose's fair luxuriance sung ;
And long the Muses, heavenly maids,
Have rear'd it in their tuneful shades.
When, at the early glance of morn.
It sleeps upon the glittering thorn,
'Tis sweet to dare the tangled fence,
To cull the timid floweret thence,

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 87

And wipe, with tender hand, away

The tear that on its blushes lay !

'Tis sweet to hold the infant stems,

Yet dropping with Aurora's gems,

And fresh inhale the spicy sighs

That from the weeping buds arise.

When revel reigns, when mirth is high,

And Bacchus beams in every eye.

Our rosy fillets scent exhale.

And fill with bahn the fainting gale !

Oh, there is naught in nature bright,

Where Roses do not shed their light !

Where morning paints the orient skies,

Her fingers burn with roseate dyes !

And when, at length, with pale decKne,

Its florid beauties fade and pine.

Sweet, as in youth, its balmy breath

DiflTuses odors e'en in death !

Oh, whence could such a plant have sprung?

Attend — for thus the tale is sung : —

W^hen humid from the silvery stream,

Effusing beauty's warmest beam,

Venus appeared in flushing hues,

Mellowed by Ocean's briny dews ;

When, in the starry courts above.

The pregnant brain of mighty Jove

Disclosed the nymph of azure glance !

The nymph who shakes the martial lance !

Then, then, in strange, eventful hour,

The earth produced an infant flower,

Which sprung with blushing tinctures dress'd,

And wanton'd o'er its parent breast.

The gods beheld this brilliant birth.

And hail'd the Rose, the born of earth !

With nectar drops, a ruby tide,

The sweetly orient buds they dyed,

POETRY OF THE ROSE.

And bade them bloom, the flowers divme
Of him who sheds the teeming vine ;
And bade them on the spangled thorn
Expand their bosoms to the morn.

THE QUEEN OF THE GARDEN.

If Jove would give the leafy bowers
A queen for all their world of flowers,
The Rose would be the choice of Jove,
And reign the queen of every grove.
Sweetest child of weeping moining,
Gem, the vest of earth adorning,
Eye of flowerets, glow of lawns,
Bud of beauty, nursed by dawns ;
Soft the soul of love it breathes —
Cypria's brow with magic wreathes.
And to the zephyr's warm caresses
Diffuses .all its verdant tresses,
Till, glowing with the wanton's play.
It blushes a diviner ray !

THE THORNS OF THE ROSE

Where grew the Rose, Eve often sped

To gather fresh supplies,
And daily from their mossy bed

The new-blown beauties rise.

One morn — a sad and luckless morn —

She hither bent her way ;
But ah ! less heedful of return.

Her wishes went astray.

Anacreon.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 89

Her eye the tree of knowledge caught,

With golden fruitage crown'd ;
But when a free access she sought,

No free access she found.

For shrub and flower there thickly sprung.

To check her wayward foot,
And in deep file their branches flung

Around the sacred fruit.

Yet, urged by Satan's false pretence.

Prime source of all our woes —
She dared to break the blooming fence.

And trampled on the Rose.

Unmov'd, she stretcli'd the impious hand.

The alluring sweets to prove,
Regardless of her Lord's command.

Regardless of His love.

The injured flower beheld the theft.

And, wounded, hung its head ;
The native white its petals left.

Which blus^jing, chang'd to red.

Its foliage wept a dewy shower.
And mourn'd the strange event ;

Eve turn'd and saw the impassion'd flower,
And marvel'd what it meant.

Awhile she stood and gazed thereon.

Till, trembling, she withdrew,
Unconscious she had trampled on

The fairest flower that grew.

Ere this event of sin and shame.

No prickly thorns were found ;

But now they burst from every stem.

And with the rose abound.

J. Williams.
8*

90 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

TO THE ROSE.

Rose of my heart ! I've raised for thee a bower —

For thee have bent the phant osier round,

For thee have carpeted with earth the ground,
And trained a canopy to shield thy flower,
So that the wannest sun can have no power

To dry the dew from off thy leaf, and pale

Thy living carmine, but a woven veil
Of full-ffreen vines shall cruard from heat and shower.
Rose of my heart ! here, in tliis dim alcove.

No worm shall nestle, and no wandering bee

Shall suck thy sweets — no blights shall wither thee ;
But thou shalt show the freshest hue of love.
Like the red stream that from Adonis flow'd,

And made the snow carnation, thou shalt blush,
And fays shall wander from their bright abode

To flit enchanted round thy loaded bush.
Bowed with thy fragrant burden, thou shalt bend

Thy slender twigs and thorny branches low ;
Vermillion and the purest foam shall blend ;

These shall be pale, and those in youth's first glow
Their tints shall form one sweetest harmony.

And on some leaves the damask shall prevail,
Whose colors melt like the soft symphony

Of flutes and voices in the distant dale.
The bosom of that flower shall be as white

As hearts that love, and love alone, are pure ;
Its tip shall blush as beautiful and bright
As are the gayest streaks of dawning light,

Or rubies set within a brimming ewer.
Rose of my heart ! there shalt thou ever bloom.

Safe in the shelter of my perfect love ;

And, when they lay thee in the dark, cold tomb,

I'll find thee out a better bower above.

Percival.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 91

TO A WITHERED ROSE.

Pale flower — pale, fragile, faded flower ;

What tender recollections swell,
What thoughts of deep and thrilling power

Are kindled in thy mystic spell !

A charm is in thy faint perfume,

To call up visions of the past,
Which, through my mind's o'ershadowing gloom,

" Rush like the rare stars, dim and fast."

And loveliest shines that evening hour,
More dear by time and sorrow made,

When thou wert cull'd ('love's token flower !')
And on my throbbing bosom laid.

On eve's pale brow one star burned bright.
Like heavenward hope, whose soothing dream

Is veiled from pleasure's dazzled sight.
To shine on sorrow's diadem.

Bright as the tears thy beauty wept,

The dewdrops on thy petals lay,
Till evening's silver winds had swept

Thy cheek, and kissed them all away.

Whitman.

TO THE ROSE.

Dear flower of heaven and love ! thou glorious thmg
That lookest out the garden nooks among ;
Rose, that art ever fair and ever young ;
Was it some angel or invisible wing
Hover'd around thy fragrant sleep, to fling

92 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

His crlowiiiff mantle of warm sunset hues
O'er thy unfolding petals, wet with dews
Such as the flower-fays to Titania bring?
' O flower of thousand memories and dreams,
That take the heart with faintness, while we gaze
On the rich depths of thy inwoven maze ;
From the green banks of Eden's blessed streams
I dream'd thee brought, of brighter days to tell.
Long pass'd, but promised yet with us to dwell.

C. P. Cranch.

THE BRIDAL FLOWER.

The married are compared by the Italian poet to the young Rose, which the
lover places in the bosom of his betrothed, first stripped of thorns.

Thou virgin Rose ! whose opening leaves, so fair.
The dawn has nourish'd with her balmy dews ;

While softest whispers of the morning air
Call'd forth the blushes of thy vermeil hues.

That cautious hand which cropt thy youthful pride,
Transplants thy honors, where from hurt secure,

Stript of each thorn offensive to thy side,
Thy nobler part alone shall bloom mature.

Thus thou, a flower, exempt from change of skies,
By storms and torrents unassail'd shalt rise.

And scorn the winter colds and summer heats ;
A guard more faithful tlien thy growth shall tend,
By whom thou mayest in tranquil union blend

Eternal beauties wuth eternal sweets.

From Metastasio.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 93

THE VIRGIN ROSE.

All ! see, deep-blushing in her green recess,
The bashful virgin Rose, that, half revealing.
And half within herself herself concealing,
Is lovelier for her hidden loveliness.
Lo ! soon her glorious beauty she discovers ;
Soon droops, and sheds her leaves of faded hue :
Can this be she — the flower erewhile that drew
The hearts of thousand maids — of thousand longing
lovers ?

So fieeteth in the fleeting of a day
Of mortal life, the green leaf and the flower.
And not, though spring return to every bower.
Buds forth again soft leaf or blossom gay.
Gather the Rose ! beneath the beauteous morning
Of this bright day that soon will over-cast ;
Oh, gather the sweet Rose, that yet doth last !

From Tasso.

THE LITTLE RED ROSE.

A boy caught sight of a rose in a bower —
A little rose, slily hiding

Among the boughs ; Oh, the rose was bright

And young, and it glimmer'd Hke morning light;
The urchin sought it with haste ; 'twas a flower

A child indeed might take pride in —
A little rose, little rose, little red rose.

Among the bushes hiding.

94 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

The wild boy shouted — " I'll pluck thee, rose.

Little rose vainly hiding
Among the boughs ;" but the little rose spoke —
" I'll prick thee, and that will prove no joke ;
Unhurt, O then will I mock thy woes,

Whilst thou thy folly art chiding."
Little rose, little rose, little red rose,

Among the bushes hiding !

But the rude boy laid his hands on the flower.

The little rose vainly hiding
Among the boughs ; Oh, the rose was caught !
But it turned again, and pricked and fought.
And left with its spoiler a smart from that hour,

A pain for ever abiding ;

Little rose, little rose, little red rose.

Among the bushes hiding !

From Goethe.

THE VOICE OF THE FLOWERS.

Blossoms that lowly bend.
Shutting your leaves from evening's chilly dew,
While your rich odors heavily ascend,

The flitting winds to woo !

I walk at silent eve.
When scarce a breath is in the garden bowers,
And many a vision and wild fancy weave,

'Midst ye, ye lovely flowers :

Beneath the cool green boughs,
And perfumed bells of the fresh-blossom'd lime,
That stoop and gently touch my feverish brow.

Fresh in their summer prime ;

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 95

Or in the mossy dell,
Where the pale primrose trembles at a breath ;
Or where the lily, by the silent well,

Beholds her form beneath ;

Or where the rich queen-rose
Sits, throned and blushing, 'midst her leaves and moss ;
Or where the wind-flower, pale and fragile, blows ;

Or violets banks emboss.

Mary Anne Browne.

THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER.

'Tis the last Rose of summer,

Left blooming alone ;
AJl her lovely companions

Are faded and gone :
No flower of her kindred.

No rose-bud is nigh.
To reflect back her blushes

And give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one.

To pine on the stem ;
Since the lovely are sleeping,

Go sleep thou with them.
Thus kindly I scatter

Thy leaves on the bed,
Where thy mates of the garden

Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow
When friendships decay,

And from love's shining circle
The gems drop away.

9b POETRY OF THE ROSE.

When true hearts he wither'd
And fond ones are flown,

Oh, who would inhabit
This cold world alone ?

T. Moore.

WHITE ROSES.

They' were gather'd for a bridal !

I knew it by their hue :
Fair as the summer moonlight

Upon the sleeping dew.
From their fair and fairy sisters

They weie borne, without a sigh,
For one remember'd evening

To blossom and to die.

They were gather'd for a bridal !

And fasten'd in a wreath ;
But purer were the roses

Than the heart that lay beneath ;
Yet the beaming eye was lovely.

And the coral lip was fair,
And the gazer look'd and ask'd not

For the secret hidden there.

They were gather'd for a bridal !

Where a thousand torches glisten'd,
When the holy words were spoken.

And the false and faithless listen'd
And answered to the vow

Which another heart had taken ;
Yet he was present then —

The once loved, the forsaken.

POETRY OF THE ROSE.

They were gather'd for a bridal !

And now, now they are dying,
And young Love at the altar

Of broken faith is sighing.
Their summer life was stainless,

And not like her's who wore them ;
They are faded, and the farewell

Of beauty lingers o'er them !

Sarah Louisa P, Smith,

THE DESOLATE ONE.

As wandering, I found on my ruinous walk,

By the dial-stone aged and green.
One rose of the wilderness.left on its stalky

To mark where a garden had been ;
Like a brotherless hermit, the last of its race,

All wild in the silence of nature, it drew
From each wandering sunbeam a lovely embrace,
For the nightweed and thorn overshadowed the place

Where the flower of my forefathers grew.

Sweet bud of the wilderness ! emblem of all

That survives in this desolate heart !
The fabric of bliss to its centre may fall,

But pg,tience shall never depart ;
Though the wilds of enchantment, all vernal and bright,

In the days of delusion by fancy combined
With the vanishing phantoms of wo and delight,
Abandon my soul like a dream of the night.

And leave but a desert behind.

Campbell.

9

98

POETRY OF THE ROSE.

ROSES.

We are blushing roses,

Bending with our fullness,
'Midst our close-capp'd sister buds,

Warming the green coolness.

Whatsoe'er of beauty

Yearns and yet reposes.
Blush, and bosom, and sweet breath,

Took a shape in roses.

Hold one of us lightly :

See from what a slender
Stalk we bower in heavy blooms,

And roundness rich and tender.

t

Know you not our only

Rival flower — the human ?
Loveliest weight on liglitest foot —
Joy-abundant woman ?

Leigh Hunt.

THE LILY AND THE ROSE.

The nymph must lose her female friend.

If more admired than she ;
Bui where will fierce contention end,

If flowers can disagree ?

W
Within the garden's peaceful scene

Appeared two lovely foes.
Aspiring to the rank of queen :

The Lily and the Rose.

ii^,

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 99

The Rose soon redden'd into rage,

And, swelling with disdain,
Appeal'd to many a poet's page

To prove her right to reign.

The Lily's height bespoke command, —

A fair, imperial flower ;
She seemed designed for Flora's hand,

The sceptre of her power.

This civil bickering and debate

The goddess chanced to hear ;
And flew to save, ere yet too late,

The pride of the parterre.

" Yours is," she said, " the noblest hue,

And yours the statelier mien ;
And till a third surpasses you.
Let each be deem'd a queen."

Thus soothed and reconciled, both seek

The fairest British fair ;
The seat of empire is her cheek.

They reign united there.

COWPER.

THE ROSES.

Two Roses on one slender stem

In sweet communion grew.
Together hail'd the morning ray.

And drank the evening dew ;
While, sweetly wreath'd in mossy green,
There sprang a little bud between.

100 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

Through clouds and sunshine, storms and showers^

They open'd into bloom,
Mingling their foliage and their flowers,

Their beauty and perfume ;
While foster'd on its rising stem,
The bud became a purple gem.

But soon their summer splendor pass'd,

They faded in the wind ;
Yet were these Roses, to the last.

The loveliest of their kind —
Whose crimson leaves, in falling round,
Adorn'd and sanctified the ground.

When thus were all their honors shorn,

The bud-unfolding rose.
And blush'd and brighten'd, as the morn

From dawn to sunrise glows ;
Till o'er each parent's drooping head

The daughter's crowning glory spread.

My friends, in youth's romantic prime,

The golden age of man,
Like these twin Roses spend your time.

Life's little less'ning span ;
Then be your breast as free from cares.

Your hours as innocent as theirs.

And in the infant bud that blows

In your encircling arms,
Mark the dear promise of a Rose,

The pledge of future charms.
That o'er your withering hours shall shine,
Fair and more fair as you decline :

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 101

Till, planted in that realm of rest

Where Roses never die,
Amid the gardens of the blest,

Beneath a stormless sky,
You flower afresh, like Aaron's rod,
That blossom'd at the sight of God.

Montgomery.

THE AUTUMN ROSES.

" My brother had a beautiful Rose-tree, standing directly under the window of
his study, which he cultivated with great care, and which rewarded him every
Spring with a large number of the loveliest white roses I ever saw. On the Spring,
however, preceding his decease, it did not blossom; but in the Fall, when every-
thing else was going to decay, how were we surprised to behold this sweet tree
drooping beneath an unusual quantity of snow-white flowers. "We did not allow
one of them to be plucked until my poor brother's death, when we strewed them
over his grave."

Gently looked the morning sun

Into a quiet room ;
Softly, through a broken pane,

Stole a rich perfume :
" Is not that the Rose's scent ?"

A dying suflferer said ;
And a fair one o'er his pillow leant,
And raised his feeble head.
Whispering, the while, a few low words
But they soothed not the spirit's vibrating chords ;
For the pallid cheek of the student flushed.
And a flood of tears from his dim eyes gushed.

" Roses on my beauteous tree ?

Roses, didst thou say ?
Roses, when all sights and sounds

Whisper but decay ?

102 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

Ctuickly, quickly, sister dear,

Lead my footsteps where
These untru sling eyes may feast
On a sight so rare."
And they made him a seat by the window's side,
Where the bright flowers clung in their dewy pride.
Smiling above the unburied leaves
Which the frost had cast from the vine-wreathed eaves.

"Wherefore, children 'of the light,"

(Whisper'd he again,)
" Come ye, in these gloomy days.

Near the couch of pain ?
Would ye mock the fading flower

Of a human tree,
Boasting for its deathless root
Immortality ?
Would ye mock with your purity the heart
Whence sinful passions so wildly start ?
Or bring ye the hope of a cleansing power
For the sin-dyed soul in its parting hour ?

" Ye are emblems, lovely flowers,

Of unnumber'd things —
Emblems of unsullied hopes,

With their airy wings —
Emblems of the love which burns

With a hueless ray,
Spreading o'er the lamb-like mind •
An eternal day ;
Also of hearts where a living faith
Rises up coldly, 'mid fields of scathe,
Startling the eye in a wintry hour
With its healing fruit and its fragrant flower.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 103

" Autumn flowers ! ye come to me

As a voice might come
To the wave-toss'd mariner

From his mountain home :
Bringing all sweet summer sounds

From the forests deep,
And the music low which makes his heart
With a mournful joy to weep :
Ye come to me as the star-lit eves
To the exile lone, when his spirit grieves,
Kindling a thought with your tender light,
Which guides me on through the closing night.

" Ye are spirits of the blest,

Gentle, gentle flowers !
Spirits of that sweet-voiced land.

Missed in all our bowers :
They who pass'd like twilight gleams

On a summer sea, '

Leaving the wail of a billowy grief
For their heavenward minstrelsy :
O come ye not, with your music breath,
Beautiful ones, to wrest from death
This soul's dim germ, and plant it where
It may gather strength from a purer air ?"
********

Softly shone the morning sun

On a new-made grave ;
Slowly o'er a marble fresh

Did a willow wave ;
Faintly stole the southern breeze

Through the dewy grass,
Scarcely stirring the tall blades

As its wings did pass :

104

POETRY OF THE ROSE.

When a frail and drooping- form drew near,
And strew'd fresh roses beside the bier ;
Murmuring, as each pale offering fell,
" Brother ! thou lovedst them passing well !"

J. H. S.

FROM SHAKSPEARE.

Emil. Of all flowers,
Methinks the Rose is best.

Sei'v. Why, gentle madam ?

Emil. It is the very emblem of a maid ;
For, when the west wind courts her gently,
How modestly she blows and paints the sun
With her chaste blushes ! When the north comes near her,
Rude and impatient, then, like Chastity,
She locks her beauties in her bud again,
And leaves him to base briars.

O how much more doth beauty beauteous seem
By that sweet ornament which truth doth give !

The Rose looks fair ; but fairer we it deem
For that sweet odor which doth in it live.

The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye
As the porfumed tincture of 'the Roses ;

Hang on such thorns, and play as wantonly,
When summer's breath their masked buds discloses ;

But, for their virtue only is their show.
They live unwoo'd, and unrespected fade ;

Die to themselves. Sweet Roses do not so ;
Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odors made :

And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth,.

When that shall fade, my verse distils your truth.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 105

— To endure the livery of a nun ;

For aye to be in shady cloister mewed —

To undergo such maiden pilgrimage :

But earthlier happy is the Rose distill'd

Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn.

Grows, lives, and dies, in single blessedness.

Some to kill cankers in the Musk Rose-buds.

Why should I joy in an abortive birth 1

At Christmas I no more desire a Rose

Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled shows.

FROM THE PERSIAN OF HAFIZ.

When the young Rose, in crimson gay,

Expands her beauties to the day.
And foliage fresh her leafless boughs o'erspread ;

In homage to her sovereign power.

Bright regent of each subject flower.
Low at her feet the violet bends its head. Ode IX.

See where the Rose and Spring to mirth awake !
So cheerful looks the Rose, 'twere wisdom's part
To tear the root of sorrow from the heart.

Soft comes the morning wind ; the wanton Rose
Bursts from its cup to kiss the gale that blows ;
Its silken garment wounds in tender play.
And leaves its body naked to the day. Ode XIV.

106 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

O cease with delight to survey the proud Rose,
Whose soft leaves must too soon feel decay ;

For, ah ! the dark wind, as it churlishly blows,

At our feet all its honors shall lay. Ode XVI.

The youthful season's wonted bloom

Renews the beauty of each bower,
And to the sweet-song'd bird is come,

Glad welcome from its darling flower. Ode YIII.

The love-struck nightingale's delightful strain.

The lark's resounding note, are heard again ;

Again the Rose, to hail Spring's festive day.

From the cold house of sorrow hastes away. Ode XIII.

AN IDEAL FLOWER.

So when the nightingale, in eastern bowers.
On quivering pinions woos the queen of flowers,
Inhales her fragrance as he hangs in air.
And melts with melody the blushing fair ;
Half Rose, half bird, a beauteous monster springs,
Waves his thin leaves and claps his glossy wings :
Long horrent thorns his mossy legs surround.
And tendril talons root him to the ground ;
Green films of rind his wrinkled neck o'erspread.
And crimson petals crest his curled head ;
Soft-warbling beaks in each bright blossom move.
And vocal rose-buds fill th' enchanted grove.
Admiring Evening stays her beamy star
And still Night listens from his ebon car ;
While on white wings descending houris throng,
And drink the floods of odor and of song.

Dr. Darwin.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 107

REMEMBRANCE.

I turn to the cot where roses bloom

In beauty rare, and with rich perfume ;

Where they raise their heads at dawning Hght,

Sparkling with gems of the dewy night ;

And I think of the days, when a merry boy,

I phick'd the fairest with gleesome joy,

And wished — how vain ! — that its bkishing hues

Might never change ; but, Hke early dews,

They faded, while yet with care 'twas prest

As a matchless rose to my youthful breast.

My wish was cross'd, and the tear-drop fell

On the faded rose I loved so well.

It taught my heart, what I since have found,

That the dearest thing to affection bound.

Like the sweet rose pluck'd 'neath the summer sky,

Is sure to wither, and fade, and die.

FROM "FLORA'S PARTY."

There were Myrtles and Roses from garden and plain,

And Venus's Fly-Trap they bro'ught in their train ;

So the beaux cluster'd round them, they hardly knew why,

At each smile of the lip, or each glance of the eye.

Madame Damask a robe had from Paris brought out.

The envy of all who attended the rout ;

Its drapery was folded her form to adorn.

And clasp'd at the breast with a diamond-set thom.

Yet she, quite unconscious, 't w^ould seem, of the grace

That enchanted all groups who frequented the place,

Introduced, with the sweetest of words in her mouth,

The young Multiflora — her guest from the south !

108 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

Neighbor Cinnamon prated of household and care —
How she seldom went out, e'en to breathe the fresh air ;
There were so many young ones and servants to stray,
And the thorns grew so fast if her eye was away.
"Cousin Moss-Rose," she said, "you who live like a queen.
And ne'er wet your fingers, scarce know what I mean."
So that notable lady went on with her lay,
'Till the auditors yawned and stole softly away.

ROSE-BUDS IN HER HAND.

" How beautiful those rose-buds are !"

The happy brother said,
Whose hopeful heart could have no thought

That sister could be dead :
" I'll pluck them for sweet sister now,

And take them where she lies ;
I know she '11 love to see them there,

When open are her eyes."

He pluck'd them for his sister dear.

And bore them to her hand ;
But to his trustful soul there came

No dark and shadowy band,
As to the eye so often comes

Around the form of Death,
To bring but sorrow when at last

Is breathed the parting breath,

O beautiful those buds appear'd.
Sweet types of childhood's trust,

That opens only to give sweets
To breathe o'er human dust !

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 109

And from my fervent soul went up —

" O Father ! list to me !
Let to his soul all thoughts of death

Like those sweet rose-buds be !"

O let us, with the youthful dead,

Unite the budding flowers,
That while we weep the faded eye

And love's entrancing flowers,
He on the beautiful may gaze

Beyond the changes here,
And let the smiles of angels play

Through every falling tear :

Bright rainbow of the Christian sky,

That tends to hallow earth.
And wake in storm-bound souls again

The music of its mirth.
And give to thought a holy way

To tread unto the skies —
To see the joy of ransom'd souls

With hope-anointed eyes.

THE ROSE.

Ah, see the virgin Rose ! how sweetly she
Doth first peep forth with bashful modesty,

That fairer seems the less ye see her way !

Lo ! see soon after, how more bold and free

Her bared bosom she doth broad display !

Lo ! see soon after, how she fades away and falls !

Spenser.

10

110 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

FLORA'S CHOICE.

When Flora, from her azure home,
Came gently down to grace the earth,
She called around her every sprite
To which the sunny air gives birth,
And bade them search each distant realm
Of tropic heat or temperate clime.
From cold New England's rocky hills
To Santa Crusian groves of lime,
And bring each floweret, rich and rare.
For her to choose her favorite there.

Quick flew the sprites o'er land and sea.
Through cloud, and mist, and storm afar.
Catching, with rapid, eagle glance.
The beauties of each opening flower :
From Alpine heights they bore a prize.
From Persia and from Hindostan ;
For many a bud of beauty rare
They searched the central, flowery land.
And, filled with treasures rich and sweet,
They hasten'd to their mistress' feet.

Camellia, with its lustrous white

And glossy leaves of emerald hue ;

Verbena, with its brilliant red,

And Heath just touch'd with mountain dew ;

Azalea, whose aerial form

Seems scarcely of terrestrial birth ;

And Cinerara's purple star.

Gracing full well its mother earth ;

And many a flower from tropic skies

Strove mingled there to gain the prize :

POETRY OF THE ROSE. IH

But not the richest tropic blooms,
CiiU'd from the fairest cHmes on earth,
Could vie with nature's fairest flower,
Of Iran's sun-clad soil the birth ;
Though clothed in rich and gorgeous hues,
They bore no charm of fragrance there,
In form and color, sweetness, grace —
None with the Rose could once compare :
She bore the palm in Flora's eyes.
Who to the Rose adjudged the prize.

S. B. P.

A FABLE.

Once, in the heart of a desert.

Blossomed a rose-bush unseen :
Only the sands were around it ;

Nought but Its leaf was there green.
Ever, at evening and morning.

Trickled its flowers with dew ;
And then, in light circles, around it

Fondly a nightingale flew.

Over the sands strayed a pilgrim.

Lost in the midst of the wild.
When on his faint eyes, at evening.

Sweetly the rose-blossom smiled ;
Sweetly the nightingale wooed him.

Under its shade to repose ;
There his song charmed him to slumber.

Wet by the dew of the Rose.

Freshly he rose in the morning —
Dug in the sand by the flower,

And a bright fountain upsparkled,
Welling with bubbling shower :

112 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

Over the sands as it murmured,
Green sprung the grass by its side ;

Round it a garden soon blossom'd,
Fed by its Kfe-giving tide.

There, too, a wild vine up-started

Under its shelter he dwelt :
Morning and evening, yet ever

Low by the rose-bush he knelt.
So in the far waste forgotten.

Still flowed his pure life along.
Soothed by the rose-blossom's fragrance.

Charmed by the nightingale's song.

THE FEAST OF ROSES.

Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere,

With its Roses, the brightest that earth ever gave,
Its temples and grottos, and fountains as clear
As the love-lighted eyes that hang over their wave '.'

But never yet, by night or day,
In dew of spring or summer's ray.
Did the sweet Valley shine so gay
As now it shines — all love and light,
Visions by day and feasts by night !
A happier smile illumes each brow,

With quicker spread each heart uncloses.
And all is extasy, — for now

The Valley holds its Feast of Roses.
That joyous time, when pleasures pour
Profusely round, and in their shower

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 113

Hearts open, like the Season's Rose, —

The flow'ret of a hundied leaves.
Expanding while the dew-fall flows,

And eveiy leaf its balm receives !
# # # # *

A thousand restless torches play'd
Through every grove and island shade ;
A thousand sparkling lamps were set
On every dome and minaret ;
And fields and pathways, far and near,
Were lighted by a blaze so clear.
That you could see, in w'andering round,
The smallest rose-leaf on the ground.
*****

And all exclaim'd, to all they met,
That never did the summer bring

So gay a Feast of Roses yet ; —
The moon had never shed a light ^

So clear as that w^hich bless'd them there ;
The Roses ne'er shone half so bright,

Nor they themselves look'd half so fair.
And what a wilderness of flowers !
It seem'd as though from all the bowers
And fairest fields of all the year,
The mingled spoil were scatter'd here.
The Lake, too, like a garden breathes.

With the rich buds that o'er it lie, —
As if a shower of fairy wreaths

Had fall'n upon it from the sky !
And then the sounds of joy— the beat
Of tabors and of dancing feet ;
The merry laughter echoing
From gardens, where the silken swing
Wafts some delighted girl above
The top leaves of the orange grove ;

10*

114

POETRY OF THE ROSE.

Or, from those infant groups at play
Among the tents that line the way,
Flinging, unaw'd by slave or mother,
Handfuls of Roses at each other !

From "Lalla Rookb.

THE ROSE AND THE TOMB.

" Thou that dwell'st within my shadow :"
To the Rose thus said the Tomb :
" Love's flower ! that here in freshness
Bloom'st alone amid the gloom :
Thou that clingest to the sepulchre.
Like a fadeless memory ;
What dost thou with the early tears
That the morning sheds on thee?"

Then the Rose, low breathing, answered :

" I distil a perfume here ;

And I give its honied fragrance forth

To the solemn atmosphere.

And thou, dark Tomb ! discover

What dost thou, amid thy walls,

With the pale and silent guests that throng

Thy ever-opening halls ?"

And the Tomb said, " Of the beautiful
That to mine abode are given,
For each pulseless form I yield, O Rose !
An angel soul to Heaven !"

M. E. Hewitt.

POETEY OF THE ROSE. 115

THE DYING ROSE-BUD'S LAMENT.

Ah me ! ah ! wo is me !

That I should perish now,
With the dear sunhght just let in

Upon my balmy brow !

My leaves, instinct with glowing life.
Were quivering to unclose !

My happy heart with love was rife !
I was almost a Rose !

Nerved by a hope, warm, rich, intense,

Already I had risen
Above my cage's curving fence.

My green and graceful prison !

My pouting lips, by Zephyr press'd,
Were just prepared to part.

And whisper to the wooing wind
The rapture of my heart !

In new-born fancies reveling,

My mossy cell half riven,
Each thrilling leaflet seemed a wing

To bear me into heaven.

How oft, while yet an infant flower,
My crimson cheek I've laid

Against the green bars of my bower,
Impatient of the shade !

And pressing up and peeping through
Its small but precious vistas,

Sighed for the lovely light and dew
That blessed my elder sisters !

116 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

I saw the sweet breeze rippling o'er
Their leaves that loved the play.

Though the light thief stole all their store
Of dew-drop gems away.

I thought how happy I should be

Such diamond wreaths to wear,
And frolic with a Rose's glee,

With sunbeam, bird, and air !

Ah me ! ah ! wo is me ! that I,

Ere yet my leaves unclose,
With all my wealth of sweets, must die

Before I am a Rose !

Frances S. Osgood.

THE HALF-BLOWN ROSE.

SUGGESTED BY A POHTHAIT.

'Tis just the flower she ought to wear —
The simple flower the painter chose ;

And are they not a charming pair —
The modest girl — the half-blown Rose ?

The glowing bud has stolen up.

With tender smile and blushing grace,

And o'er its mossy, clasping cup
In bashful pride reveals its face.

The maiden too, with timid feet.

Has sprung from childhood's verdant bower.
And lightly left its limit sweet.

For woman's lot of shine and shower.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 117

See ! from its veil of silken hair,

That bathes her cheek in clusters bright,

Her sweet face, like a blossom fair.
Reveals its wealth of bloom and light.

How softly blends with childhood's smile

That maiden mien of pure repose !
Oh, seems she not herself the while —

A breathing flower — a half-blown Rose ?

F. S. Osgood.

THE MOSS-ROSE.

" I've a call to make," said the rich Moss-Rose,

" At the house of a lady fair ;
Cousin China-Rose, if you'll go with me,

I'll introduce you there.

" 'Tis New Year's day ; come, do not stay,
But get on your cloak and hood ;

You've moped so long by the green-house fire,
That a walk will do you good."

Then China's Yellow Rose replied,
" You've a terrible climate, dear ;

It has made me old before my time.
And bilious too, I fear !

"But I'll put my muff and tippet on,
Since you needs must have me go ;

And yet I'm sure I heard a blast.
And saw a flake of snow."

118 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

The Moss-Rose wrapped her damask robe

Close round her queenly form,
And led her nervous friend along,

Who trembled at the storm.

But the beautiful lady welcomed them

With such a radiant eye,
That they fancied summer had come again,

And winter was quite gone by.

They took their India-rubbers off.

And laid their hoods away.
And whispered in each other's ear,

" We should like to spend the day."

She charmed them with her tuneful voice.

Till both were unable to stir ;
So there they staid, — and the flowers of love

Have found their home with her.

L. H. SiGOURNEY.

THE ROSE.

Its velvet lips the bashful Rose begun
To show, and catch the kisses of the sun :
Some fuller blown, their crimson honors shed ;
Sweet smelt the golden chives that graced their head.

Pawkes.

And first of all, the Rose ; because its breath
Is rich beyond the rest ; and when it dies,
It doth bequeath a charm to sweeten death.

Barry Cornwall.

His queen, the garden-queen,— his Rose,
Unbent by winds, unchill'd by snows.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. H9

Far from the winters of the west,
By every breeze and season blest,
Returns the sweets by Nature given,
In softest incense back to heaven,
And grateful yields that smiling sky
Her fairest hue and fragrant sigh.

Lord Byron.

A single Rose is shedding there

Its lonely lustre, meek and pale :
It looks as planted by despair —

So white, so faint, the slightest gale
Might whirl the leaves on high ;

And yet, though storms and blasts assail,
And hands more rude than wintry sky,

May wring it from the stem ia vain —

To-morrow sees it bloom again !
The stalk some spirit quickly rears.
And waters with celestial tears ;

For well may maids of Helle deem
That this can be no earthly flower.
Which mocks the tempest's withering hour,
And buds unshelter'd by a bower ;
Nor droops though Spring refuse her shower,

Nor woos the Summer beam :
To it the livelong night there sings
A bird unseen, but not remote ;
Invisible his airy wings.
But soft as harp that Houri strings.
His lone, entrancing note.

Bride of Abydos.

Wound in the hedge-rows' oaken boughs
The woodbine's tassels float in air,
And, blushing, the uncultured Rose
Hangs high her beauteous blossorfis there.

Smith.

120 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

THE MOSS-ROSE.

The Angel of the flowers, one day,

Beneath a Rose-tree sleeping lay —

That spirit to whom charge is given

To bathe young buds in dews of heaven ;

Awaking from his hght repose.

The Angel whisper'd to the Rose :

" O fondest object of my care.

Still fairest found where all are fair.

For the sweet shade thoii giv'st to me ;

Ask what thou wilt, 't is granted thee !''

" Then," said the Rose, with deepen'd glow,
" On me another grace bestow !"
The spirit paused in silent thought ;
What grace was there that flower had not 7
'T was but a moment — o'er the Rose
A veil of moss the angel throws ;
And, robed in Nature's simplest weed,
Could there a flower that Rose exceed ?

From the German.

SHARON'S ROSE.

Go, Warrior, pluck the laurel bough.
And bind it round thy reeking brow ;
Ye sons of pleasure blithely twine
A chaplet of the purple vine ;
And Beauty cull each blushing flower
That ever deck'd the sylvan bower;
No wreath is bright, no garland fair,
Unless sweet Sharon's Rose be there.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 121

The laurel branch will droop and die,
The vine its purple fruit deny,
The wreath that smiling beauty twined
Will leave no lingering bud behind ;
For beauty's wreath and beauty's bloom
In vain would shun the withering tomb,
Where nought is bright and nought is fair,
Unless sweet Sharon's Rose be there.

Bright blossom ! of immortal bloom,
Of fadeless hue, and sweet perfume,
Far in the desert's dreary waste,
In lone neglected beauty placed :
Let others seek the blushing bower.
And cifll the frail and fading flower,
But I'll to dreariest wilds repair,
If Sharon's deathless Rose be there.

When Nature's hand, with cunning care,
No more the opening bud shall rear.
But, hurled by heaven's avenging Sire,
Descends the earth-consuming fire.
And desolation's hunying blast,
O'er all the sadden'd scene has past,
There is a clime for ever fair,
And Sharon's Rose shall flourish there.

AN EXTRACT.

This mighty oak —
By whose immovable stem I stand, and seem
Almost annihilated — not a prince,
In all the proud old world beyond the deep.
E'er wore his crown as loftily as he

11

122 POETRY OF THE ROSE.

Wears the green coronal of leaves with which
Thy hand has graced him. Nestled at his root
Is heauty, such as blossoms not in the glare
Of the broad sun. That delicate forest Rose,
With scented breath, and look so like a smile.
Seems, as it issues from the shapeless mould,
An emanation of the indwelling Life,
A visible token of the upholding Love,
That are the soul of this wide universe.

WHY WILL A ROSE-BUD BLOW?

I wish the bud would never blow,

'Tis prettier and purer so ;

It blushes through its bower of green.

And peeps above the mossy screen

So timidly, I cannot bear

To have it open to the air.

I kissed it o'er and o'er again,

As if my kisses were a chain,

To close the quivering leaflets fast.

And make for once — a rose-bud last !

But kisses are but feeble links

For changeful things, like flowers, methinks ;

The wayward rose-leaves, one by one,

Uncurl'd and look'd up to the sun,

With their sweet flushes fainter growing,

I could not keep my bud from blowing !

Ah ! there upon my hand it lay.

And faded, faded fast away ;

You might have thought you heard it sighing,

It look'd so mournfully in dying.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 123

I wish it were a rose-bud now,

I wish 'twere only hiding yet,
With timid grace its blushing brow,

Behind the green that shelter'd it.
I had not written were it so ;
Why would the silly rose-bud blow ?

Frances S. Osgood.

THE ROSE.

Though many a flower has graced the lay

And formed the theme of poets' song —

Has gently flowed in Grecian phrase,

Or tripped upon the Roman's tongue ;

Yet, still, in ancient song and story

The Rose shines forth in beauty rare.

Enveloped with a halo bright,

And made so glorious, rich, and fair,

That all the flowers must yield their seat,

And lay their beauty at its feet.

Anacreon sang its primal birth,

Old Homer praised its form of grace,

Catullus boasted of its charms,

Horace, its richly tinted face :

In fair Italia glowing words,

Tasso and Metastasio sang ;

And 'mong the groves of far Cathay

The Persian Hafiz' accents rang.

The flowing tones of old Castile,

From Camoens and Sannazar,

And in our own pure English toi^gue

It was the signal note of war ;

In many a poet's verse its beauty shone, —

Milton, the Bard of Avon and the Great Unknown.

Hiffh valued were its flowers briffht

124

POETRY OF THE ROSE.

By Helle's maids of yore ;

It graced their scenes of festive glee

In the classic vales of Arcady,

And all the honors bore ;

And shed its fragrance on the breeze

That swept through academic grove,

Where sages with their scholars rove —

The land of Pericles.

In the sunny clime of Suristan,

On India's burning shore,

Amid the Brahmin's sacred shades,

Or in the wreaths that Persian maids,

Sporting in bright and sunny glades,

In graceful beauty wore ;

Upon the banks of Jordan's stream,

Still flowing softly on.

Where Judah's maidens once did lave.

Or where the lofty cedars wave.

On time-worn Lebanon ;

The Rose is still most rich and sweet.

And wears the crown for beauty meet.

I have basked in the beauty of southern climes.

And wandered through groves of palm and limes.

Where dark-eyed Spanish girls

Would linger in their myrtle bowers, —

With garlands rich of orange flowers

Would weave their raven curls.

And fasten 'mid their lustrous hair

The fire-fly's glittering light.

Which, brighter than the diamond's sheen.

Bursts on the dazzled sight.

But yet I would not give for these.

Produce of tropic sun and breeze —

For all the flowers in beauty there —

The Rose our northern maidens wear.

POETRY OF THE ROSE. 125

I've crossed the Andes' lofty height,

Its mountains, forest-ciowned.

And 'mong the devious, tangled paths

Of tropic thickets wound.

In fair Aragua's fertile vale.

In Hayti's fields of bloom,

I've marked the prickly Cactus tribe

Its richest tints assume.

I've passed through fragrant Coffee groves,

By the tall Bucara tree,

And by the Cocoa and the Palm,

With the Trupeol warbling free ;

Upon the flower-clad turf, and where

The rich Orchidia climbs in air.

But not mid all this gorgeous bloom,

By tropic climate wove,

Nor Florida's rich Magnolia

And fragrant Orange grove ;

Nor the graceful vines of southern France,

Nor Italy's fair bowers,

Nor England's lofty domes of glass

All filled with gorgeous flowers ;

Nor in our own wide prairie land,

With bud and bloom on every hand.

Is there a single flower that grows

Can vie in beauty with the Rose.

Then seek, in southern, tropic air.

And in our northern glade.

And in the bright and gay parterre,

And by the forest shade,

Where every flower, and leaf, and tree.

In graceful blending met.

Presents new beauty to the eye.

Of azure or of jet ;

\V

126 POETRY OP THE ROSE.

And take each blossom, rich and rare,
Which thou may'st find in beauty there ;
Combine their color, form, and grace,
And each unpleasant tint erase ;
Then recreate the loveliest flower
That e'er shed fragrance in a bower ;
Let all its sweets and charms unclose ;
It cannot equal yet the Rose.

S. B. P.

>^

Imp

J,Ri6o etc.'

CULTURE OF THE EOSE.

CHAPTER IX

GENERAL CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

S before stated, the Rose was the theme
of the earliest poets of antiquity ; and it
was doubtless one of the first plants se-
lected to adorn the gardens which were
laid out around the new habitations
constructed upon the exchange of the
wandering for a civilized mode of life.
The most ancient authors upon husbandry whose works are
extant, have all treated of the culture of Roses. Theophrastus
among the Greeks ; and among the Romans, Yarro, Columella,
Palladius, and Pliny. To Pliny are we specially indebted for
information on this subject, as the entire fourth chapter of the
twentieth book of his Natural History is devoted to Roses ; and
they are also occasionally mentioned in other parts of the work.
But after all the information thus obtained, much yet remains
to be desired ; and although we find in other ancient authors
some curious facts bearing upon other points in the history of
the Rose, they are mostly so general in their character as to give
us very little insight into the actual cultuie of the Rose at those
periods.

The profuseness with which they were used among the Greeks,
the Romans, the Egyptians, and other ancient nations, in their
religious solemnities, their public ceremonies, and even in the

128 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

ordinary customs of private life, would lead us to suppose, and
with some degree of correctness, that roses were very abundantly
cultivated by them all ; and we are inclined to think that their
cultivation was then far more general than at the present
time, although the art of producing them was in its infancy.
However surprising in other respects may have been the progress
of the culture of roses within forty years, particularly in France,
Holland, and Belgium, there can be little doubt that, although
the Romans were acquainted with a much smaller number of
varieties than the moderns, yet flowers of those vaiieties were
far more abundant than the aggregate quantity of flowers of all
the varieties of roses cultivated at the present day. It cannot
be positively asserted, that the Hybrid Perpetual Roses of the
present day were unknown at Rome, since the gardeners of that
city practised sowing the seeds of the Rose, by which mode
many of the most remarkable varieties of that class have been
obtained by modern cultivators. The Romans, however, prefer-
red to propagate by cuttings, which produced flowers much soon-
er than the seed-bed.

But, though the Romans may have had roses of the same spe-
cies with some of those which we now cultivate, it is scarcely prob-
able that these species could have continued until this period,
and escaped the devastation attendant on the revolutions of
empire, or the more desolating invasions of the Huns and Goths.
Thus it is, that those roses of Peestum to which allusion is so
frequently made by ancient writers, and which, according to
Virgil and Pliny, bloomed semi-annually, and were common in
the gardens of that city, are not now to be found. Jussieu and
Ijaudresse, two French gentlemen, successively visited Italy,
with the express object of finding this twice-bearing Rose in
Pffistum or its environs, yet, notwithstanding their carefully
prosecuted researches, they could find no traces of it whatever.

Although the number of varieties known to the Romans was
very limited, they had discovered a method of making the bloom-
ing season continue many months. According to Pliny, the
roses of Carthage, in Spain, came forward early and bloomed in

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 129

winter ; those of Campania bloomed next in order ; then those
of Malta ; and lastly those of Peestum, which flowered in the
Spring and Autumn. It was probably the blooming of this last
species, which the gardeners of Rome discovered (in Seneca's time)
the secret of retarding by a certain process, or of hastening by
means of their warm green-houses^

In the first part of this work, we have cited many passages
from ancient authors, which show to what enormous extent was
carried the use of roses by the Romans on certain occasions. It
is difficult to credit, at this day, the relation of Nero's extrava-
gance (which is however attested by Suetonius), when it is told
that in one fete alone he expended m roses only more than
four millions of sesterces, or one hundred thousand dollars. It
would be no easy matter, even at the present period of abundant
cultivation of roses, to obtain from all the nurseries of England,
France, and America together, roses sufficient to amount to so
large a sum.

The Romans derived the use of this flower from the Greeks.
In Greece, and throughout the East, roses were cultivated, not
only for the various purposes we have mentioned, but also for
the extraction of their perfumes. Among the many plans which
they adopted for preserving the flower, was that of cutting off
the top of a reed, splitting it down a short distance, and enclos-
ing in it a number of rose-buds, which, being bound around with
papyrus, prevented their fragrance from escaping. The Greeks
also deemed it a great addition to the fragrance of the Rose, to
plant garlic near its roots. The island of Rhodes, which has
successively borne many names, was particularly indebted to the
culture of roses for that which it bears at this day. It w^as the
Isle of Roses, the Greek for Rose being PoJov, — Rodon.

Medals of Rhodes, whose reverse impressions present a rose in
bloom on one side and the sunflower on the other, are to be found
even now^ in cabinets of curiosities.

Extravagance in roses, among the Romans, kept pace with
the increase of their power, until they at length desired them at
all seasons. At first they procured their winter's supply from

130 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

Egypt, but subsequently attained themselves such skill in their
culture as to produce them in abundance, even at the coldest
season of the year ; and, according to Seneca, by means of green-
houses, heated by pipes filled with hot water. During the reign
of Domitian, the forcing of roses was carried to such perfection,
and flowers produced in winter in so great abundance, that those
brought from J^gypt, as before mentioned, excited only the con-
tempt of the citizens of the world's metropolis.

This fact, as also handed down to us by the epigram of Mar-
tial, is of great assistance in estimating the impaitance of rose-
culture at that period, and in showing how the art of cultivating
this plant had spread, and how it was already far advanced
among the ancient Romans and their contemporaries.

If the Egyptians cultivated roses for transportation to Rome
during the winter, they must have had very extensive planta-
tions for the purpose. The exportation could not have been of
loose flowers, for they would have been withered long before the
termination of the voyage ; neither could it have been of rooted
plants in a dormant state, as nurserymen now send them to
every part of the world, because the Romans had at that time
no means of causing them to vegetate and bloom in the winter.
On the contrary, the cultivators at Alexandria and Memphis
must, of necessity, have sent them away in the vases and boxes
in which they had planted them with that object, and when they
were just beginning to break from the bud, in order that they
might arrive at Rome at the moment they commenced expand-
ing.

At that remote period, when navigation was far behind its
present state of perfection, the voyage from the mouth of the Nile
to the coast of Italy occupied more than twenty days. When
this long voyage is considered, and also the quantity of roses re-
quired by the Romans to enwreath their croAvns and garlands,
to cover their tables and couches, and the pavements of their fes-
tive halls, and to surround the urns which contained the ashes
of their dead, it is evident that the Egyptians, who traded in
roses, in order to satisfy the prodigality of the Romans, would be

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 131

compelled to keep in readiness a certain number of vessels to be
laden with boxes or vases of rose-plants, so prepared as not to
bloom before their delivery at Rome. The cost of roses thus
delivered in Rome must have been immense, but we do not find
a single passage in ancient authors which can give any light on
this point ; they only tell us that nothing for the gratification of
luxury was considered too costly by the wealthy Roman citi-
zens. Nor do they afford more positive information as to the
species of Rose cultivated on the borders of the Nile, to gratify
this taste of the Romans. According to Delile, there were found
in Egypt, at the time of the French expedition into that country,
only the White Rose and the Centifolia or hundred-leafed — two
species not very susceptible of either a forcing or retarding
culture. The only Rose known at that time, which bloomed in
the winter, was the Rose of Peestum, referred to by Virgil, as
" hiferiqiie rosaria Pcesti" — and which was probably the same
as our monthly Damask Rose, and which produced in Egypt
and Rome flowers at all seasons, as the Damask does now with
us, under a proper mode of culture.

The extent to which the culture and commerce of roses was
carried among the Romans, is shown by the fact, that, although
they had confounded the tree and its flowers under one name —
that of Rosa, they, nevertheless, gave particular appellations to
the gardens, or ground planted with rose-bushes. They were
termed, a Rosarium, or a Rosetum. Ovid says, " Q,uot amoena
Rosaria flores. The dealer in roses was also designated by the
distinctive appellation of Rosarius.

In the latter part of the decline of the Roman Empire, when
paganism still existed to a great degree, there arose a people,
who formed as it were the connecting-link between the ancient
and modern, world — a people who acknowledged but one Su-
preme Ruler, and his sole vicegerent Mahomet ; a people whose
origin was among the wildest tribes of Ishmael's descendants,
who possessed in a great degree the luxuries of civilized life, and
among whom the arts, sciences, and agriculture were very flour-

132 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

ishing for many ages. Among the Moors of Spain, the culture
of the Rose was pursued with as much scientific and practical
method as at the present day, but with somewhat less happy
results. When in Paris, some two years since, we became ac-
quainted with M. Hardy, the chief director of the Luxembourg
gardens, and who is well known to rose growers, by the many
beautiful varieties which he has originated. His interest in this
subject was very great, and in 1828 he published, in the Journal
des Jardins^ some interesting observations which he had ex-
tracted from a manuscript of M. de la Neuville. The latter hav-
ing been employed as military superintendent in Spain, during
the war of 1823, translated from a Spanish version some parts
of an Arabian work upon culture in general, in which that of the
Rose was mentioned, with some important particulars. It stated
that the Moors, who formerly conquered Spain, attached the
highest value to this most beautiful of their flowers, and cultiva-
ted it with as much care as ourselves. " According to Abu-el-
Jair," says the translation, " there are roses of many colors — car-
nation white—fallow or yellow — lapis-lazuli, or sky-blue. Some
are of this last color on the outside, and yellow within. In the
East they are acquainted with roses which are variegated with
yellow and sky-blue, the inside of the corolla being of the one
color, and the outside the other. The yellow-heart is very com-
mon in Tripoli and Syria, and the blue-heart is found on the
coast of Alexandria." To us, at the present day, this rglation
may with reason seem incredible, since amid the numerous vari-
eties now existing, and the skill of their cultivators, we have in
no instance been able to obtain a blue Rose. Abu-el- Jair, may
have ventured to state it as a fact, without proper authority, for,
according to M. de la Neuville, Abu-Abdallah-ebu-el-Fazel, an-
other nearly contemporaneous author, enumerated a variety of
roses without mentioning the blue. " There are," says this last
author, " four varieties of roses : the first is named the Double
White ; it has an exquisite odor, and its cup unites more than
a hundred petals : the second is the Yellow, which is of a golden
color and bright as the jonquil ; then the Purple, and lastly the

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 133

. » — _

flesh-colored, which is the most common of them all." Farther
on the same author adds : "The number of species is supposed
to be large : the Mountain or Wild ; the Double, which is varie-
gated with red and white shades ; and the Chinese. The Double,
however, is the most beautiful, and is composed of 40 to 50 petals."

The Moors multiplied roses by all the various methods which
are employed at this day : by suckers from the root, by cuttings,
by budding, and by grafting. The pruning-knife was also freely
used, in order to form regular heads.

There is a farther translation of De la Neuville, from a Span-
ish version of the " Book of Agriculture," written by Ebu-Al-
wan, who lived in the 12th century, and who, in addition
to his own experience, quoted largely from some Chaldaic
and Arabic writers. He states that the Moors practised 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 cover-
ing 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, tind 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, another 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 dur-
ing the heat of summer until August, and then give it an abund-
ance of moisture ; this Avill hasten its growth, and cause the ex-
pansion of its flowers in great profusion, without impairing its
ability to bloom the ensuing spring, as usual." " Or else," adds
the same author, " in the morith of October, burn the old branch-
es to the level of the earth, moisten the soil for eight consecutive
days, and then suspend the watering ; alternate these periods of

12

134 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

•

moisture and drought as many as five times, and probably in
about sixty days, or before the end of autumn, the roots will
have tlirown out vigorous branches, which will in due time be
loaded with flowers, without destroying the ability of the plant
to bloom again the following spring." The climate in which
the Moors lived — that of Cordova, Grenada, and Seville, where
the winter is very much like our weather in mid-autumn — was
very favorable to the cultivation of the Rose. In this country
the same results could doubtless be obtained in the Carolinas,
and the experiment would be well worth trying, even in the lat-
itude of New York. It would be no small triumph to obtain an
autumnal bloom of the many beautiful varieties of French, Moss,
or Provence Roses. Haj has also given the method of keeping
the Rose in bud, in order to prolong its period of blooming. His
process, however, is of so uncertain a character as scarcely to
merit an insertion here. The manuscript of De la Neuville also
contains particular directions for propagating roses, and for plant-
ing hedges of the Eglantine to protect the vineyards and gar-
dens, and at the same time to serve as stocks for grafting. No-
thing is omitted in the Arabian treatise which pertains to the
management of this shrub ; the manner of cultivating, weeding,
transplanting, watering, <fec., are all particularly explained.
Among a variety of curious matters, it contains the process by
which, for the purpose of embellishing their gardens, they pro-
duced the appearance of trees whose tops are loaded with roses.
A hollow pipe, four feet long, or more if the top was to be large,
was obtained, of a well-proportioned diameter, set upright to re-
semble the trunk of a tree, and filled with earth or sand in a suit-
able state of moisture. In the top of this pipe were planted seve-
ral varieties of roses, of different colors, which rooting freely in the
earth around them, soon formed a bushy head and represented a
third-class tree, clothed with rich foliage and beautiful flowers.

This plan could still be practised with success ; and we can
scarcely imagine more beautiful objects in a lawn than a num-
ber of these pipes, of various heights, single and in groups, some
low with the small heads of the China or Tea roses, others high

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 135

and with the large robust branches of the La Reine and otlier
Perpetuals, and others again planted with some delicate climb-
ing roses, whose branches falling down, would form a weeping
tree of a most unique, graceful, and sliowy character. The pipes
could be made of earthenware, tin or wood, and be painted in
imitation of the bark of a tree. Still better would be the trunk
of a small tree, hollowed out for the purpose, which, with the
bark on, would puzzle many a close observer, and which could
show a luxuriant head of leaves and flowers on the most sterile
soil that ever formed a lawn.

From what has been said on the culture of roses among the
Moors in Spain, there can be no doubt that they had made great
progress therein ; and with the exception of a few statements,
evidently unfounded in fact, as the grafting of the Rose on the
almond, the apple, the jujube, and other trees, the little treatise
translated by De la Neuville certainly contains most excellent
remarks upon the culture of roses, whethei' we compare them
with what the ancients have left us, or even with those of the
various writers on Rose culture in Europe and America within
the last half century.

As roses were so frequently propagated from the seed by the
Moors, they must have known quite a number of varieties, ex-
clusive of all those they had brought oi" obtained from the East.
The Yellow Rose, unknown to us until recently, was apparently
familiar to them ; and the Blue Rose, of which their manuscripts
speak, is now extinct, if it indeed ever existed ; for amid the infi-
nite variety of roses, of every color and shade, produced from
seed in modern times, no one has yet obtained a purely Blue
Rose, and its former existence may well seem to us incredible.

The Marquis d'Orbessan, in an essay on Roses, read before
the French Academy of Sciences at Toulouse, in 1752, stated
that he had seen blue roses growing wild near Turin, and that
they were moreover quite common there. After this testimony,
therefore, and that of the Arabian author, blue roses can scarcely
be considered impossible, but only a very rare production — a sort
of lusus nalurcb.

136 CULTURE OP THE ROSE.

The Moorish treatise translated by De la Neuvilie also describes-
a process for changing the color of roses, which, though ex-
tremely doubtful, may be worthy of insertion here, and may in-
duce some curious experiments. "They dig," says the author,
"around the plant in December, and leave it standing in the
earth in its vertical position. Then the black pellicle which
covers the principal roots is stripped off, without detaching it
from the base of the plant. This can be performed by a longi-
tudinal incision with a knife, which raises the pellicle delicately
to the right and left, without cutting it above or below. The
space between the pellicle and the root itself is then filled with
strongly-scented saffron, reduced to an impalpable powder. The
root thus stuffed, should be wrapped with a piece of linen secure-
ly tied, then surrounded with an oily clay, and finally covered
over with earth. The plant will then produce roses of a saffron
color. I recommend this process," continues the author, "be-
cause I have tried it iftyself, and obtained roses of a rich, agree-
able color. If deep blue roses are wanted, falch^ a brilliant in-
digo, should be used."

" A citizen of Damascus informs me," wrote Ebu-Alwan,
" that he dissolved indigo in common water, and with the tincture
assiduously watered a plant from the first of October till the
commencement of active vegetation, and that the roses which it
produced were of a very agreeable deep blue." Haj says that he
thinks this story was made for amusement.

Respecting the first process, there is no doubt that the absorb-
ent powers of the plant would be quite sufficient to take up a
large portion of the indigo thus applied to the roots, and the solu-
tion would no doubt pass into the branches ; and the question
can only be whether, when so absorbed, its properties remain
sufficiently unchanged to affect the color of the leaf or flower.
The experiment is a curious one, and would be well worth the
trial. Some singular result might possibly be attained. It is
only by frequent experiment, and by a bold travel on the untrod-
den fields of what may be deemed the wildest conjecture, that
any new and singular result can be attained. Ten years ago,

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 137

the man who should have foretold that the flickering shadow
would be made to stand still, and that intelHgence would be sent
a thousand miles with the quickness of the hghtning's flash,
would have subjected himself to the strongest ridicule ; yet these
results have both been obtained — one by Daguerre, and the other
by one of our own countrymen. No one, then, should be deter-
red from experiments of the nature above cited, from the dread
of ridicule ; but when such fear is upon him, let him recollect,
that after the invention of the Daguerreotype and the Magnetic
Telegraph, nothing can be deemed impossible or incredible, re-
specting the natural agents which have been placed by Supreme
Wisdom in the hands of man.

If it is found by actual and repeated experiment, that the Ara-
bian process will not produce blue roses, may there not be .some
other mode to attain that result ? It is well known that the
color of the flowers of the Hydrangea frequently passes from a
light rose into a deep blue. This is generally attributed to the
presence in the soil of some peculiar chemical substance. It
may be possible to ascertain this substance by careful and repeat-
ed analyses of the soil ; and if obtained, and placed in the soil in
which the Rose is grown, it would very probably produce the result
that we observe in the Hydrangea. This also is an interesting
experiment, and would be well worth the trial. It is true that
the Hydrangeas, in a part of our grounds, have the past year
been nearly all blue without any care of our own, while roses
grown within a few feet of them have been unchanged. This
peculiarity, therefore, in the Hydrangea, may be owing to the
presence in its roots of some chemical substance, which, combining
with another in the soil, produces the unique result which we
observe in this plant alone. These two chemical substances
could also probably be discovered, if the subject were taken up
by some skilful chemist and carefully investigated, with the
assistance of an intelligent and practical horticulturist. With-
out absolutely asserting that such will be the results, I think we
need not despair of obtaining roses of various singular shades,
by cultivating them in soil with whose constituent elements we

12*

138 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

have made ourselves familiar. We may also hope to obtain
happy results by sowing seeds in the same soil, or the effect may
be still farther assisted by watering the plants with a solution of
certain chemical substances. If, by any of the above processes
the desired result should at some future time be fortunately at-
tained, the plant could probably not be placed again in ordinary
soil without losing its color, but would need that particular earth
which has power to preserve its acquired hue —as the Hydran-
gea, when taken from this peculiar soil, will lose its blue and
resume the natural pink of its species.

Besides the Moorish cultivation in Spain, the Rose has been
an object of culture to a great extent in other countries. It has
been cultivated principally for the beauty of its flowers, but in
marly parts of Europe and Asia, and in the north of Africa,
its culture has been pursued for commercial purposes. Of its
abundance in Palestine, some conception may be formed from
the statement of travelers, that they have not only seen them
wild and in great profusion in the vicinity of Jerusalem, but
have found them in hedges, intermingled with pomegranate
trees. Doubday states that, when the Eastern Christians made
one of their processions in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at
Jerusalem, which continued some two hours, many persons were
present with sacks full of rose-petals, which they threw by hand-
fuls on the people, and in such immense quantities, that many
were covered with them, and they were scattered all over the
pavement. In Syria and Persia it has been cultivated from a
very early period, and the ancient name of the former, Suristan,
is said to signify the land of roses. Damascus, Cashmere, Bar-
bary, and Fayoum in Egypt, all cultivated the Rose extensively
for its distilled oil or essence. Very little is extant respecting
the culture of the Rose in the middle ages, but that it was
cultivated and valued, is known by its having been worn by
knights at the tournament, as an emblem of their devotion to
grace and beauty. According to Loudon, " Ludovico Verthema,
who traveled in the East in 1503, observed that Teessa was
particularly celebrated for roses, and that he saw a great quantity

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 139

of these flowers at Calicut." The Rose is to this day also ex-
tensively cultivated in India, and for commercial purposes per-
haps in greater abundance than is now known in any other
country. Bishop Heber states that "Ghazepoor is celebrated
throughout India for the wholesomn^ss of its air and the beauty
and extent of its rose gardens. The Rose-fields, which occupy
many hundred acres in the neighborhood, are described as, at the
proper season, extremely beautiful. They are cultivated for dis-
tillation and for making 'Attar of Roses.'" He states also, that
"many roses were growing in the garden of the palace of Delhi,
and the fountain pipes were carved with images of roses." An-
other writer describes in glowing colors the beauty of Ghazepoor,
the Gul-istan (the rosebeds) of Bengal. " In the spring of the
year, an extent of miles around the town presents to the eye a
continual garden of roses, than which nothing can be more beau-
tiful and fragrant. The sight is perfectly dazzling ; the plain,
as far as the eye can reach, extending in the same bespangled
carpet of red and green. The breezes too are loaded with the
sweet odor which is wafted far across the river Ganges."

These statements sufficiently evince that the Rose was not
only valued by the Hindoos as an article of commerce, but was
intimately associated with their ideas of pleasure and enjoyment.

Persia, however, was above all other countries pre-eminent for
roses. "Sir John Chardin, in 1686, found the gardens of the
Persians without parterres, labyrinths, and other ornaments of
European gardens, but filled with lilies, peach trees, and roses ;
and all modern travelers bear testimony to the esteem in which
this flower is held in the East." Sir Wm. Ousley tells us, in his
travels in Persia, in 1819, that when he entered the flower garden
belonging to the Governor of the Castle, near Farso, he was over-
whelmed with roses ; and Jackson, in his Journey^ (^c, says that
the roses of the Sinan Nile, or Garden of the Nile, are unequaled ;
and mattrasses are made of their leaves, for men of rank to recline
upon. Buckingham speaks of the rose plantations of Damascus
as occupying an area of many acres, about three miles from that
city. Sir Robert Ker Porter, speaking of the garden of one of the

140 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

royal palaces of Persia, says : " I was struck with the appear-
ance of two rose trees, full fourteen fieet high, laden with thousands
of flowers, in every degree of expansion, and of a bloom and
delicacy of scent that imbued the whole atmosphere with exquisite
perfume. Indeed, I believe that in no country in the world does
the rose grow in such perfection as in Persia ; in no country is it
so cultivated and prized by the natives. Their gardens and courts
are crowded by its plants, their rooms ornamented with roses, filled
with its gathered brandies, and every bath strewed with the full-
blown flowers, plucked with the ever-replenished stems. * *
But in this delicious garden of Negaaristan, the eye and the smell
are not the only senses regaled by the presence of the Rose : the
ear is enchanted by the wild and beautiful notes of multitudes of
nightingales, whose warblings seem to increase in melody and
softness, with the unfolding of their favorite flowers. Here, indeed,
the stranger is more powerfully reminded, that he is in the gen-
uine country of the nightingale and the Rose." Rivers mentions
that Sir John Malcolm told him, that when in Persia he had once
breakfasted on an immense heap, or rather mount, of roses, which
the Persians had raised in honor of him. The rose of Cashmere
has been long celebrated in the East, for its brilliancy and delicacy
of odor —

" Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere, •

With its Roses, the brightest, that earth ever gave 1"

Throughout the whole season during which the roses remained
in bloom in this beautiful valley, the Feast of Roses was kept
with great rejoicing, and an entire abandonment to pleasure. At
this time, a gieat number of tents Avere pitched, and multitudes of
men, women, boys and girls, were dancing and singing to the
music of their various instruments.

All that has been handed down to us, arid all we know at the
present time of the climate and productions of Persia, and the
customs of its inhabitants, prove that it was emphatically the
land of roses ; and all that we can gather from its history or tra-
dition, evinces, that to the inhabitants of the East, including the

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 141

Hindoos and the Moors of Spain, is this beautiful flower indebted
for the most careful and abundant cultivation, and for a due ap-
preciation of its merits.

At the present time the Rose is cultivated throughout the civil-
ized world. Loudon speaks of hedges of mixed Provence Roses,
in the garden of Rosenstein, in German)^, and also of their pro-
fusion in the public garden of Frankfort. They are found in
the gardens of Valencia, in Spain, and Sir John Carr, speaking
of the seat of a Spanish gentleman near Tarragona, says, " the
doors of the dining room open into a small garden, the walls of
which are covered with myrtles, jasmines, and roses." In the
Botanic garden of Madrid, rose trees are used for dividing hedges,
and the flower is a favorite throughout Spain.

Among the Spanish ladies, the Rose is highly valued, and with
the orange flower, is a favorite ornament for the hair. We have
frequently been struck, while traveling in the Spanish West
Indies, and in some parts of South America, with the careful
nurture and attention bestowed on a single rose bush, and the
delight evinced at its bloom, while all around in natural luxu-
riance were the most beautiful and gorgeous plants and flowers
which the tropics can produce. The brilliant cactus, the beautiful
oleander, the singular orchidaea, and the delicate and fragrant
flowers of the coffee and orange, seemed cast into the shade by
the ancient and well known Rose.

I well recollect, that on returning one day from a ride into the
country, where I had been luxuriating in the gorgeous splendor
of a tropical forest, the fair daughter of my hostess wished to
introduce me to a flower, which, in her opinion, far surpassed all
that I had seen ; she accompanied me to the top of the flat-roofed
house, used at the South as a place of evening resort, and there,
in one corner, I found a thrifty plant of the Tea Rose, which to
her infinite delight, was just showing above its glossy and delicate
young leaves, a little ruby-tipped bud. This little plant had been
the object of long and careful nursing, and her attention was now
about to be rewarded by a fine and perfect bloom.

In France, however, is the Rose a pre-eminent object of horti-

142 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

culture, both in commercial establishments and in private gardens.
The skill of the French has originated many new and beautiful
varieties, which are to be found in several of the nurseries in the
United States. The French are constantly searching for im-
provements in horticultural science and practice, with an enthu-
siasm rarely found in the more cold Englishman, whose skill seems
less to consist in the creation of new varieties, than in growing
perfectly those already known. None, indeed, can surpass the
English in the art of growing fine plants, but we are chiefly
indebted to the French for the finest new varieties of the Rose.
Such being the case, it is much to be regretted, that so little con-
fidence can be placed in the greater number of French rose-
growers ; roses from such should never be propagated until their
bloom has been tested. To this rule there are some honorable
exceptions : of these are Laffay, Vibert, and Verdier, and there
may also be others with whom we are not acquainted. Yibert is
perhaps the largest rose cultivator in France, and his attention
is directed almost exclusively to the culture of this flower and
the vine.

Verdier is a smaller cultivator, but said to be correct and fair.

Lafllay, although not a large cultivator, has devoted his time
almost exclusively to raising new roses from seed, and to him
are the admirers of this beautiful flower indebted for many
fine varieties. We shall not soon forget our very pleasant
visit to Laffay, in the spring of 1845. Although the posses-
sor of considerable property, he lives in a very simple, un-
ostentatious manner, and devotes himself to his favorite pursuit
with the utmost interest and enthusiasm. With much warmth
of heart and kindness of manner, he unites the courteous hospi-
tality of a French gentleman of the ancient regime ; his wife, an
animated and pleasant Frenchwoman, is, except in appearance,
exactly his counterpart, even to the fondness for rose culture. We
were rather disappointed in finding so little method in the
arrangement of his grounds. Although every care was taken to
ensure correctness, there was not that method in arrangement,
that perfect neatness and that regard for artistical effect, which

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 143

one always likes to see in the establishment of a man like Laffay.
The French are, however, universally behind the English in this
respect, although much improvement has been made since the
abolition of the Le Notre style of gardening, and the introduction
of the natural style, or as they call it, the " Jardin Anglaise."
Many of Laffay's fine seedlings were injured by the unprecedented
cold of that year, but sufficient were left to produce some fine
varieties, which he kindly offered to send us from year to year
before placing them in commerce at home. He pursues a regular
system of hybridizing, and it is probably owing to his care in this
respect that his success has been so far beyond that of other cul-
tivators. M. Hardy, the director of the Luxembourg gardens, has
produced some fine varieties, but as we conversed with him only
a few minutes, amid the bustle of a horticultural exhibition, we
could not obtain from him much information respecting his modus
operandi.

In Great Britain, although comparatively little attention has
been paid to the obtaining of new varieties, the culture is more
careful and the nomenclature more correct. The competition
excited by their numerous horticultural exhibitions, causes great
attention to be given to correct nomenclature and to symmetrical
habit of growth. We can imagine nothing more beautiful than
some of the plants that we saw at the exhibitions of the London
Horticultural Society at Chiswick ; every plant was pruned, trained
and grown, after an ideal, but perfect model, with its close and
luxuriant foliage, its thrifty, symmetrical habit, and the thick,
leatheiy petals of its well-cupped flower. This high standard
should be introduced into every society, and if such were the case
in this country and the rule carefully obeyed, the character of our
exhibitions would in a short time be very materially changed.

T. Rivers is esteemed the most extensive rose cultivator in
England, and is also known as the author of a very excellent
descriptive work on the Rose. He has also been successful in
hybridizing, and has originated some very fine varieties. His
attention was at one time directed almost exclusively to the Rose,
but it now includes many other nursery articles, and on our visit

144 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

to him in 1845, we found him much interested with experiments in
fruit culture. Lane, Wood, and Paul, are esteemed very good cul-
tivators, and generally correct in their nomenclature. From these
several establishments in England and France have been imported
most of the varieties now existing in this country. Their trade
with the United States is however comparatively, limited, from
the great risk of loss by a sea-voyage. We have frequently lost
in this way, two-thirds or three-quarters of an importation, to our
great annoyance and expense, and it is only by repeated and per-
severing importations that we have been able to obtain all the
desirable varieties.

In the United States the culture of the Rose has been very much
neglected, until within a few years. Tulips and dahlias have
successively been the rage, and although there has long ex-
isted a great variety of roses, comparatively few of them have
been cultivated, even in the best gardens of the United States.
Now the tide is turning. Dahlias are going out of repute, and
the Rose is resuming its ancient empire in the queendom of
Flora. The advent of the Bourbon and the Remontant, or Per-
petual classes, has no doubt materially aided this change, but it
is in a great part owing to the easy culture of the plant, and the
intrinsic merits and beauty of the flower. The taste of the hor-
ticultural public being thus decidedly for the Rose, a demand
will exist for all the information respecting soil, planting, culti-
vating, &c., and this information we shall endeavor to supply
in a simple and concise manner, avoiding as far as possible all
technicalities, and adapting it to the use of the cultivator of a
single plant in the crowded border of a city garden, or to the
more extended culture of a commercial estal)lishment.

Each cultivator has his peculiar mode of doing things, and
there may be those who deem the mode laid down here inferior
to their own. From these we should be glad to hear, and to
make any corrections they may suggest, where such corrections
appear to be founded upon true principles. In order to make our
work as perfect as possible, we have not hesitated to add to our
own experience, all the information derived from a personal in-

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 145

spection of French and English nurseries, and to cull from foreign
works and periodicals all that may interest our readers. Such
information, as far as it coincides with our own experience, we
shall gladly incorporate, with the hope that we may be success-
ful in presenting every fact of interest which may exist respect-
ing the cultivation of our favorite flower.

13

CHAPTER X.

SOIL, SITUATION AND PLANTING.

HE most suitable soil is a strong, rich loam,
A or vegetable mould mixed with about one
quarter its bulk of well-decomposed stable
manure. If the soil of the garden where
the roses are to be planted, differs materially
from this, it should be made to approach it
as nearly as possible by the addition of the
requisite soil and manure. In a good vegetable garden, the soil,
with the addition of a little manure, will grow the Rose well.
When the soil, however, is of an inferior character, holes should
be dug three or four times the size of the roots of a well-grown
rose bush and filled with compost of the above character.

Rivers recommends, as the best compost for roses, rotten dung
and pit-sand for cold, clayey soils ; and for warm, dry soils, rotten
dung and cool loams. He also states that he has found night
soil, mixed with the drainings of the dunghill, or even with com-
mon ditch or pond water, so as to make a thick liquid, the best
possible manure for roses, poured on the surface of the soil twice
in winter — one to two gallons to each tree. The soil need
not be stirred till spring, and then merely loosened two or three
inches deep, with the prongs of a fork ; for poor soil, and on lawns,
previously removing the turf, this will be found most efficacious.
He directs this compost to be applied in the first two winter
months, but as our ground is frequently frozen so hard at that
time that it cannot absorb the liquid, it would probably be

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 147

best to apply it in this country a month earlier. Where a bed or
border of roses is to be planted, it is well to dig out the soil to the
depth of two or two and a half feet ; fill the bottom to the depth of
six inches with small stone, and then replace the earth, well fertil-
ized, as directed above. Nothing is more injurious to the Rose
than a wet, retentive subsoil ; and where expense and trouble are
np object, this perfect draining is much the best calculated to en-
sure a thrifty growth and perfect bloom. A rich and dry soil, is
in fact all-important ; for otherwise the most double flower will
frequently become single or semi-double. We have seen a plant
of La Reine produce a perfect flower in the green-house, and when
removed to an inferior soil, produce flowers almost single. It
may therefore be safely laid down as a iiile, that it is impossible
to make the soil too rich for the Rose, and that in proportion to
the fertilizing matter contained therein, provided it is properly
decomposed, will be the approximation of the plant and the flower
to perfection. The fertility of the soil may be very much assisted
by frequent applications of liquid manure, made either of cow
dung or guano ; the former is always safe ; the latter, valuable
if properly used, may, in the hands of a careless person, ruin
the plant. •

In these remarks on fertility of soil, we have no desire to dis-
courage those who may not have a fertile soil, or the means of
obtaining the elements of fertility. The Rose will grow and bloom
in any soil ; the wood will be healthy, but short and small ; the
flower will be produced, but as we have said before, will be smaller
and often semi-double ; yet even under these disadvantages, it is
still the most desirable flower for the poor man ;. none other can
so cheaply and so well ornament his small yard, or hanging in
graceful festoons about his windows, shed forth its bloom and
sweetness to enhven his hours of relief from labor, and give his
children happiness, from the association of pleasant thought with
natural beauty. But the poor man has within his reach more
than he supposes of the elements of fertility. The ashes of his
hearth, the decomposed turf of the road-side, and the domestic
manure, too generally thrown away, all contain some of the best

148 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

fertilizing matter, and with proper care, could be made amply
sufficient for the production of his flowers and vegetables. The
decomposed turf alone would grow roses admirably, although a
little manure would be a useful addition.

SITUATION.

The best situation for the Rose is an eastern or northern
exposure, rather than a southern ; the intensity of the heat of
our midsummer often affects injuriously the expansion of the
flowers, their color arid fragrance. A useful degree of shade can
be obtained by planting amidst groups of dwarf roses, pillars,
trellises, obelisks, &c., on which climbing roses can be trained, and
whose shadow, changing with the sun, would protect the opening
bloom and answer the same end as a cool situation. While, how-
ever, the Rose requires a cool, airy situation, it should by no
means be placed entirely in the shade ; a portion of the sun's rays
is always necessary to ensure a good bloom. It is from this cause
that the bloom of roses is much more certain and perfect in France
and this country than in England. In the latter country, the
sun is scarcely ever sufficiently powerful to develop all the re-
sources of a plant. The summer of 1846 was unprecedentedly hot
throughout England, and all the horticultural journals united in
pronouncing the bloom of roses that season unsurpassed by the
bloom of any previous year. For climbing roses the situation
should not be too exposed, or where they would be liable to en-
counter heavy winds, which might break off the young shoot and
in other ways injure the plant. Our American cities possess in the
culture of roses a great advantage over the large towns of Eng-
land, in the use of anthracite instead of bituminous coal ; for,
according to Loudon, the Rose will not thrive in towns where the
prevailing fuel is of this character, and the bloom will not com-
pare with those produced some ten miles distant. " The first
effect of the smoke is to prevent the flower buds from opening
freely, next to diminish their number ; the leaves then gradually
become smaller, and the length of the shoots less, after which the
plant weakens by degrees, and in a few years, if a standard, it

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 149

dies altogether, or, if a dwarf, barely exists, and seldom if ever
flowers."

Such a result, from such a cause, is rarely known here, and
the denizen of the city may have his little yard filled with roses
whose bloom will be in no way inferior to that of the plants in
an extensive lawn or garden.

PLANTING.

All those roses that bloom only once in the year, and also the
Perpetuals, or Remontant Roses can be planted in autumn, after
the first severe frost. The ends of the loots, w^hich have be^n
broken in taking up, will then form a callus, and the soil will be
so thoroughly settled about the roots by the winter rains, that the
plant will commence forming new roots early in the spring, and
w^ill rapidly make strong and luxuriant shoots. As far north as
New York and its vicinity, the Bourbons and the Bengal, with their
sub-classes, being more delicate, should not be planted until spring.

If the subsoil is wet and retentive of moisture, the planting
of any roses should be deferred until spring, but from our pre-
ceding remarks it will be borne in mind that such soil should be
well drained before planting, in which case the autumn will still
answer.

The plant should be taken up carefully, with all the root pos-
sible, bearing in mind that the elements of life are in the root, and
every fibre that is lost is so much taken from the future health
and prosperity of the plant. The root should then be carefully
examined, and every portion that has been bruised should be cut
off; all the broken ends should also be cut away as far as they
are split or injured. Any root of the character of a tap-root, or
growing directly down into the earth, should be cut off; for it is
best to encourage only lateral roots, which can more readily par-
take of the benefits of the rain and sun, and can more effectually
absorb the nutriment in the soil.

The hole should then be dug somewhat larger than the root,
and the bottom forked, or dug up, and if necessary enriched with
the surface soil, which, it is presumed, has been prepared accord
ing to preceding directions. I^et one hold the plant, while another

13*

150 CULTURE OP THE ROSE.

throws in the soil ; or if one alone is planting, let him hold the
stem just above the root with one hand, and throw in the soil with
the other, moving the stem from side to side, and occasionally
pulling it upward a little and shaking the root until the soil has
worked well among the fibres ; on which much of the subsequent
prosperity of the plant depends. If the weather is dry, a little
water may be placed in the hole, which should then be filled up
and the soil well trodden down about the stem. When planted,
it should be very little if at all lower in the ground than before ;
very little of the stem should be buried ; and when trodden down,
the root should be made firm and solid.

In planting climbing or pillar roses, care should be taken to
set the trellis, or pillar, or whatever may be used for their support
before the plant is put in the ground ; for if such should be. set
after the plant has commenced growing vigorously, it will in all
probability damage the roots, and give the plant a check from
which it will not recover the whole season.

The Rose, even in the best soils, should be taken up every three
or four years, and have its roots shortened and pruned ; a portion
of the soil in which it grew should also be removed and replaced
by soil of the character before described. Where the soil is poor,
they should be taken up every other year, and replanted, after
renewing the soil as above, or digging it with plenty of manure.

Van Mons states that in Belgium the plants are uniformly
taken up at the end of eight years and placed in fresh soil, or
they are thrown away and young plants substituted in their place.
This substitution of young plants is perhaps the most certain
mode of ensuring a continual supply of strong, healthy wood and
well-formed flowers.

The Rose may be transplanted at any season, provided the
shoots are pruned closely and deprived of all their leaves, and
the soil in which they are planted kept well watered. The flow-
ering also may be retarded in this way, and those roses that bloom
only once in the season, if they are transplanted just before
they are coming into flower, and properly pruned, will bloom in
autumn.

CHAPTER XI

PRUNING AND TRAINING.

N pruning roses at the time of transplanting,
the principal object to be attained is relief to
the plant by taking away all the wood and
branches which the diminished root may not
be able to support. The mode of pruning de-
pends very much upon the condition of the plant.
If it is very bushy, all the weaker branches
should be cut away, leaving not more than three or four of the
strongest shoots, and shortening even those down to a few eyes.
If it is desired that the plant should continue dwarf and bushy,
the new wood should be cut down to the last two eyes, and every
half grown or slender shoot cut out. These two eyes will each
throw out a branch ; then cut these branches down to the two
eyes and again their produce until a symmetrical habit is formed,
with close, thick foliage. There should not be sufficient wood
allowed to remain to make it crowded ; and if there should be
danger of this, some of the branches, instead of being cut down
to tw^o eyes should be cut out altogether.

Climbing roses, when planted, should be cut down almost to
the ground, and also carefully thinned out. Only a few of the
strongest branches should be preserved, and the new wood of these
cut down to two eyes each.

152 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

The preceding- remarks are applicable to roses at the time of
planting ; they should also be pruned every year — the hardy
varieties in the autumn or winter, and the more tender in the
spring. For all roses that are not liable to have part of their
wood killed by the cold, the autumn is decidedly the best time
for pruning ; the root, having then but little top to support, is left
at liberty to store up nutriment for a strong growth the following
season. The principal objects in pruning, are the removal of the
old wood, because it is generally only the young wood that pro-
duces large and fine flowers ; the shortening and thinning out
of the young wood, that the root, having much less wood to sup-
port, may devote all its nutriment to the size and beauty of the
flower ; and the formation of a symmetrical shape. If an abund-
ant bloom is desired without regard to the size of the flower,
only the weak shoots should be cut out, and the strong wood
should be shortened very little ; each bud will then produce a
flower. By this mode, the flowers will be small and the growth
of new wood very short, but there will be an abundant and very
showy bloom. If, however, the flowers are desired as large and
as perfect as possible, all the weak wood should be cut out en-
tirely, and all the strong wood of the last season's formation
should be cut down to two eyes. The knife should always be
applied directly above a bud and sloping upward from it. The
preceding observations apply principally to rose bushes or dwarf
roses ; with pillar, climbing and tree roses, the practice should be
somewhat different. The two former require comparatively littlp
pruning ; they require careful thinning out, but should seldom
be shortened. The very young side shoots can sometimes be
shortened in, to prevent the foliage from becoming too thick and
crowded.

Pillars for roses can be made of trellis work, of iron rods
in different forms, or of wood, but they should enclose a space of
at least a foot in diameter. The cheapest plan, and one that will
last many years, is to make posts of about li or 2 inches square,
out of locust or pitch-pine plank, and connect them with common
hoop-iron. They should be tiie length of a plank — between

CULTURE OP THE ROSE. 153

twelve and thirteen feet — and should be set three feet in the
ground, that they may effectually resist the action of the wind.
The Rose having been cut down to the ground, is planted inside
of the pillar and will make strong growths the first season. As
the leading shoots appear, they should be trained spirally around
the outside of the pillar, and sujQBciently near each other to enable
them to fill up the intermediate space with their foliage. These
leading shoots will then form the permanent wood, and the young
side shoots, pruned in from year to year, will produce the flowers,
and at the flowering season cover the whole pillar with a mass
of rich and showy bloom. If the tops of the leading shoots lie
down at all, they should be shortened down to the first strong
eye, because, if a weak bud is left at the top, its growth will be
for a long time weak. The growth of different varieties of roses
is very varied ; some make delicate shoots and require little room,
while others, like the Q,ueen of the Prairies, are exceedingly ro-
bust and may require a larger pillar than the size we have men-
tioned.

Climbing roses require very much the same treatment as pillar
roses, and are frequently trained over arches, or in festoons from
one pillar to another. In these the weak branches should also
be thinned out and the strong ones be allowed to remain without
being shortened, as in these an abundant bloom is wanted more
than large flowers. In training climbing roses over any flat sur-
face, as a trellis wall or side of a house, the principal point is so
to place the leading shoots that all the intermediate space may
be filled up with foliage. They can either be trained in fan-shape
with side shoots growing out from a main stem, or one leading
shoot can be encouraged and trained in parallel horizontal lines
to the top, care being taken to preserve sufficient intermediate
space for the foliage. Where no shoots are wanted, the buds can
be rubbed off before they push out. No weak shoots should be
allowed to grow from the bottom, but all the strong ones should
be allowed to grow as much as they may. When the interme-
diate space is filled with young wood and foliage, all the thin,
small shoots should be cut out every year and the strongest buds

154 CULTURE OP THE ROSE.

only allowed to remain, which forming strong branches, will set
closely to the wall and preserve a neat appearance.

The production of roses out of season, by forcing, was, as we
have shown, well known to the ancient Romans, and from them
has been handed down to the present time. But the retarding
of roses by means of a regular process of pruning, owes its origin
to a comparatively modern date. This process is mentioned both
by Lord Bacon and Sir Robert Boyle. The latter says, " It is
delivered by the Lord Verulam, and other naturalists, that if a
rose bush be carefidly cut as soon as it is done bearing in the
summer, it will again bear roses in the autumn. Of this many
have made unsuccessful trials, and thereupon report the affirma-
tion to be false ; yet I am very apt to think, that my lord was
encouraged by experience to write as he did. For, having been
particularly solicitous about the experiment, I find by the relation,
both of my own, and other experienced gardeners, that this way
of procuring autumnal roses, will, in most rose-bushes, commonly
fail, but succeed in some that are good bearers ; and, accordingly,
having this summer made trial of it, I find that of a row of
bushes cut in June, by far the greater number promise no
autumnal roses ; but one that hath manifested itself to be of a
vigorous and prolific nature, is, at this present, indifferently well-
stored with those of the damask kind. There may, also, be a
mistake in the species of roses ; for experienced gardeners inform
me that the Musk-Rose will, if it be a lusty plant, bear flowers
in autumn without cutting ; and, therefore, that may unjustly
be ascribed to art, which is the bare production of nature."
Thus, in quaint and ancient style, discourseth the wise and pious
philosopher, on our favorite flower, and also mentions the fact,
that a red rose becomes white, on being exposed to the fumes of
sulphur. This, however, had been observed before Sir Robert's
time. Notwithstanding his doubts, it is now a well-established fact,
that the blooming of roses may be retarded by cutting them back
to two eyes after they have fairly commenced growing, and the
flower buds are discoverable. A constant succession can be ob-
tained, where there is a number of plants, by cutting each one

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 155

back a shorter or longer distance, or at various periods of its
growth. In these cases, however, it very often will not bloom
until autumn, because the second effort to produce flowers is
much greater than the first, and is not attended with success
until late in the season.

However desirable may be this retarding process, it cannot be
relied on as a general practice, because the very unusual exertion
made to produce the flowers a second time, weakens the plant,
and materially affects its prosperity the subsequent year.

There is, indeed, but one kind of summer pruning that is ad-
vantageous, which is the thinning out of the flower-buds as soon
as they appear, in order .that the plant may be burdened with no
more than it can fully perfect, and the cutting off all the seed
vessels after the flower has expanded and the petals have fallen.
Until this last is done, a second bloom cannot readily be obtained
from the Bengal Rose and its sub-classes, the Tea and Noisette,
which otherwise grow and bloom constantly throughout the
season.

In connection with the subject of this chapter, we would im-
press upon our readers the absolute, the essential importance of
cultivation — of constantly stirring the soil in which the Rose is
planted ; and we scarcely know of more comprehensive directions
in a few words than the reply of an experienced horticulturist to
one who asked the best mode of growing fine fruits and flowers.
The old gentleman replied that the mode could be described in
three words, "cultivate, cultivate, cultivate." After the same
manner, we would impress the importance of these three words
upon all those who love well-grown and beautiful roses. They
are indeed midtum in -parvo — the very essence of successful
culture. The soil cannot be ploughed, dug or stirred too much ;
it should be dug and hoed, not merely to keep down the weeds,
but to ensure the health and prosperity of the plant. Cultivation
is to all plants and trees, manure, sun and rain. It opens the
soil to the nutritious gas of the atmosphere, to the beneficial
influence of light, and to the morning and evening dew. It
makes the heavy soil light and the light soil heavy ; if the earth

156 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

is saturated with rain, it dries it ; if burned up with drought, it
moistens it. Watering is often beneficial, and is particularly so
to roses just before and during the period of bloom ; but in an
extremely dry season, if we were obliged to choose between the
watering-pot and the spade, we should most unhesitatingly give
the preference to the latter.

M

CHAPTER XII

POTTING AND FORCING.

" Seek Roses in December, ice in June." — ^Byron.

VERY variety of Rose, in the hands of a
skilful man, will grow and bloom well in
pots, although the Bengal and its sub-
classes, and the more dwarf Hardy Roses
are the most easily managed. The great
point in potting is to imitate planting in
the open gro^ind as nearly as possible.
The soil used should possess all the nutritious elements re-
quired in the open ground, and if possible in somewhat
greater abundance. More manure should be used, because
the frequent watering required by plants in pots must in-
evitably wash away a portion of the fertilizing matter. There
is nothing better than one portion of stable manure and three
of turf or leaf-mould, all well decomposed and mixed with a
little pure peat earth. A portion of night-soil, well incorporated
with charcoal, is also very excellent. Charcoal is the most pow-
erful absorbent known — it retains the nutritious elements in the
night-soil, prevents their being washed away by watering, and
gives them out as the plant needs them. English gardeners
should bear in mind, that roses require in this climate a stronger
soil than in England. Half-gallon pots are the best size at first,
from which, by repeated pottings, corresponding with the growth
of the plant, they can be shifted to one or two gallon pots. The

14

158 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

size of the pots should, however, be regulated by the extent of
the roots ; it should be just sufficiently large to allow the roots
to go in without crowding. A few broken pieces of pot or small
lumps should be put in the bottom for drainage. When the
plant is to be taken from the open ground, select one whose roots
are not too large, and with a sharp spade cut around it a ball of
earth about the size of the pot, depriving it at the same time^f a
portion of its top, as directed in remarks on pruning. It should
stand in this state about a fortnight, until the roots have become
callused, and the plant has become somewhat accustomed to the
loss of its roots and branches. It can then be safely taken up at
any season and transferred to the pot, which should then be
filled in with earth, firm and solid. If potted in the autumn, after
the leaves have fallen and the wood become mature, the abov,^
previous preparation is not required, but the plant can be taken
up without a ball of earth, and after being pruned of its bruised
or broken roots, placed in the pot. It should then be protected
from the frost and light until it has entirely recovered from its
change of habitation, when it can be placed in any cool spot free
from frost, until it is wanted fbr forcing.

Roses may, without difficulty, by the above previous man-
agement, be forced to bloom in the latter part of winter, but
where their bloom is desired at Christmas or New- Year, they
should be gradually prepared for the space of a year previous.
To produce roses the latter part of winter, our own management
has been simple and effective, giving us as many flowers as a
green-house and vinery full of pots could afford. After putting
the plants in pots as directed above, pruning them down to eight
or ten buds, and hardening them in a shady place, they are placed
in the vinery before the frost out of doors can have injured them,
and cut down to two buds. The house is then kept as cool as
possible, while the frost is carefully excluded by a light fire at
night, and on fine days the sashes are opened and plenty of air
admitted. They are thus kept in a dormant state until the first
of the year, when the heat is gradually increased to about 70° by
day and sinking as low as 35° at night. Care is taken to give

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 159

them sufficient watering, and in their Ayhole management, to
assimilate as nearly as possible to open culture. When the green-
fly appears, it is immediately destroyed by fumigation with to-
bacco and sulphur, and the plants are subsequently syringed with
clean water. With this management they soon begin to show
signs of hfe, the bud commences pushing forth its delicate, light
green shoot, the leaves then appea;-, the plant soon growing with
luxuriance, is clothed with rich foliage, and about the middle of
the third month, the house presents a mass of thrifty growth and
perfect bloom.

By the means above described, roses may be forced into bloom
the latter part of winter, and by observing some care to bring
them into the house at different periods in regular succession, a
bloom can be enjoyed through all the spring months until roses
bloom in the open ground. This process cannot, however, be
continued two years in succession without weakening the plant,
and although, if placed in a shady spot and allowed to rest during
the summer, it may sufficiently recover to perform the same
work another year, it is desirable, if possible, to have fresh plants
whose strength has not been exhausted by the excitement and
imusual effort attending the production of flowers out of season.

The preceding directions apply more particularly to late
forcing, and although the same means, with an earlier application
of heat, will produce flowers early in winter, yet the true art of
early forcing consists in gradually bringing the Rose out of its
season ; and it is only by this mode that thrifty plants and perfect
flowers can be produced before Christmas.

Two years, and sometimes three, should be employed inprepar-
ing a Rose for early forcing. Having been prepared by digging
around it with a sharp spade some two weeks previously, the
plant should be taken up immediately after the first frost, placed
in a cold frame a few days to harden, and then taken to the green-
house or vinery. A. moderate heat should then be given it, with
plenty of hght and air to prevent its being drawn. The flower-
buds should be plucked off as soon as they appear, and no bloom

160 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

should be allowed. It will thus make fine growths, and can be
plunged in the open ground as soon as danger of frost has passed
in the spring. Here it can remain during the summer to ripen
its wood, and will require no care except a little watering in dry
weather, and an occasional taking up and examination that the
roots may not push through the hole of the pot and become fixed
in the ground, in which case the plants would make too strong
growths, and suffer on being removed from the new-made root.
In the tenth month (October) it can be placed in a pot one size
larger, pruned by thinning out all the weak branches and shorten-
ing the strong ones down to two eyes. It should then go through
the same process as before, carefully picking off all the flower-buds,
promoting its growth until completed, when let it be put in a
cold frame until all danger of frost is over, and then plunge it in
the ground to ripen its wood. As its vegetation was started a
month eailier the last year, it can now be taken up in the ninth
month — re-potted and pruned as before, and then taken into the
green-house. The temperature should then be gradually raised
to about 55° until it has commenced growhig, and then gradually
increased to 65° or 70°, giving as much air as can be obtained
without lowering the temperature.

All useless shoots should be kept down, and aU the flower-buds
taken off that threaten to be abortive. In fumigating for the
green-fly, care should be taken not to do it too strongly, but re-
peated and gentle doses at night are better. We have known
many fine plants ruined by fumigation in the hands of an inex-
perienced person. A good bloom can be obtained the second year
by this mode, but if the amateur has the patience to wait until
a third, he will be rewarded by a thrifty and compact habit, rich
foliage, and beautiful bloom for two months before Christmas ;
and if there are a number of plants to be brought into the green-
house a week after each other, he can have them in bloom until
the late forced roses appear. At all periods subsequent to their
commencement, care should be taken to give them sufficient
moisture and as much air as is consistent with the state of growth
and the external temperature. Without water they will neither

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 161

grow nor bloom well. Under glass, every other day, and in some
cases twice a week is sufficient.

The great principle to be borne in mind in forcing roses, is, that
sudden excitement is fatal, and that a plant should never be
taken from the open ground into a heated house without being
gradually prepared for it. This principle is particularly applica-
ble to deciduous roses. The Remontant and Bourbon, the Bengal
and its sub-classes, which grow and bloom through the whole
year, are not so liable to be injured by exciting treatment.

Cuttings of these that are struck in the spring and planted out
in the open ground, may have their tops slightly pruned and
their buds all pinched off during the summer, to encourage the
formation of wood and of a close head.

About the last days of summer or the first of autumn, they
can be taken up and placed in quart pots, with a soil com-
posed of one half loam, one quarter cow-dung, and one quarter
peat. After being slightly pruned and left in the shade for a
week, they can be placed in frames, protected at night from frost
and exposed to the air in mild weather, for some two months,
when they can be removed, a few at a time, into the green-house,
and subjected to a moderately increased temperature. They will
soon bloom well, and will succeed each other throughout the
winter and spring, until roses bloom in the open air. Like the
deciduous roses, they require to be protected against the green-fly
by syringing, and if that does not answer, by fumigation with
tobacco.

The Bengal, however, like the deciduous roses will bloom bet-
ter the second winter than the first, by shifting them into larger
pots, pruning them, cutting off all the flower-buds, and giving them
very little water the latter part of summer. They can then
be put into the fi'ames and treated as before. The Bengal Rose
is very easily forced in this way, and if the temperature is at first
kept during the day at 45° and gradually increased to 60°, there
can be little difficulty in obtaining beautiful and healthy plants.
This temperature can be obtained in any green-house or vinery.
The latter are becoming more common, and when they are pro-

14*

162 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

vided with heating apparatus, there can be nothing better for
roses. We have forced them very successfully in one of our own
vineries, which is 120 feet long, 12 feet wide, 10 feet high in the
rear, 3i in front, and heated by hot water. But as there may be
many who desire a cheaper structure, we will give the description
of one used by Rivers (the best rose-grower known), with his
mode of managing roses in a structure of that character. " A pit,
10 or 12 feet long and 8 feet wide, just high enough to stand up-
right in, with a door at one end and a sunken path in the centre, a
raised bed on each side of the path, and an 18-inch Arnott's stove
at the farther end, opposite to the door, with a pipe leading into a
small brick chimney outside (a chimney is indispensable), will
give a great abundance of forced roses from February to the end
of May. To ensure this, a supply must be kept ready, so that,
say twenty may be placed in- the forcing pit about the middle of
December, a like number in the middle of January, and the same
about the middle of February ; they must not be pruned till taken
into the house, when each shoot should be cut back to two or
three buds for the formation of strong shoots. The fire should be
lighted at seven in the morning, and suffered to burn out about
the same hour in the evening, unless in frosty weather, when it
must be kept burning till late at night, so as to exclude the frost ;
and for this purpose double mats should be placed on the lights.
The thermometeir should not, by Jire heat, be higher in the day
than 70° during December, January and February ; at night it
may sink to 35° without injury. The temporary rise in a sunny
day is of no consequence, but no air must he admitted at such
times, or the plants will exhaust themselves, and hnmediately
shed their leaves. When the sun begins to have power, and in
sunny weather toward the end of February, the plants may be
syringed every morning about 10 o'clock with tepid water, and
smoked with tobacco at night on the least appearance of the
Aphis or green-fly. To ensure a fine and full crop of flowers, the
plants should be established one year in pots, and plunged in tan
or saw-dust, in an open, exposed place, that their shoots may be
well ripened : the pots must be often removed, or what is better.

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 163

place the pots on slates to prevent their roots striking into the
ground. With the Remontant or Perpetuals, even if only potted
in November previous, a very good crop of floAvers may often be
obtained, and a second crop better than the first ; for the great
advantage of forcing Remontant roses is, that after blooming in
the green-house or drawing-room, their young shoots may be cut
down to within two or three buds of their base, and the plants
placed again in the forcing-house, and a second crop of flowers
obtained. The same mode may be followed also with the Bour-
bon, China, and Tea-scented roses ; with the latter, indeed, a
third crop may be often obtained. Toward the end of March,
when the second crop of flowers is coming on, the plants may be
gradually inured to the air, by opening the sashes in mild
weather. This will make them hardy and robust. Syringing
should be practised every morning and evening ; but when the
flower-buds are ready to open, this must be confined to the stems
of the plants and the pots, otherwise the flowers will be injured
by the moisture. Air must at first only be given about noon ;
care must be taken to remove the plants from the forcing-house
to the green-house or drawing-room before their blossoms expand ;
they may then be kept in beauty many days. We have not found
the check which the plants receive by this sudden change of tem-
perature at all detrimental. During their second growth, the
plants should be watered once a week with manure-water, and
the surface of the pet occasionally stirred. Two pounds of guano
to ten gallons of water, forms the very best species of liquid ma-
nure ; this should be stirred before it is used.

"Those that are forced with the greatest facility are worked
roses ; these seldom or never fail to give an abundant crop of
flowers. Stems from six inches to one and a half and two feet
are equally eligible ; the latter form elegant plants, and I think
generally grow with greater luxuriance than dwarfs. China and
Tea-scented roses on their own roots are more delicate, and re-
quire more care ; still one crop of flowers may always be de-
pended upon, even from them. Instead of forcing them for a sec-
ond crop, it will be better to place them in the green-house ; they

164 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

will then bloom again finely in May. I find, from experience,
that all the autumnal roses may be forced every year without any
disadvantages ; to ensure their well-doing, they must be removed
from the forcing-house early in June, the surface of the pots
dressed with rotten manure and plunged in the same, or leaves,
or any light substance. Toward the end of September, they
should be carefully shifted, removing nearly all the earth from
their roots into a compost of light loam and rotten dung, equal
quantities (this is, on the w^hole, the very best conapost for potted
roses), watered, and again plunged till required for forcing. This
shifting wovild be better performed in June, but, as tlie weather
is then hot and dry, roses worked on the Dog-Rose are apt to
suffer. Pots of the sizes called near London, 24s and 16s (the
former seven and a half inches deep and eight inches over at the
top, the latter eight and a half inches deep and nine inches in
diameter), are the best sizes for strong plants of roses for forcing.
When potted, the large and unyielding roots should be cut off
close, so that the plants may stand in the centre of the pots, the
fibrous and small roots merely tipped.

" The treatment recommended for roses in a pit with Arnott's
stove, may be pursued with roses in a house with smoke-flues or
hot-water pipes. Arnott's stove is recommended as an economical
and eligible mode of heating, practised here to some extent with
success for several years. On these stoves an iron pan, fitted to
the top, should always be kept full of water. Hoses may be forced
slowly, but with perhaps greater certainty, by the uninitiated, by
giving air freely and constantly in mild weather during the day,
keeping the fire constantly burning during tlie same period, as
recommended vv^hen keeping them closely shut up."

We have copied the whole of this article, although in a meas-
ure a repetition of previous remarks, since it may be interesting
to some to know the opinion of so eminent a cultivator, on this
least understood branch of rose culture. A few of his directions
are somewhat different from those we have given before, and may
be far better than our own plan, in the climate of England.
Here, an Arnott's stove would scarcely heat a pit to 70° with the

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 165

thermometer at zero ; and if it should, we woidd think it rather
dangerous to give so high a temperature at once. The strength
of guano is also so varied, that we should feel very cautious in
using it according to the above receipt. While, however, we
would not venture to question the general utility of his directions,
we may perhaps say, that we have found our own plan effective
in its residts, and productive of thrifty plants and. beautiful
flowers. We would advise cultivators to test them both, and
adopt that which succeeds best in their hands. A pit of the
above description can be constructed at a very low price, and
should be found on the premises of every gentleman of even very
moderate income, for the supply of their parlors during winter.
If in addition to this, there were constructed, on the east side of
the house and facing south, a little room with a glass front and
roof, opening into the parlor and heated either by a valve from
the house furnace or by a hollow-back connected with the parlor
grate, more enjoyment would be afforded the lover of flowers than
could be obtained by any other mitlay of two hundred dollars.
This room could then be kept constantly filled with roses from
the pit, and through the most dreary winter, amid rain, snow,
and storm, would present a bright array of the living reminders
of spring and summer. It is a matter of much surprise, that,
among all the beautiful country residences in the vicinity of our
large cities, surrounded by all the appliances of luxury and com-
fort that taste and wealth can afford, so few instances are found
in which the drawing-room or parlor opens into a green-house or
conservatory. These buildings are frequently placed at a dis-
tance from the house, and although they may be filled with the
most beautiful and rare exotics, are, during the greater part of the
winter, inaccessible to the ladies of the family.

Let gentlemen of wealth, then, place their vineries anywhere,
but use them as forcing-houses when the vines are in a dorinant
state. Let them also have a green-house or conservatory open-
ing from the drawing-room, into which all the plants can be
brought from the vinery whfenever they show signs of bloom.
This conservatory can be heated by hot water, flowing through

166 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

iron pipes from a boiler placed over the furnace that warms the
drawing-room — taking from this no heat, and yet abundantly
warming the conservatory. An improvement could still farther
be made, by having the east end of the conservatory arch over a
carriage drive, and thus allow visitors to enter the drawing-room
through the conservatory. Exclusive of the dehght afforded
visitors by this very pleasant addition to a dwelling, it affords a
delightful promenade for the ladies of the family, where, while all
is wintry Avithout, and walking is unpleasant, even w^ien the ice-
bound trees are ghttering in tlie clear sunlight, they may luxu-
riate amid roses and jasmines, breathing air redolent with the
perfume of daphne and orange flowers, and surrounded with
everything that can remind them of the beauty and bland cli-
mate of the sunny south. It is much to be hoped, therefore, that
the author of "Landscape Gardening," in his next edition of
Rural Architecture, will make a conservatory of this character
an essential part, a sine qua non, of every resilience whose char-
acter and style are calculated for a man of wealth. This much
we hope for the sake of the proper culture and due appreciation
of our favorite flower, the Rose.

. We have occupied so much space with the peculiarities of cul-
ture for the forcing-house, that we had almost forgotten that more
humble, but no less pleasure-giving mode of Window culture.
As this culture is practised chiefly by those who cannot spare the
time nor incur the expense of previous preparation, the best mode
is that given for late forcing of roses taken up the autumn pre-
vious, placing the plants in pots seven inches in diameter, and
using a soil composed of equal parts of sand, loam and manure,
or peat, loam and manure. They can be watered with manure-
water every fortnight, made from the drippings of the barn-yard,
or what is more pleasant, a safely weak solution of guano, about
one pound to fifteen gallons.

They should be brought into the heat gradually — first into a
cold room where there is no frost, and then into the sitting-room,
where they can be placed in theVindow, and turned around
every week in order to give each side of the plant its share of light.

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 167

They will soon begin to put forth their thrifty shoots, in some six
weeks will present a fine show of beautiful flowers, and, if properly
managed, will continue blooming through the winter. If attacked
by the green-fly, the plant can be inverted in a strong decoction of
tobacco, or it can be fumigated by being placed under an inverted
barrel, with some burning tobacco. For window culture, the
Everblooming Roses are the best, and they should be ordered of
the nurseryman in suitable pots. This mode commends itself to
all ; it is within the reach of the daily laborer ; the seamstress
can have it in her window, and in the midst of her toilsome du-
ties, be reminded by its bright flowers, of many a green spot in
past days. It is especially suited to the means and leisure of the
operatives in our factoiies, many of whom have left the country
and all its green fields and pleasant flowers for the crowded city,
where they can have no garden, but simply this little pot to re-
mind them of past pleasures, and throw a gleam of sunshine over
their hours of relief from labor. It can be placed in their cham-
ber window, or in the windows of the factory, the high temperature
of which, if it has been brought from the chamber, will soon bring
out its foliage in great luxuriance and its flowers in beauty, and
be a pleasant object of care in the moments snatched from the
operations of the loom. To this class we would especially com-
mend the Rose, as thriving under simple treatment, as possessing,
more than any other flower, the elements of beauty, and tending
like other flowers to keep alive, in a crowded city, that freshness
and purity of feeling that distinguished their country life, and
which, unless there exists an unusual perversion of the moral
faculties, must always result from an intimate acquaintance w ilh
natural objects.

CHAPTER XIII.

PROPAGATION OF THE ROSE.

CUTTINGS.

HIS mode of propagation, although possible
with all roses, is extremely difficult and rare-
ly practised with those that bloom only once
in the season. It is most applicable to the
smooth-wooded kinds, as the Bengal and its
sub-classes, and the Boursault, Microphylla
nibifolia, &c. Many of the Perpetuals and
Bourbons are propagated with facility by the same mode ; but
the best mode for these is generally by layers, budding and graft-
ing. For propagation in the open ground, cuttings should be
made in the early part of winter. They should be made of wood
of the growth of the season, and about eight inches long. The
lower end should be cut square close to the bud, and they can
then be planted thickly two-thirds of their length in sand, in a
light and dry cellar. Here a callus will be formed on the bottom
of each cutting during the winter, and on being planted out in the
spring, they will immediately throw out roots. They should be
planted as early as possible in the spring, in a light sandy loam,
with one-third of their length and at least one bud above the sur-
face of the ground. They should be planted very early in the
spring, because, if left until late, the power of the sun is too much
for them. The earth should be trodden down very tight about
them, in order, as much as possible, to exclude the air. If the
weather is dry, they should be carefully watered in the evening.

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 169

Where it is inconvenient to make the cuttings in the fall or early
in the winter, they can be n^ade in the spring ; but in consequence
of having to form the callus, they will require a much lighter
soil than will afterward be desirable for their growth, and they
will also be much later in coming on. This mode of open prop-
agation answers very well for some of the smooth-wooded roses of
the more robust growing varieties, like the Boursault and Rubifo-
lia, but for the delicate Bengals, the best mode is pot propagation.
For this purpose we use small pots, filled with equal parts of
mould and sand, or peat and sand. About the middle of
autumn, cuttings of the same season's growth are taken off with
two or three buds, cutting off the leaf from the lower end, and
cutting off the wood smooth and square close to the eye. These
cuttings can be inserted in the pot, leaving one eye above the sur-
face. It should then be slightly watered to settle the soil firmly
around the cuttings, and then placed in a cold frame, or on the
floor of a vinery in which no fire is kept during winter. Early
in the spring the pot shoiiild be plunged in saw-dust or tan over a
moderate hot-bed, kept perfectly close, and sprinkled every morn-
ing with water a little tepid. Now, as well as during the au-
tumn, they should be shaded from the too bright glare of the sun.
In about a fortnight, and after they have formed a third set of
leaves and good roots, a little air can be given them : and after
being thus hardened for a week, they can be repotted into larger
pots. In order to ascertairi when they are sufliciently rooted, the
ball of earth can be taken out of the pot, by striking its inverted
edge lightly against some body ; at the same time sustaining the
inside by the hand, the cutting being passed between two of the
fingers a little separated. If well rooted, the fibres will be seen
on the outside of the ball of earth. They can then be placed in
a cold frame, or anywhere under glass, to be planted out the lat-
ter part of spring, or retained for pot culture. Where hot-bed
frames are not convenient, or the amateur wishes only to exper-
iment with one or two cuttings, he can use a tumbler, or any
kind of close glass covering.

Bottom heat is quite an important aid in propagation by cut-

15

170 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

tings ; and a material point is gained, both in time and certainty,
if the base of the cutting can be kept at a higher temperatme
than the part above ground, but not so high as to injure the cut-
ting by too rapid stimulation of its vegetative powers. Where roses
are forced into bloom the latter part of winter, cuttings can be
taken from them immediately after the bloom is past; and they
will also succeed well, if taken from plants in the open ground
immediately after their first bloom. Cuttings of the Everbloom-
ing Roses will all strike at any time during the summer, but they
succeed much better either in the autumn or after their first
bloom. The heat of our midsummer sun is so great, that cut-
tings often fail at that time. The wood of a cutting should be
always perfectly mature, and, as a general rule, such maturity is
never perfect until after the bloom is past. When a cutting is
made near the old stem, it is better to take with it a portion of the
old wood, which forms the enlarged part of the young branch.
Where the cuttings are scarce, two buds will answer very well —
one below the surface ; and, in some ca*s, propagation has been
successful with only one eye. In this case they are planted up
to the base of the leaf, in pots of sand similar to that used in the
manufacture of glass, and the eye is partially covered. They
are then subject to the same treatment as the others, and care-
fully shaded ; they vAll thus root easily, but require a long time
to make strong plants.

Some years since, Lecoq, a French cultivator, conceived the
idea of endeavoring to propagate roses by the leaf. He gathered
some very young leaves of the Bengal rose, about one quarter
developed, cutting them off at their insertion, or at the surface
of the bark. He planted these in peat soil, in one inch pots, and
then plunged the pots into a moderate heat. A double cover of
bell glasses was then placed over them, to exclude the air entirely,
which course of treatment was pursued until they had taken root.
The shortest time in which this could be accomplished was eight
weeks, and the roots were formed in the following manner. First
a callus was formed at the base of the leaf, from which small
fibres put forth ; a small bud then appeared on the upper side ;

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 171

a stalk then arose from this bud, which finally expanded into
leaves and formed a perfect plant. (See Fig. 16.)

An English writer remarks, that " the leaves or leaflets of a
rose will often take root more freely than even cuttings, and in a
much shorter time, but these uniformly refuse to make buds or
grow."

This experiment is certainly very curious, and evinces how
great, in the vegetable kingdom, are the powers of nature for the
re-production of existence, and is one of those singular results
which should lead us to make farther experiments with various
parts of plants, and teach us that even in Horticulture there is
yet a wide field for scientific research.

BY LAYERS.

This mode is more particularly applicable to those roses that
bloom only once in the year, and which do not strike freely from
cuttings, although it can be equally well applied to all the smooth-
wooded kinds. It can be performed at midsummer and for sev-
eral weeks afterward, and should be employed only in those
cases where yomig shoots have been formed at least a foot long
and are well matured. The soil should be well dug around the
olant, forming a little raised bed of some three feet in diameter,
with the soil well pulverized and mixed with some manure well
decomposed, and, if heavy, a little sand. A hole should then be
made in this bed about four inches deep, and the young matured
shoot bent down into it, keeping the top of the shoot some three or
four inches above the surface of the ground ; the angle thus being
found, which should always be made at a bud and about five or
six inches from the top of the shoot, the operator should cut off
all the leaves below the ground. A sharp knife should then be
placed just below a bud, about three inches below the surface of
the ground, and a slanting cut made upward and lengthwise,
about half through the branch, forming a sort of tongue from one
to'two inches long, on the back part of the shoot right opposite
the bud ; a chip or some of the soil can be placed in the slit to
prevent it from closing, and the shoot can then be carefully laid

172 CULTURE OP THE ROSE.

in the hole, and pegged down at a point some two inches below
the cut, keeping, at the same time, the top of the shoot some three
or four inches out of the ground, and making it fast to a small
stake, to keep it upright. Care should be taken not to make the
angle where the branch is pegged, at the cut, as the branch would
be injured and perliaps broken off"; the best place is about two
inches below the incision. The soil can then be replaced in the
hole, and where it is convenient covered with some moss or litter
of any kind. This will protect the soil from the sun and keep
it moist, and will materially aid the formation of new roots.
These are formed in the same manner as in cuttings; first a
callus is produced on those parts of the incision where the bark
joins the wood, and from this callus spring the roots, which, in
some cases, will have grown sufficiently to be taken from the
parent plant the latter part of the following autumn ; in some
cases, however, the roots will not fiave sufficiently formed to allow
them to be taken up before another year. The summer is the
best .period for laying the young shoots. Early in the spring,
layers can be made with the wood formed the previous year.
Where it is more convenient, a shoot can be rooted by making the
incision as above, and introducing it into a quart pot with the
bottom partly broken out. This pot can be plunged in the
ground, or if the branch is from a standard, it can be raised on a
rough platform. In either case, it should be covered with moss
to protect it from the sun, and should be watered every evening.
We recollect seeing in the glass manufactories of Paris, a very
neat little glass tumbler, used by the French gardeners for this
purpose. It held, perhaps, half a pint, and a space about half an
inch wide was cut out through the whole length of the side,
through which space the branch of any plant was inserted, and
the tumbler then filled with soil. When the roots were formed
and began to penetrate the soil, they could be easily perceived
through the glass. Although an incision is always the most
certain, and it is uniformly practised, roots will in many varie-
ties strike easily from the buds; and a common operation in
France is, simply to peg down the branches in the soil, without

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 173

any incision ; in some cases, they give the branch a sudden
twistj which will break or bruise the bark, and facilitate the for-
mation of roots.

Some Chinese authors state that very long branches may be
laid down, and that roots may thus be obtained from all the eyes
upon them, which will eventually form as many plants.

Vibert, a well-known rose cultivator in France, remarks upon
this point : " Upon laying down with the requisite care, some
branches, fifteen to twenty-four inches long of the new growth,
or of that of the previous year, and upon taking them up with
similar care, after twelve or eighteen months, I found only the
first eyes expanded into buds or roots, while the rest had perished.
I have seldom seen the fifth eye developed, while I have fre-
quently known the whole branch entirely perish. I speak in
general terms, for there are some rare exceptions, and the different
varieties of the Four-seasons Rose (Rosa-bifera) may be cited as
proof, that a great number of eyes of the same branch have taken
root."

This is the opinion of an eminent rose grower ; but if, as he
states, the Monthly Damask Rose will root freely in this way,
many of the smooth-wooded roses would undoubtedly root still
more freely, and our rapid growing native rose, Q,ueen of the
Prairies, would very probably throw out roots freely, when treated
in this manner. It is worth repeated experiment ; for, if rapid
growing roses, like some of the evergreen varieties, the Greville,
and the Q,ueen of the Prairies, could with facility be made to
grow in this way, rose hedges could be easily formed by laying
down whole branches, and a very beautiful and effective protec-
tion would be thus produced, to ornament our fields and gardens.

SUCKERS.

Many roses throw up suckers readily from the root, and often
form one of the principal causes of annoyance to the cultivator
For this reason, budding and grafting should always be done on
stocks that do not incline to sucker. The Dog Rose — on which
almost all the imported varieties are now worked — is particularly

15*

174 CULTURE OF TfeEE ROSE.

liable to this objection, and it is no unusual thing to see half-a-
dozen suckers growing about a single rose-tree. When the health
and prosperity of the plant is desired, these should be care-
fully kept down, as they deprive the plant of a material portion
of its nourishment. When, however, they are wanted for stocks,
they should be taken off every spring with a small portion of
root, which can generally be obtained by cutting some distance
below the surface of the ground. They should be planted imme-
diately when they, are wanted for budding, and will soon be fit
for use. Many fine varieties of the summer roses will sucker in
this way, and an old plant when taken up, will sometimes fur-
nish a large number of thrifty stems, each with a portion of root
attached.

BUDDING.

Fifty years ago, budding and grafting were very little practised,
excepting with new varieties, that could with great difficulty be
propagated in any other way. Within that time, however, the
practice has been constantly increasing until now, when it is
extensively employed in Europe, and roses imported from France
and England can very rarely be obtained on their own roots.
To this mode of propagation, we know of but one objection, and
that easily obviated by proper care, while the advantages in many
varieties are sufficiently great to counterbalance any inconveni-
ences attending the cultivation of a budded or grafted rose. It
is generally the case, that the stock or plant on which the Rose
is budded, is of some variety that will throw up suckers very
freely, which growing with great luxuriance, will sometimes
overpower the variety budded upon it, and present a mass of its
own flowers. The purchaser will thus find a comparatively
worthless bloom, instead of the rare and beautiful varieties whose
appearance he has been eagerly awaiting, and upon the head of
the nurseryman will frequently descend the weight of his indig-
nation, for furnishing him with a worthless plant, instead of the
new and beautiful variety for which he paid. This difficulty can,
however, always be avoided by a very little attention. The
shoot of the stock can very readily be distinguished from that of

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 175

the budded or grafted variety by its growth and foliage, even if
the age of the plant will not allow the point of inoculation to be
recognized. In passing the plant m his walks, let the owner
simply cut away any shoot of this character that may spring from
the stock or root, and the objection will at once be obviated.
The budded variety thus receiving all the nourishment from the
root, will soon grow with luxuriance, and present to the eager
expectant as fine a bloom as he may desire — ^at the expense only
of a little observation, and the trouble of occasionally taking his
knife from his pocket. The advantages of budding and grafting
are on the other hand very great. Nearly all roses will grow
more luxuriantly on a good thrifty stock, than on their own roots,
and many varieties which will scarcely grow an inch in a year
on their own roots, will make strong and luxuriant shoots when
budded. Of such are Lee's Crirasijn Perpetual and others. It
may safely be assumed that on strong growing stocks like the
Boursault and Madame d'Arblay, all roses will grow as well as
on their own root, and many will grow much better. It is from
their knowledge of this fact, that French cultivators have so uni-
versally adopted budding and grafting, even with those varieties
that readily strike from cuttings. Such being the advantages of
budding and grafting, the single objection stated above seems
scarcely worthy of serious consideration. This practice has
brought into cultivation a form of the plant which is highly
ornamental, but which can never become very general in this
country. The Tree Rose is an inoculation upon a standard some
four or five feet in height, generally a Dog Rose or Eglantine.
The tall, naked stem, a greater part of which is unsheltered by
any foliage, is exposed to the full glare of our summer sun, and
unless protected in some way, will often die out in two or three
years. Its life can be prolonged by covering the stem with moss,
or with a sort of tin tube, provided with small holes, to allow the
air to enter and circulate around the stem. This is, however,
some trouble : and as many will not provide this protection, a
large part of the standard roses imported to this country will

176 CULTURE OP THE ROSE.

gradually die out, and rose hushes be generally employed for
single planting, or for grouping upon the lawn.

In budding, there are two requisites : a well-established and
thriftily growing plant, and a well-matured eye or bud. The
operation can be performed at any season when these requisites
can be obtained. In the open ground, the wood from which the
buds are cut, is generally not mature until after the first summer
bloom.

Having ascertained by running a knife under the bark, that
the stock will peel easily, and having some perfectly ripe young
shoots with buds upon them, the operation can be performed with
a sharp knife that is round and very thin at the point. -Make in
the bark of the stock a longitudinal incision of three-quarters of
an inch, and another short one across the top as in fig. 13 ; run
the knife imder the bark and loosen it from the wood ; then cut
from one of the young shoots of the desired variety, a bud as in
fig. 14; placing the knife a quarter to three-eighths of an inch
above the eye or bud, and cutting out about the same distance
below it, cutting sufficiently near the bud to take with it a very
thin scale of the wood. English gardeners will always peel off
this thin scale ; but in our hot climate, it should always be left
on, as it assists to keep the bud moist, and does not at all prevent
the access of the sap from the stock to the bud. The bud being
thus prepared, take it, by the portion of leaf-stalk attached, between
the thumb and finger in the left hand, and, with the knife in the
right, open the incision in the bark sufficiently to allow the bud
to be slipped in as far as it will go, when the bark will close over
and retain it. Then take a mat-string, or a piece of yarn, and
firmly bind it around the bud, leaving only the petiole and bud
exposed, as in fig. 12. The string should be allowed to remain
for about two weeks, or until the bud is united to the stock. If
allowed to remain longer, it will sometimes cut into the bark of
the rapidly growing stock, but is productive of no other injury.
It is the practice with many cultivators to cut off the top of the
stock above the bud immediately after inoculation. A limited
acquaintance with vegetable physiology would convince the cul-

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 177

tivator of the injurious results of this practice, and that the total
excision of the branches of the stock while in full vegetation must
be destructive to a large portion of the roots, and highly detri-
mental to the prosperity of the plant. A much better mode is to
bend down the top, and tie its extremity to the lower part of the
stock. Several days after this is done, the bud can be inserted
just below the sharpest bend of the arch. When the buds are
to be placed in the branches of a stock, as in fig. 15, the top of
the main stem can be cut off, and the branches arched over and
tied to the main stem, as at f ; the bud is then inserted in each
branch at e. The circulation of the sap being thus impeded by
the bending of the branches, it is thrown into the inoculation, and
forms then a more immediate union than it would if the branches
were not arched. After the buds have become fairly united to
the stock and have commenced growing, the top can be safely
cut off to the bud, although it would be still better to make the
pruning of the top proportionate to the growth of the bud ; by this
means, a slower, but more healthy vegetation is obtained. When
the buds are inserted very late in the season, it is better not to
cut off the top of the stock or branches until the following spring,
and to preserve the bud dormant. If allowed to make a rapid
growth so late in the season, there would be great danger of its
being killed by frost. European cultivators are very fond of
budding several varieties on one stock, in order to obtain the
pretty effect produced by a contrast of color. This will only
answer where great care is taken to . select varieties of the same
vegetating force ; otherwise one will soon outstrip the other, and
appropriate all the nourishment. It is also desirable that they
should belong to the same species. When a bud is inserted in a
plant in pot, as in fig 1, the main branches are left, and a portion
of the top only cut off, in order to give the bud some additional
nourishment.

GRAFTING.

From the pithy nature of the wood of the Rose, grafting is
always less certain than budding ; but is frequently adopted by

178 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

cultivators, as budding cannot be relied upon in the spring, and
as there is much wood from the winter pruning which would be
otherwise wasted. It is also useful for working over those plants
in which buds have missed the previous summer.

There are several modes of grafting of which the most gen-
erally practised is cleft grafting. For this mode, the stock is
cut off at the desired height with a sharp knife, horizontally, or
slightly sloping, as in fig. 2. This should be done just above a
bud which may serve to draw up the sap to the graft. The
stock can then be split with a heavy knife, making the slit or
cleft about an inch long. The scion should be about four inches
long, with two or more buds upon it. An inch of the lower part
of the scion can be cut in the shape of a wedge, making one side
very thin, and on the thick or outer side, leaving a bud opposite
to the top of the wedge. This scion can then be inserted in the
cleft as far as the wedge is cut, being veiy careful- to make the
bark of the scion fit exactly to that of the stock. In order to
exclude the air, the top and side of the stock should then be bound
with a strip of cloth covered with a composition of beeswax and
resin in equal parts, with sufficient tallow to make it soft at a
reasonably low temperature. In the course of two or three
weeks, if every thing is favorable, the scion will begin to unite,
and will be ready to go forward with advancing vegetation.
When the stock is sufficiently large, two scions can be inserted,
as in fig. 2.

Whip grafting is performed by cutting a slice of bark with
a little wood from the side of a stock about an inch and a-half
long, and then paring a scion of the usual length down to a
very thin, lower extremity. This scion can then be accurately
fitted on to the place from which the slice of bark and wood
is taken. The whole can then be bound around with cotton
cloth, covered with the composition described before. In all
grafting it should be borne in mind, that it is essential for the
bark of the scion and that of the stock, to touch each other in
some point, and the more the points of contact, the greater will
be the chance of success.

CULTURE OP THE ROSE. 179

Rind grafting is also sometimes practised, but is more uncer-
tain than the former, as the swelling of the stock is very apt to
force the scion out. This mode must be practised when the bark
peels easily, or separates with ease from the wood. The top of
the stock must be cut off square, and the bark cut through from
the top about an inch downward. The point of the knife can
then be inserted at the top, and the bark peeled back, as in fig. 9.
It is desirable as before, that a bud should be left on the other
side of the stock, opposite this opening ; and the French prefer,
also, to have a bud left on the outside of the part of the scion
which is inserted. The scion should be cut out and sloped flat
on one side, as in fig. 11 ; then inserted in the stock between the
bark and wood, as in fig. 10, and bound with mat-strings, or strips
of grafting cloth.

The French have another mode of grafting stocks about the
size of a quill, or the little finger. It is done by placing the knife
about two inches below a bud which is just on the point of start-
ing, and cutting half way through the stock, and two inches
down, as in fig. 3. The scion is then placed in the lower part of
this cavity, in the same manner as with cleft grafting. This
mode is called Aspirant^ from the bud above the incision which
continues to draw up the sap, until the development of the scion.
When the scion has grown about two inches, the top of the stock
is cut off and covered with grafting wax. This mode is not
always successful, as the sap leaves the side of the stock Avhich
has been partly cut away and passes up the other side.

The French have also a mode of grafting, which they call par
incrustation^ and which is performed in the spring, as soon as
the leaf-buds appear. A scion with a bud adhering to the wood
is cut in a sort of oval shape, as in fig. 5, and inserted in a cavity
made of the same shape, and just below an eye which has com-
menced growing, fig. 4. It is then bound around with matting,
as in budding. This is a sort of spring budding, with rather
more wood attached to the bud, than in summer budding. It is
very successfully practised by various cultivators in the vicinity
of Paris. There is still another mode sometimes practised in

180 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

France, which owes its origin to a cultivator named Lecoq. A
small branch is chosen, which is provided with two buds, one of
them being on the upper part, and the other near its larger end,
fig. 7. A sidelong sloping cut is made all along its lower half,
the upper being left entire. When the scion is thus prepared, its
cut side is fitted to the side of the stock under the bark, fig. 6,
which has been cut and peeled back, as in fig. 9. It is then
bound around with mat-strings or grafting cloth in the usual
way. This mode has a peculiar merit ; should the upper bud not
grow, the lower one rarely fails, and develops itself as in com-
mon budding.

Cleft and whip grafting is also practised occasionally upon the
roots of the Rose, and succeeds very well with some varieties.
These modes of grafting can all be more successfully practised
on stocks in pots (fig. 8), in green-houses with bottom heat and
bell glasses. We have given thus concisely, and we hope clearly,
the various modes of budding and grafting with which we are
acquainted. They may be sufficient to enable the amateur to
amuse Jiis leisure hours, whose success may not, however, entirely
meet his expectations. Simple as these operations are, they
require *a kind of skill, and if we may so call it, sleight-of-hand,
which is only attained by constant practice upon a great number
of plants.

CHAPTER XIV.

MULTIPLICATION BY SEED AND HYBRIDIZING.

E have described, in former pages, the va-
rious modes of cultivating" the Rose, and of
propagating the many beautiful varieties
which exist, and would now briefly advert
to a mode of developing still farther the
beauty which lies hid within the horny cov-
ering that protects the dormant germ of
vitality — in other words, of obtaining new varieties by seed. With
the making of the seed-bed commenced a new era in the culture
of the Rose, and advancing with rapid strides, it made more
progress in forty years than in centuries before. The Dutch
seem to have been the first to raise roses from seed, by the same
mode which they applied successfully to their tulips, hyacinths,
<fcc., and from the time that this mode became generally employed,
the varieties of roses began to increase. In this species of culti-
vation the French soon outstripped their Dutch neighbors, and
gained the reputation which they still retain, of pre-eminent skill
in the production of new varieties of roses from the seed.

From 1805 to 1810, the Empress Josephine, whose love for
flowers is well known, collected at her favorite residence, Mal-
maison, the choicest varieties of the Rose that could be obtained
from Holland, Germany and Belgium, and thus gave an increased
impulse to the culture of roses in the vicinity of Paris.

According to De Pronville, a French writer, there were, in

16

182 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

1814, only 182 varieties of roses, and the advantage of multipli-
cation by seed is sufficiently evinced by the fact that there are
now more than 4,500 varieties, the poorest of which are much
better than any which existed at that day. Among the earliest
cultivators of roses from the seed, were three Frenchmen : Du-
pont, Vilmorin and Descemet. The former was the gardener of
the Empress Josephine. When the allies' armies entered Paris,
in 1815, the garden of Descemet contained 10,000 seedling
roses, which Vibert, in his anxiety to secure from destruction,
succeeded in carrying to his garden in the interior.

In England, very little attention seems, at that time, to have
been paid to the production of new varieties from seed, and they
relied very much upon the continent for their choice roses. Now,
however, they are abundantly redeeming their reputation, and
many fine varieties have been produced by English rose-growers,
at the head of whom stands Rivers, whose efforts are seconded by
Wood, Glenny, Paul, Lane, and others. They are still, however,
compelled to yield to the French cultivators, with Laffay and
Vibert at their head ; for to these we are indebted for our very
finest roses — for Lamarque, Solfaterre, La Reine, Chromatella,
the new white Perpetuals, and above all for that unsurpassed
rose of roses. Souvenir de Malmaison.

The varieties of roses became increasingly great after the in-
troduction of the Bengals, Noisettes, Teas, and Bourbons — all
these classes producing readily from seed, and in endless variety.
There still remains a willingness to cast aside the old for the new,
and however much we may regret this disposition, for the sake
of some old and truly deserving favorites, we cannot feel willing
to denounce it, for it exhibits a gratifying evidence of a desire for
improvement, and the existence of a spirit of progress, which, dis-
satisfied with things as they are, is continually striving after
nearer approaches to perfection. If, in this strife, some of our old
favorites have been cast aside, we are more than abundantly
compensated for their loss by the new claimants to our regard.

Those who intend to raise new roses from seed, should select
varieties differing as much as possible in color and habit, and

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 183

possessing broad, thick, and well-formed petals ; their stamens
should also be visible: and their pistil perfect ; for perfectly double
flowers, in Avhich all the organs of propagation — the stamens and
pistils — are changed into petals, never yield seed. These should
be planted together in a rich soil, and as far as possible from any
other roses. If there are among them any two varieties whose
peculiarities it is desired to unite in a single plant, place these
next to each other, and there may possibly be such an admixture
of the pollen as will produce the desired result.

Care should be taken not to affect the proper maturity of the
seed by taking off the petals, but allow them to fall by their own
decay. The seed should be perfectly mature before it is gath-
ered, which will be immediately after the first hard frost. After
the heps have been gathered, the seeds can be taken out with the
point of a knife, or, if there is a large quantity, they can be put
on a table and bruised with a wooden roller ; the covering of the
seeds is so tough that they cannot easily be injured. When the
hep is sufficiently bruised, it can be plunged into a vessel of
water ; and by continued friction, the seeds can be easily sepa-
rated from the pulp which surrounds them, and will generally
fall to the bottom. After being dried a few days in the shade,
they should be placed just beneath the surface, in pots filled with
fine sand, or peat earth, where they can be kept until wanted for
planting in the spring. The seeds which are not thus placed in
sand soon after they are gathered, will not grow until the second,
and if delayed very long, imtil the third year. In this case, how-
ever, their gennination can be hastened by sowing them in
earthen pans, which are placed upon a hot-bed or under a glass
frame. The seeds being thus planted immediately after being
gathered, the sand should be kept moistened through the winter,
and the pots kept out of the reach of frost. Mice are very fond of
these seeds, and will destroy them unless they are covered with
burrs, or protected by coarse wire netting. The pots should be
kept out of all heat, excepting what may be required to keep the
frost from them, until the first of the fourth month (April), in this
latitude, and at the South, earlier; this is requisite, in order to

184 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

prevent their germinating before all danger of frost is past in the
open air. At the time the pots or pans are brought from their
sheltered place into a warm temperature, beds for the plants
should be made in the open air, that they may be ready the mo-
ment they are required. For these an eastern aspect is the best,
and in our hot climate, on the north side of a fence would answer
very well ; if they are in an open piece of ground, they should be
sheltered by an awning from the hot sun. The soil should be a
rich, hght sandy mould, with a little peat, if convenient, and should
be finely pulverized. The seeds should now be closely watched,
and the moment they are seen pushing up the sand, in order to
obtain light, they should be taken out singly with the point of a
knife, taking a small portion of the sand with them. The bed
having been previously watered, and raked fine, drills can be
made, half an inch deep and about a foot apart, in which the
germinating seeds' can be placed, at a distance of six inches
from each other, and then carefully covered with finely pul-
verized soil. Having commenced germinating in the pots, the
seeds, now in the genial warmth of a spring sun, but protected
from its fiercest rays, will soon show their heads above the ground,
and striking deep root in the rich soil, grow rapidly. While the
plants are small, care should be taken to keep the ground con-
stantly moist.

We are aware that this process is somewhat new with rose
seeds, although it has been long practised with Rhododendrons
and other plants, but we are convinced of its superiority to the
old mode. The delicate roots of young plants are very suscepti-
ble of injury by change, and many are frequently lost by the
first potting ; this risk is avoided by transplanting the seed before
the first radical fibre is formed, and when, being in the act of
germination, there can be no possible danger of its rotting, which
is frequently a serious objection to sowing seeds at once in the
open ground. The trouble and risk of loss occasioned by subse-
quent re-pottings, are also avoided, and the plants have, by this
mode, full liberty to grow as luxuriantly as they choose, with
only the slight attention required by watering and shading. As

I

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 185

the plan of Rivers is materially diflerent, we will give his direc-
tions in detail, admitting-, at the same time, that, under some cir-
cumstances, it may be preferable to that we have detailed above.
" The heps of all the varieties of roses, will, in general, be fully
ripe by the beginning of November ; they should then be gathered
and kept entire, in a flower-pot filled with dry sand, carefully guard-
ed from mice. In February, or by the first week in March, they
must be broken to pieces with the fingers, and sown in flower-pots,
such as are generally used for sowing seeds in, called ' seed pans ;'
but for rose seeds they should not be too shallow ; nine inches in
depth-will be-enough. These should be nearly, but not quite, filled
with a rich compost of rotten manure and sandy loam, or peat ;
the seeds may be covered, to the depth of about half an inch,
with the same compost ; a piece of kiln wire must then be placed
over the pot, fitting closely at the rim, so as to prevent the in-
gress of mice, which are passionately fond of rose-seeds ; there
must be space enough between the wire and the mould for the
young plants to come up — half an inch will probably be found
enough ; the pots of seed must never be placed under glass, but
kept constantly in the open air, in a full sunny exposure, as the
wire will shade the mould and prevent its drying. Water should
be given occasionally, in dry weather. The young plants will
perhaps make their appearance in April or May, but very often
the seed does not vegetate till the second spring. When they
have made their ' rough leaves,' that is, when they have three
or four leaves, exclusive of their seed-leaves, they must be care-
fully raised with the point of a narrow pruning-knife, potted into
small pots, and placed in the shade ; if the weather is very hot
and dry, they may be covered with a hand-glass for a few days.
They may remain in those pots a month, and then be planted
out into a rich border ; by the end of August those that are
robust growers will have made shoots long enough for budding."
Until the plants have become firmly rooted, and, in fact through
the most of the first summer, they should be protected from the
heat of the sun ; a cheap mode of doing this is to put up rough
posts, connect them by pieces of wood, lay rough slats across these,

16*

186 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

and cover the whole with straw or corn-stalks, but a much neater
covering is a good canvass awning, supported by posts, which
can be taken down when not needed, and will last many years.
The Bourbons and Bengals, with the Teas and Noisettes, will
sometimes bloom tlje first season ; but as the plant will be weak,
a correct opinion cannot be formed of its character until the sec-
ond summer. The summer roses, or those which bloom only
once in the season, never show bloom until their third, and some-
times not until their fourth and fifth year. It is well to let all the
plants remain in the seed-bed until the fifth year, as some which
prove unpromising at first may result in something really good.
All that prove bad the fifth year can be marked for destruction, or
cut down to receive the buds of the good varieties. In order to
obtain a good bloom as soon as possible, it is well to have ready
some strong stocks of the Greville, Maheka, or any other free-
growing rose, into which buds can be inserted of any of the seed-
lings whose habit and general appearance promise good flowers,
and whose growth has been sufficient to furnish good buds. The
next spring the stock should be cut down to the bud, which will
then make luxuriant shoots, and produce flowers the same sea-
son, if an Everblooming variety ; but if one of the summer roses,
not till the next season. The third spring let every branch be
cut down, to three or four eyes, Avhen it will more fully develop
its character, and will often continue improving until its fiftii or
sixth year.

The first winter, the young plants will require protection from
the cold by some kind of litter, and the Bengal, Tea, and Noi-
sette varieties will always need it during the winter. Where
there are any plants of these latter, whose habit and appearance
promise something excellent, they can be potted on the approach
of winter, kept in a cool temperature,, free from frost, and re-
planted again in the spring.

When it is desired that the young plant should possess the
properties of two well-known flowers, resort is had to artificial
impregnation.

Although the existence of sexuality in plants appears to have

CULTURE OP THE ROSE. 187

been know* to the ancients, and is mentioned not only by Pliny,
Claudian, and Tlieopliraslus, but also by Ebu-AIwan, in a
work on agriculture written originally in Chaldaic ; yet it does
not seem to have been generally admitted by botanists, until an-
nounced by Linnaeus in 1731. From this time the possibility of
the existence of hybrid plants was admitted, and Linneeus, with
many subsequent authors, published observations tending to
prove that, even in the natural state, new species were formed
by two different plants, the pistil of one having been fecundated
by the stamens of the other. This impregnation has been arti-
ficially applied, by modern cultivators, to the production of new
varieties of fruits and flowers. With the Geranium, Fuchsia,
Pseony, Pansy, and other flowers, it has produced remarkable
results. The mode of impregnating the Rose artificially has been
so little practised with us, and has been so well described by
Rivers, that we prefer detailing the process in his own words :

" When it is desirable the qualities of a favorite rose should
preponderate, the petals of the flower to be fertilized must be
opened gently with the fingers. A flower that will expand in
the morning, should be opened the afternoon or evening previous,
and the anthers all removed with a pair of pointed scissors. The
following morning, when this flower is fully expanded, it must
be fertilized with a flower of some variety of whose qualities it is
desired to have seedlings largely partake. It requires some
watchfulness to open the petals at the proper time ; if too
soon, the petals will be injured in forcing them open; and in hot
weather, in July, if delayed only an hour or two, the anthers
will be found to hav^e shed their pollen. To ascertain precisely
when the pollen is in a fit state for transmission, a few of the
.anthers should be gently pressed with the finger and thumb ; if
the yellow dust adheres to them, the operation may be performed ;
it requires close examination and some practice to know when
the flower to be Operated upon is in a fit state to receive the pol-
len ; as a general rule, the flowers ought to be in the same state
of expansion, or, in other words, about the same age.

To exemplify the process, we will suppose that a climbing

188 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

Moss-Rose, with red or crimson flowers, is wished for : the flow-
ers of the Bhish Ayrshire, which bear seed abundantly, may be
selected, and before expansion, the anthers removed ; the follow-
ing morning, or as soon after the operation as these flowers open,
they should be fertilized with those of the Luxembourg Moss ;
if the operation succeed, seed will be procured, from which, the
probability is, that a climbing rose will be produced with the
habit and flowers of the Moss-Rose, or at least an approximation
to them. I mention the union of the Moss and Ayrshire Rose
by way of illustration, and merely to point out to the amateur
how extensive and how interesting a field of operations is open
in this way. I ought to give a fact that has occurred in my own
experience, which will tell better with the sceptical than a thou-
sand anticipations. About four years since, in a pan of seedling
Moss-Roses, was one with a most peculiar habit, even when very
young ; this has since proved a hybrid rose, partaking much
more of the Scotch Rose than of any other, and till the plant ar-
rived at full growth, I thought it a Scotch Rose, the seed of which
had by accident been mixed with that of the Moss-Rose, although
I had taken extreme care. To my surprise it has since proved a
perfect hybrid, having the sepals and the fruit of the Provence
Rose, with the spiny and dwarf habit of the Scotch Rose ; it bears
abundance of heps, which are all abortive. The difference in
the fruit of the Moss and Provence Rose, and those of the
Scotch, is very remarkable ; and this it was which drew my par-
ticular attention to the plant in question. It was raised from the
same seed, and in the same seed-pan, as the single crimson Moss-
Rose. As this strange hybrid came from a Moss-Rose acciden-
tally fertilized, we may expect that art will do much more for us.
It is only in cases where it is wished for the qualities of a
particular rose to predominate, that the removal of the anthers
of the rose to be fertilized is necessary: thus, if a yellow climb-
ing rose is desired by the union of the YeliOA\*Briar with the
Ayrshire, every anther should be removed from the latter, so that
it is fertilized solely with the pollen of the former. In some
cases, where it is desirable to have the qualities of both parents

CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 189

in an equal degree, the removal of the anthers must not take
place: thus I have found, by removing them from the Luxem-
bourg Moss, and fertilizing that rose with a dark variety of Rosa
Gallica, that the features of the Moss-Rose are totally lost in its
offspring, and they become nearly pure varieties of the former;
but if the anthers of the Moss-Rose are left untouched, and it is
fertilized with Rosa Gallica, interesting hybrids are the result,
more or less mossy. This seems to make super-foetation very
probable ; yet Dr. Lindley, in his Theory of Horticulture, thinks
it is not very likely to occur."

There is no branch of rose culture possessing more interest for
the amateur, with whose leisure its prosecution is compatible.
The constant care and attention required, in order to ensure suc-
cess, place it in a great measure beyond the limits of a large com-
mercial establishment. The great desideratum at this time is a
double, yellow, climbing rose. If the Harrison Rose were fertil-
ized with the Queen of the Prairies, or the latter with the Solfa-
terre or Chromatella, a rose might possibly be obtained with the
rich yellow of the Harrison Rose, and the robust habit and beau-
tifully-formed flower of the Queen of the Prairies. While, how-
ever, we recommend this mode of artificial impregnation, we
would by no means discourage the sowing of seeds whose flowers
have not thus been fecundated. The seed of the Harrison Rose,
or of any of the yellow roses, may, if perseveringly saved from
generation to generation, produce a yellow climbing rose. In
fact, we are inclined to think that among all the reputed hybrids,
a much less number than is supposed owe their origin to a cross-
ed fecundation. It is a fact generally admitted by botanists, that
all varieties of plants will generally produce from their seed plants
entirely dissimilar, preserving perhaps some peculiarities of their
parents, but differing in many essential particulars. This is
well known to cultivators in the instances of tlie Pansy, the
Fuchsia, the A^'erbena. and other plants ; and that it is also the
case with the Rose, is evinced by an experiment of the French
cultivator, Guerin. He gathered a seed vessel from a rose bush,
the iower of which had only partially developed itself, and the

190 CULTURE OF THE ROSE.

pistil of which, being covered by the petals, could not have been
fecundated by its own stamens. This seed when sown produced
five different varieties. It will thus be perceived that, in the sim-
ple sowing of seeds, where there is a dislike to the trouble of ar-
tificial impregnation, there is a wide field for experiment and for
successful result. But to those who have the leisure and the
patience to transfer from one plant to another its fertilizing mat-
ter, it forms a pleasant amusement, with rather a greater proba-
bility of satisfactory results. In either case, every amateur of
roses should have his seed-plat ; and if, out of a thousand, or even
five thousand roses, he should obtain one good variety, and differ-
ing from any other known, he will be conferring an important
service upon rose-culture, and will encourage others to pursue
the same course until we shall be in no wise behind either France
or England in this interesting branch of horticulture.

CHAPTER XV.

DISEASES OF THE ROSE.

Brave Rose, alas, whose art thou 1 In thy chair
Where thou didst lately so triumph and shine,
A worm doth sit, whose many feet and hair

Are the more foul the more thou art divine.
This, this hath done it; this did bite the root

And bottom of the leaves, which, when the wind
Did once perceive, it blew them under foot.

Where rude, unhallow'd steps do crush and grind
Their beauteous glories. Only shreds of thee.
And those all bitten, in thy chair I see.

Herbert.

HE diseases to wiiich the Rose is liable are
iv\ generally owing either to the presence of
various Cryptogamee, or to the attacks of
certain insects whose larvee are supported at
the expense of the plant. The Cryptogamae
which have been observed upon rose-bushes,
and which infest chiefly the Provins and
other rouffh-leaved roses, are the following :

Sporotricum pulchellum. — Duhuy. Greenish filaments under the
leaves, and scarcely visible.

OiDiuM LEUcoNiUM. — Descemct. Whitish filaments growing on the
leaves and diseased trunks.

Uredo pinguis. — Decandolle. Small orange-colored, linear plates
growing upon the fibres of the petioles of the leaves, and upon the
diseased heps or fruit.

Uredo Ros.e. — Persoon. Numerous small groups of a pale-yellow
color, and found upon the leaves.

192 DISEASES OP THE ROSE.

These two last are the most common and injurious to roses, as they
frequently cover all the leaves. The most effectual mode of prevent-
ing their spreading is, to cut off with care and burn all the infected
branches, which will sometimes render necessary the destruction of
the whole plant.

Phragmidium incrassatum. — Linkius. {Puccinia Rosa.) Small,
black groups under diseased leaves, and very common.

Xyloma RoSiE. — Decandolle. Pustules of a blackish gray, and grow-
ing on the bark of the plant.

Erysiphe pannosa. — Linkius. Numerous white filaments, growing
on the young shoots, leaves, and branches. It is commonly known to
gardeners as the mildew, and is very destructive to the health and
growth of the plant. It is a very troublesome enemy to the Rose, and
will sometimes put at defiance every application for its destruction.
The most effectual is smoking with sulphur, rubbing with dry flour
of sulphur, or syringing with sulphur water. The former should only
be practised by a skilful hand, as too much sulphur-smoke will some-
times entirely kill the plant.

Cytispora leucosperma. — Fries. Small, round, white points, grow-
ing upon diseased branches.

Hysterium foliicolum. — Fries. Small, black, oval points, with a
furrow in the middle ; found on both sides of diseased leaves.

SpHiERiA clypeata. — Nees. Black, shining tubercles ; found under
the epidermis of diseased plants.

Sph^ria sepincola. — Fries. Dull-black tubercles ; found under
the epidermis of diseased leaves.

Physicia Ciliaris. — Decandolle. Parmelia Candelaris. — Fries.
Marks on the wood of old decaying rose-bushes.

The insects which infest the Rose are quite numerous, and
their attacks are more or less injurious. Those which are found
on the plant in the state of perfect insects are comparatively
harmless. The most injurious are those whose larvae feed on
the leaves and pith of the trunk and limbs, and thus destroy the
plant ; while the perfect insect, like the green fly, will simply
stop the growth and impair the health of the tree, by fastening
upon the green and tender bark of the young shoots, and devour-
ing the sap. The history of most of these is very little known.
The classification and knovv^ledge of their characteristics are
well understood branches of Entomology, but there is a want of

DISEASES OF THE ROSE. 193

careful observation of their habits and modes of life, especially
while in their larva state. It is highly desirable that amateur
cultivators should devote more time to the study of Entomology,
for upon an intimate acquaintance with the habits of these
minute depredators depends, in a greater degree than is gene-
rally supposed, the success of cultivation. Our own leisure is so
limited, that we have been able to devote very little time to this
subject ; and we can find no work that ■ treats in detail the in-
insects that attack the Rose. With this paucity of material,
we simply give a list of the principal, in the hope that some
one will improve upon it. Our authorities are mostly Euro-
pean, and some of the varieties we name may not exist in this
country.

1. ScA|!.AB.EUs AURATUs of Lhinceus, or Cetonia aurata of modern au-

thors, sometimes called the golden fly. This insect causes a
cessation of growth in the plant, and may be easily destroyed
by tobacco smoke.

2. Melolontha vulgaris. — Fabricius. Common May-bug. It is some-

times found upon the leaves of the rose-bush, but quite as fre-
quently upon those of many other plants.

3. Chrysomela bipukctata. — Linnaus. It is found on the rose-bush

occasionally, and does it no injury.

4. BupRESTis manga. — Linncms. This, like the preceding, is a Cole-

optera, and is only found occasionally on the Rose.

5. Cicada spumaria. — Linnaus. This insect is found on various

plants, and not exclusively on the Rose.

6. Cicada Ros.e, or Jassus Ros.c — Fabricius. This insect, commonly

known as the rose-grasshopper, lives upon the Rose during its
three states, and injures it by draining the plant of its sap.

7. Aphis Ros.^. — Limmus. Green Fly. This insect is a scourge to

roses, from the facility of its reproduction, and its numerous pro-
geny sometimes entirely cover the leaves, the young sprouts,
and the flower-buds. Devouring the sap, they are very injurious,
and, when numerous, sometimes destroy the plant, while they
soil every part on which they collect. The most common species
is of a pale green, but there is a variety of a dingy yellow. In
Europe they are commonly called vine-chafers. Their principal
destroyers are small birds, but they have other enemies, as many
small hymcnopteres of the genus Chalcis and Cynips^ and espe-

17

194 DISEASES OF THE ROSE.

eially the larvae of the Coccindles and Hemerohcs. Those of the
Hemerobius Persa of Lincseus have thus received, from Reaumur
aud Grcoffroy, the name of " Lioits of the Vine-chafers.''^ They
destroy great numbers of these insects every day, by sucking
their substance, and then fasten the skins upon their own backs,
for the purpose of concealing themselves by this pile from the
eyes of those who are vet to become their victims. The first eggs
of these insects are deposited in the autumn, at the base of the
buds, and are hatched in the early part of the following spring.
Generation after generation are then rapidly produced, number-
ing sometimes eight or ten before autumn. Reaumur estimated
that a single Aphis might produce six thousand millions in one
summer. The first hatching can be prevented by washing the
plant with soft soap and water, or with whale-oil soap, before the
buds commence swelling. When the plant is infested with them,
it can be wa.shed with tobacco-water and then rinsed in clean
water. If in a house, fumigation with tobacco is better. An
English writer recommends washing in a decoction of an ounce
of quassia and a quart of water, as a very efi"ective and safe rem-
edy. Fumigation is, however, the most thoroughly searching
remedy, and can be easily applied to plants in the open air, by
means of an empty barrel inverted over the plant and a pan of
burning tobacco.

8. Phal.ena pavonia. — LijiiKBiis. The huge caterpillar of this large

butterfly may occasionally be found on the leaves of rose-bushes,
but lives mostly on those of apple, peach, and other trees. The
same remark will apply to

9. Phal^ena libatrix. — Linncms.

10. Phal^na fimbria. — Linnceus.

1 1 . Phal^na betularia. — Lmnaus.

12. Phal.ena rosakia. — Linnmis. Its caterpillar eats and rolls up

the leaves of the Rose, as do also those of the

13. Phal^na forskaLjENa. — LimuBus. And the

14. Phal.ena cynosbattella.- — LinncBus.

15. Cynips ros.e. — Linnmus. The Cynips of the Bedeguar. The

female makes a hole in the epidermis of the branches of the rose-
bush, with a sort of auger placed at the extremity of the oviduct,
for the purpose of laying her eggs under the bark. This puncture
produces the fibrous and mossy excrescence found on plants of
the Rose, and particularly on the Dog Rose and the Sweet Briar.
Within this excrescence are found the larvse, many of them gath-
ered in one mass. They dig their small, round cells, and thus

DISEASES OF THE ROSE. 195

pass the winter in a chrysalis state. The bedeguars were form-
erly employed in medicine as astringents. The male cynips is
distinguished by the absence of a tail.

16. CvNirs BicoLOR. — " Round, prickly galls, of a reddish color, and

rather larger than a pea, may often be seen on rose-bushes. Each
of them contains a single grub, and this in due time turns to a
gall-fly. Its head and thorax are black, and rough with numer-
ous little pits ; its hind-body is polished, and, with the legs, of a
brownish red color. It is a large insect compared with the size
of its gall, measuring nearly 'one-fifth of an inch in length, while
the diameter of its gall, not including the prickles, rarely exceeds
three-tenths of an inch.

17. " Cynjps dichlocerus, or the gall-fly with two-colored antennae, is

of a brownish red or cinnamon color, with four little longitudinal
grooves on the top of the thorax, the lower part of the antennae
red, and the remainder black. It varies in being darker some-
times, and measures from one-eighth to three-sixteenths of an
inch in length. Great numbers of these gall-flies are bred in the
irregular woody galls, or long execresences, of the stems of rose-
bushes.

18. Cynips semipiceus. — " The small roots of rose-bushes, and of other

plants of the same family, sometimes produce rounded, warty,
and woody knobs, inhabited by numerous gall-insects, which, in
coming out, pierce them with small holes on all sides. The
winged insects closely resemble the dark varieties of the preced-
ing species in color, and in the little furrows on the thorax ; but
their legs are rather paler, and they do not measure more than
one-tenth of an inch in length.

19. Selandria Ros/e. — " The saw-fly of the rose, which, as it does not

seem to have been described before, may be called Selandria Bosce,
from its favorite plant, so nearly resembles the slug-worm saw-fly
as not to be distinguished therefrom except by a practised ob-
server. It is also very much like Selandria barda, Vitis, and
fygmcea^ but has not the red thorax of these three closely al-
lied species. It is of a deep and shining black color. The
first two jjp-irs of legs are brownish gray or dirty white, except
the thighs which are almost entirely black. The hind-legs are
black, with whitish knees. The wings are smoky, and transpa-
rent, with dark brown veins, and a brown spot near the middle
of the edge of the first pair. The body of the male is a little
more than three-twentieths of an inch long, that of the female

196 DISEASES OF THE ROSE.

one-fifth of an inch or more, and the wings expand nearly or quite
two-fifths of an inch. These saw-flies come out of the ground, at
various times, between the twentieth of May and the middle of
June, during which period they pair and lay their eggs. The
females do not fly much, and may be seen, during most of the
day, resting on the leaves ; and, when touched, they draw up
their legs, and fall to the ground. The males are more active,
fly from one rose-bush to another, and hover around their slug-
gish partners. The latter, when about to lay their eggs, turn a
little on one side, unsheathe their saws, and thrust them oblique-
ly into the skin of the leaf, depositing in each incision thus made,
a single egg. The young begin to hatch in ten days or a fortnight
after the eggs are laid. They may sometimes be found on the
leaves as early as the first of June, but do not usually appear in
considerable numbers till the twentieth of the same month. How
long they are in coming to maturity, I have not particularly ob-
served ; but the period of their existence in the caterpillar state
probably does not exceed three weeks. They somewhat resemble
the young of the saw-fly in form, but are not quite so convex.
They have a small, round, yellowish head, with a black dot on
each side of it, and are provided with twenty-two short legs.
The body is green above, paler at the sides, and yellowish
beneath ; and it is .soft, and almost transparent like jelly. The
skin of the back is transversely, wrinkled, and covered with mi-
nute elevated points; and there are two small, triple-pointed
warts on the edge of the first ring, immediately behind the head.
These gelatinous and sluggish creatures eat the upper surface of
the leaf in large irregular patches, leaving the veins and the skin
beneath untouched ; and they are sometimes so tliick that
not a leaf on the bushes is spared by them, and the whole foliage
looks as if it had been scorched by fire, and drops ofi" soon after-
ward. They cast their skins several times, leaving them ex-
tended and fastened on the leaves ; after the last moulting they
lose their semi-transparent and greenish color, and acquire an
opake yellowish hue. They then leave the rose-bushes, some of
them slowly creeping down the stem, and other.s,rolling up and
dropping off, especially when the bushes are shaken by the wind.
Having reached the ground, they burrow to the depth of an inch
or more in the earth, where each one makes for itself a small oval
cell, of grains of earth, cemented with a little gummy silk. Hav-
ing finished their transformations, and turned to flies, within

DISEASES OF THE ROSE. 197

their cells, they come out of the ground early in August, and lay
their eggs for a second brood of young. These, in turn, perform
their appointed work of destruction in the autumn ; they then go
into the ground, make their earthen cells, remain therein through-
out the winter, and appear in the winged form,- in the following
spring and summer.

'■ During several years past, these pernicious vermin have infest-
ed the rose-bushes in the vicinity of Boston, and have proved so
injurious to them, as to have excited the attention of the Massa-
chusetts Horticultural Society, by whom a premium of one hun-
dred dollars, for the most successful mode of destroying these
insects, was offered in the summer of 1840. About ten years
ago, I observed them in gardens in Cambridge, and then made
myself acquainted with their tran.sformations. At that time they
had not reached Milton, my former place of residence, and have
appeared in Aat place only within two or three years. They
now seem to be gradually extending in all directions, and an ef-
fectual method for preserving^ur roses from their attacks has
become very desirable to all persons who set any value on this
beautifilT ornament of our gardens and shrubberies. Showering
or syringing the bushes with a liquor, made by mixing with water
the juice expressed from tobacco by tobacconists, has been recom-
mended : but some caution is necessary in making this mixture
of a proper strength, for if too strong it is injurious to plants ; and
the experiment does not seem, as yet, to have been conducted
with sufficient care to insure safety and success. Dusting lime
over the plants when wet with dew has been tried and found of
some use ; but this and all other remedies will probably yield in
efficacy to Mr. Haggerston's mixture of whale-oil soap and water.
in the proportion of two pounds of the soap to fifteen gallons of
water. Particular directions, drawn up by Mr. Haggerston him-
self, for the preparation and use of this simple and cheap appli-
cation, may be found in the - Boston Courier." for the twenty-
fifth of June, 1841, and also in most of our agricultural and hor-
ticultural journals of the same time. The utility of this mixture
has already been repeatedly mentioned in this treatise, and it
may be applied in other cases with advantage. Mr. Haggerston
finds that it effectually destroys many kinds of insects ; and he
particularly mentions plant-lice of various kinds, red spiders,
canker-worms, and a little jumping insect which has lately been
found quite as hurtful to rose-bushes as the slugs or young of the
17*

198 DISEASES OF THE ROSE.

saw-fly. The little insect alluded to has been mistaken for a
species of Thrips or vine-frctter : it is, however, a leaf-hopper, or
species of Tettigonia, much smaller than the leaf-hopper of the
grape-vine ( Tettigonia Viiis), and, like the leaf-hopper of the bean,
entirely of a pale-green color." — Harris.

20. Tenthredo pavida. — Lifinaiis. The larvae of both these last are

very injurious to rose plants.

21. Tenthredo usTULATA. — Limutus. The real tenthredo; and has

not been ascertained to be injurious to roses.

22. Tenthredo cincta. — Linnceus. The larvae of this insect are found

upon the leaves of rose-bushes in autumn, and the perfect insect
bores holes in the stem.

23. Tenthredo cynosbati. — Liimceus.

24. Tenthredo annulata. — Linnccus. The larvae of both of these are

found on the leaves of the Rose.

25. Tenthredo of Merat, see page 000.

Of all the insect enemies of t^ie Rose, the Tenthredo tribe is the
most injurious. After they reach the larvae state they bury
themselves in the ground to undergo their metam^phosis, from
which the perfect insect does not emerge till the following year.
The Bedeguar ichneumon of some authors is the same as No. 15.
The Diplolepe bedeguar of Geoffrey, is also a synonyme of the
same.

26. Apis mellifica. — Linnceus. The honey-bee. This species, like

many others of its family, is frequently found upon every kind
of rose, either drawing out with its proboscis the honeyed treasures
secreted in the nectarium, or gathering with its feet from the
stamens the pollen for its wax.

27. MuscA Pelluceus. — Linnczus. This fly, according to Geoffrey,

also lives upon rose-bushes.

28. MuscA nigra. — Limiceus. Similar to the preceding.

29. AcARUs Croceus. — Linnmus. According to Linnaeus, this insect

lives on the Rosa Monstrosa, sucking the sap from its stems.

30. Coccus Ros.e. — Merat. A species of caterpillar, infesting the

bark of roses. It has a white shell, very thin, irregular, and
gathered in such a manner as to cover the part it attacks, which
is generally near the point of the stem. Merat has not yet suf-
ficiently distinguished the habits of this insect to describe it with
precision, but thinks it would destroy the plant upon which it
happened to be in very great numbers. Its destruction is easy,
by merely scraping the scales with the back of a pruning-knife.

DISEASES OF THE ROSE, 199

This should not be confounded with the cryptogamic miller, or
mildew, which it somewhat resembles in appearance.

31. Tinea (Ornix) RHODOPHAGELLA. — Kollar. The Rose-Moth. "In

early Spring, as soon as the rose-bush begins to bud, a very dan-
gerous enemy to the growth of its leaves and blossoms arrives.
It is the more to be dreaded as, from its smalluess and peculiarity
of form, it is easily overlooked by the gardener or amateur. If
the new leafshoots are closely examined, a little brownish scale is
found here and there attached to them ; and upon nearer inspec-
tion, we shall be convinced that it is a little case, in which a worm,
the larvce of a small moth, is concealed, which gnaws the tender
shoots. When it has devoured one shoot, it removes with its
house, and attacks another ; and thus, in a short time, one of these
larvas can strip a whole branch of its shoots. The larva which
lives in the little case, is only a few lines long ; yellow, with a
black head, and black spotted collar. It undergoes pupation in
its case, which enlarges from time to time, as necessity requires.
The moth appears at the end of May. It is only three lines long,
carries its wings very close to its body, almost wrapped around it.
The whole body is silvery shining gray ; the upper wings strewed
with minute black dots, deeply fringed at the posterior edge j the
under wings are narrow, pointed, with very long fringes. The
moth lays her eggs in May on the buds of the rose-trees, and the
caterpillars are hatched at the end of June : they immediately
form for themselves small cases of parts of the leaves, and pass
the winter in them at the root of the rose-tree.

" The only certain way of preserving rose-trees from this enemy,
is to look for these small cases in eai'ly spring, before any foliage
is developed, when an experienced eye, which has been accustomed
to observe insects, will easily discover them. They must, how-
ever, be crushed immediately, and not thrown on the ground, as,
if they are, they will re-ascend the I'ose-bush." — Kollar.

32. Melolontha Subspinosa of Fabricius., and Macrodactylus Sup-

spiNOSA of Latreillc. Common Rose-bug. Common as this insect
is in the vicinity of Boston, it is or was a few years ago, unknown
in the northern and western parts of Massachusetts, in New
Hampshire, and in Maine. It may, therefore, be well to give a
brief description of it. This beetle measures seven-twentieths
of an inch in length. Its body is slender, tapers before and be-
hind, and is entirely covered with very short and close ashen-
yellow down ; the thorax is long and narrow, angularly widened

200 DISEASES OP THE ROSE.

in tlie middle of each, side, wliich suggested the name subspinosa or
somewhat spined ; the legs are slender, and of a pale-red color; the
joints of the feet are tipped with black, and are very long, which
caused Latreille to call the genus Macrodadylus, that is long toe, or long
foot. The natural history of the rose-chafer, one of the greatest
scourges with which our gardens and nurseries have been afflicted, was
for a long time involved in mystery, but is at last fully cleared up.
The prevalence of this insect on the rose, and its annual appearance
coinciding with the blossoming of that flower, have gained for it the
popular name by which it is here known. For some time after they
were first noticed, rose-bugs appeared to be confined to their favorite,
the blossoms of the rose ; but within thirty years they have prodigiously
increased in number, have attacked at random various kinds of plants
in swarms, and have become notorious for their extensive and de-
plorable ravages. The grape-vine in particular, the cherry, plum,
and apple trees, have annually sufiered by their depredations ; many
other fruit-trees and shrubs, garden vegetables and corn, and even the
trees of the forest and the grass of the fields, have been laid under
contribution by these indiscriminate feeders, by whom leaves, flowers,
and fruits are alike consumed. The unexpected arrival of these in-
sects in swarms, at their first coming, and their sudden disappear-
ance, at the close of their cj^reer, are remarkable facts in their history.
They come forth from the ground during the second week in June,
or about the time of the blossoming of the damask rose, and remain
from thirty to forty days. At the end of this period the males become
exhausted, fall to the ground, and perish, while the females enter the
earth, lay their eggs, return to the surface, and, after lingering a few
days, die also. The eggs laid by each female are about thirty in num-
ber,- and are deposited from one to four inches beneath the surface
of the soil : they are nearly globular, whitish, and about one-thirtieth
of an inch in diameter, and are hatched twenty days after they are
laid. The young larvae begin to feed on such tender roots as are
within their reach. Like other grubs of the Scarabceians, when not
eating, they lie upon the side, with the body curved so that the head
and tail are nearly in contact ; they move with difficulty on a level sur-
face, and are continually falling over on one side or the other. They
attain their full size in autumn, being then nearly three quarters of an
inch long, and about an eighth of an inch in diameter. They are of a
yellowish white color, with a tinge of blue towards the hinder extremity,
which is thick and obtuse or rounded ; a few short hairs are scattered on
the surface of the body ; there are six short legs, namely a pair to each

DISEASES OF THE ROSE. 201

of the first three rings behind the head ; and the latter is covered with
a horny shell of a pale rust color. In October they descend below the
reach of frost, and pass the winter in a torpid state. In the spring they
approach toward the surface, and each one forms for itself a little cell
of an oval shape, by turning round a great many times, so as to com-
press the earth and render the inside of the cavity hard and smooth.
Within this cell the grub is transformed to a pupa, during the month
of May, by casting off its skin, which is pushed downward in folds
from the head to the tail. The pupa has somewhat the form of the
perfected beetle ; but it is of a yellowish white color, and its short
stump-like wings, its antennae, and its legs are folded upon the breast,
and its whole body is inclosed in a thin film, that wraps each part sepa-
rately. During the month of June this filmy skin is rent, the included
beetle withdraws from its body and its limbs, bursts open its eartheif
cell, and digs its way to the surface of the ground. Thus the various
changes, from the egg to the full development of the perfected beetle,
are completed within the space of one year.

" Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these insects, it is ev-
ident that we cannot attack them in the egg, the grub, or the pupa
state ; the enemy, in these stages, is beyond our reach, and is subject
to the control only of the natural but unknown means appointed by
the Author of Nature to keep the insect tribes in check. When they
have issued from their subterranean retreats, and have congregated
upon our vines, trees, and other vegetable productions, in the complete
enjoyment of their propensities, we must unite our efforts to seize and
crush the invaders. They must indeed be crushed, scalded, or burned,
to deprive them of life, for they are not affected by any of the applica-
tions usually found destructive to other insects. Experience has proved
the utility of gathering them by hand, or of shaking them or brushing
them from the plants into tin vessels containing a little water. They
should be collected daily during the period of their visitation, and
should be committed to the flames, or killed by scalding water. The
late John Lowell, Esq., states, that in 1823, he discovered on a solita-
ry apple-tree, the rose-bugs ' in vast numbers, such as could not be
described, and would not be believed if they were described, or at least
none but an ocular witness could conceive of their numbers. Destruc-
tion by hand was out of the question' in this case. He put sheets
under the tree, and shook them down, and burned them. Di*. Green,
of Mansfield, whose investigations have thrown much light on the his-
tory of this insect, proposes protecting plants with millinet, and says
that in this way only did he succeed in securing his grape-vines from

202 DISEASES OF THE ROSE.

depredation. His remarks also show the utility of gathering them.
' Eighty-six of these spoilers,' says he, ' were known to infest a single
rose-bud, and were crushed with one grasp of the hand.' Suppose, as
was probably the case, that one-half of them were females ; by this
destruction, eight hundred eggs, at least, were prevented from becom-
ing matured. During the time of their prevalence, rose-bugs are
sometimes found in immense numbers on the flowers of the common
white-weed, or os-eye daisy. ( Chrysanthemum leucanthemum^) a worth-
less plant, which has come to us from Europe, and has been suiFered
to overrun our pastures, and encroach on our mowing lands. In cer-
tain cases it may become expedient rapidly to mow down the infested
white-weed in dry pastures, and consume it with the sluggish rose-
bugs on the spot.

■ '■'• Our insect-eating birds undoubtedly devour many of these insects,
and deserve to be cherished and protected for their services. Rose-
bugs are also eaten greedily by domesticated fowls ; and when they
become exhausted and fall to the ground, or when they are about to
lay their eggs, they are destroyed by moles, insects, and other animals,
which lie in wait to seize them. Dr. Green informs us, that a species
of dragon-fly, or devil's needle devours them. He also says that an
insect which he calls the enemy of the cut-worm, probably the larva
of a Carabus or predaceous ground-beetle, preys on the grubs of the
common dor-bug. In France the golden ground-beetle ( Carabus au-
ratus) devours the female dor or chafer at the moment when she is
about to deposit her eggs. I have taken one specimen of this fine
ground-beetle in Massachusetts, and we have several other kinds,
equally predaceous, which probably contribute to check the increase
of our native Melolonthians." — Harris.

A. J. Downing recommends the use of open-mouthed bottles, half
filled (and occasionally renewed) with a mixture of sweetened water
and vinegar, and placed about the plant. He also recommends pour-
ing boiling water on the ground under the bushes, at the first ap-
pearance of the insects and before their wings are formed. They
nearly all rise to the surface of the ground, and emerge about the
same time, when the Damask Rose first begins to open. A little ob-
servation will enable the cultivator to seize the right time for the
scalding operation. Illustrating this difficulty of destroying the rose-
bug, a correspondent of the Horticulturist tells the following story of
one of his neighbors :

" One of my very good neighbors, and one of the best-informed men of my ac-
quaintance, this summer undertook to 'fight the rose-bugs,' a hopeless task you'll
say, but nevertheless rendered important by their extraordinary ravages ; they

DISEASES OF THE ROSE. 203

have been more numerous in the vicinity of Philadelphia this year than we have
ever known them. But my philosophical neighbor was for once foiled. His ope-
rations were in thiswise: His man Pompe}^ and himself rose early to enjoy a
savage pleasure in conquering their hitherto invincible enem5^ Pomp rolled up
his sleeves for slaughter, while my friend pulled on a pair of gloves. To It they
both went, and in an hour or two, or ere the tuneful breakfast bell had called
neighbor W. to his matutinal repast, a bucket full of these cnleoptera had been
bagged. ' Now,' says Pomp, ' massa, 'spose I scald 'em.' ' Oh no,' .says Phi-
losophy ; ' I'll teach them to trespass on my manor, the varmint !' So he went to
his laboratory and brought out some ounces of chloride of lime, which, dissolved,
was poured over the active mass ; they were then buried, and Pomp spanked his
spade over the grave, as a thing done. Philosophy slept well that night, aiul in
the morning was horrified to find all his enemies airing their wings in the sun,
having had a resurrection, which astonished my friend, but did not Pomp, who
still thinks scalding water would have been better."

33. BisTON BETULARius. Pepper Moth. " This motli is double-brooded,

the first appearing iij June, and the second in September. The
eggs of the June brood are hatched in July, and continue feed-
ing until the last week of August, when they go into the pupae
state, burying themselves in the ground, and the perfect moths
appear about the beginning of September. The eggs of the au-
tumn brood are laid on the stems of the rose-trees, and there
remain until the following spring, and are hatched about the
time of the expansion of the leaves. By the middle of May they
are an inch long, and shortly afterward go into the pupje state,
the moth appearing about the beginning or toward the middle of
June. The caterpillars are grayish-brown, with a faint-red
line down the centre of the back. In some seasons they
are numerous ; but as they feed only on the rose-leaves 'v\ the
season of luxuriant growth, the injury occasioned by tlicm is
trifling. The perfect moth measures, when the wings are ex-
panded, an inch and a half : all the wings are dirty-white, cloud-
ed with pale-ash, and thickly spotted over the whole insect with
black, whence the name ' Pepper Moth.'" — Paxton.

34. Harpalyce fulvata. Barred Yellotc Moth. " This beautiful

little moth appears in June, and may be caught in abundance by
beating the rose-bushes. The caterpillar is greenish-yellow, with
a white mark bordered by a darker one on each side. It feeds
voraciously on the leaves of the rose-ti-ee, but does not appear to
attack the buds. The parent lays her eggs in July, and the
caterpillars, which are feeding during August in considerable
quantities, will be full fed early in September, and will then en-
ter into the pupae state, burying themselves in the ground and

204 DISEASES OF THE ROSE,

forming brown cocoons. The perfect moths appear the following
June. The wings measure, when expanded, about an inch across.
First pair, tawny yellow, with a deep, broad band across the
centre ; second pair, pale, dull yellow, with darker margins." —
Paxtofi.
35. Argya antiqua. Common Vaporer Moth. " This moth does no
injury to the rose-trees, although the caterpillars are found upon
them in great numbers." — Paxton.

A most destructive enemy of the Rose is a small insect of the
genus Tenthredo, respecting which very little is knowTi. Dr.
Merat, a French writer, describes it in detail, which description
we translate from his pamphlet, in the hope that it may be of
some assistance to those who are inclined to investigate the habits
of the various insects which infest the R?»se.

DESTRl'CTIOX OF GROWING ROSES BY THE LARV.i OF A FOUR-WIN'GED INSECT OP
THE ANCIENT GENUS TENTHREDO, BY DR MERAT.

By Dr. Merat.

The malady of rose-trees which I am about to make known has been nowhere
described. Scarcely any traces of it can be found in authors, although known, by
its ravages, to professed gardeners and some Rose amateurs. That which I am
now about to publish is the result of five years' observation made in my own
garden.

In the month of April, if the temperature .should happen to reach twelve or
fifteen degrees of Reaumur, insects which are supposed to be flies, hover around
the rose-trees then just beginning to sprout. They alight on the growing leaves,
make an opening at the arm-pit of one of them by the use of a kind of saw
(whence the name of sav;-Jly), Avhich the female thrusts from the extremity of her
abdomen, and deposits in it an egg, or more probably a living worm (the manner
of the carnivorous fly). As soon as this is done, this larva, almost imperceptible
at first, is seen to excavate a hole and making lodgment in it. to extend a small
passage, in a downward direction, into the stem of the future Rose, which passage
it enlarges in length and size, and then makes its egress through another opening,
which it makes in the lower part of the passage.

The appearance of the saw-fly does not occur at the same time every year. It
always coincides with the first budding of the rose-tree. It is evident, that if ic
should occur before that time, the fl)'^ would perish for want of food, and without
leaving ofispring, an accident contrary to the economy of nature. If the develop-
ment of the rose-trees were too far advanced, the insect, which is very weak, could
not penetrate the sprouts, on accotmt of their having become too hard, and it
could not, therefore, leave offspring.

I note here the date of the appearance of these insects in five different years :
In 1840, it happened on the 5th day of May; in 1841, the 25th of April; in 1842,
the 15th of April; in 1843, the 3d of April. Respecting this last and very early

DISEASES OF THE ROSE. 205

appearance, I should state, that it had been like summer weather for 15 days,
which was probably the cause of the difference. In 1844, it was on the 20th of
April.

The insect makes its puncture at the arm-pit of the leaves or bracts, growing
on the sprouts which bear the flower. This support or stalk is more juicy and
larger than that which bears leaves alone — and is thus preferred by the insect,
although the leaf stalk is by no means exempted. Thence it digs a passage,
uses the tender pulp for its food, in the same way with many other insects.

This false caterpillar, as naturalists term it (they regarding as the true those
alone which become butterflies, having five or six eyes on each side of the head,
etc.), grows in length for about 12 or 15 days. Imperceptible at first, it finally
attains from three to six lines in length, by a-half line or more in thickness. It
eventually assumes the green color of the leaves of the rose-bush, and forms one
of those natural harmonies so eloquently described by Bernardin de Saint Pierre.
Its body is smooth, nearly transparent, cylindrical ; its head is globular and shin-
ing, with an eye on each side, resembling a little spot ; its mouth, crosswise, red-
dish, and more deeply colored at the corners. The under side of the body presents
six fore-feet, and next to these nine wrinkles provided each with two nipples,
which appear to be additional or hind-feet. If this animal is viewed in an Artifi-
cial light, its-great intestine is. seen, the whole length of the body, like a colored
line. Two worms sometimes get into the same passage of the stem. This hap-
pens when two saw-flies have attacked the support at different points, and meet
in the same passage. They become poor and soon die ; but it is a rare occm'rence.
At other times, the larva perishes when there is but one, on account of its inability
to escape from the passage, by reason of the toughness of the plant, or the thick-
ness the wood has attained since its entrance. This may, perhaps, be one cause
of the decay of rose-plants. The ordinary duration of its stay is from 12 to 15
days. In that time it lives protected from the heat of the sun, or from the cold,
very much at ease in a pliable asylum, whose tender pulp serves it for food.

This passage is from eighteen lines to two inches long. Its inside is smooth
and moulded, as it were, upon the form of the false caterpillar, in such a manner
that it cannot turn round in it. Upon pressing the peduncles between the fingers,
it will be perceived that they are fistular, and that their volume is, in fact, much
greater than those which do not shelter these destructive insects.

The larva carries away the remaining excrement by means of the entrance-
opening, to which it ascends backward, as it cannot turn round in the gallery.
It consists of small, slightly curved cylinders. The insect lays it in a little heap,
reddish, at first, but afterward nearly blackish, which is perceptible to the naked
eye, and reveals to the somewhat careful observer this enemy of the most beauti-
ful blossoms. As it increases in size, the last excrements force out the old, and
thus the little heap becomes visible, as just stated.

The hole by which the worms escape, is in proportion to their size. It is
usually at the lower part of the passage ; but is sometimes found higher up, and
sometimes even midway, probably because the animal found the stem thicker,
harder and more firm at the bottom, than at the place it finally selected for that
purpose. This hole is evidence of its dislodgment, or at least that there are not
two inside, as sometimes happens ; sometimes the passage is very short, because
the animal was so poor that it could not dig farther.

It makes egress, as I have described, from the passage where it was nourished
and grew j but, with a single exception, I have never yet been able to catch it in

18

206 DISEASES OF THE ROSE.

the act, because it doubtless does it in the night. On that occasion it lets itseli
slide to the earth upon a thread it had secreted for the purpose ; unfortunately, 1
caught it, and put it under a glass with soine rose-tree leaves, an undoubted mis-
take— since, having attained its full growth, it would no longer eat, and utterly
refused the leaves. It should have been permitted to fall entirely to the ground,
where it would probably have enveloped itself in a casing of soft network, or a
shell, as it did under the glass, and have been changed into a nymph or chrysalis
to come forth a perfect insect the next spring.

It is an experiment I recommend to amateurs, and one which requires great
care. It is the only means in our power of ascertaining the veritable insect which
produces the larva so destructive to roses.

In my first work, I attributed this larva to a four-winged insect of the genus
Tcnlhredo, and named it Tenthredo excavator, thinking it new. I have since
ascertained — 1st, not only that it was not a new species, but moreover also, that
it is doubtful whether it is the parent of this larva — 2d, that this red-fly, as the
gardeners call it (and under this name they contbund many different species), is
the Tenthredo Rosa of Panzius' — 3d, that it is not by digging in the peduncles
that it injures the Rose, but by boring the Rose when its bud is large, and thus
destroying the top of the blossom, which withers, and is partially ruined while its
peduncle yet remains firm — since it destroys the Rose alone, which it pierces, and
sometimes only the upper part of that. Upon opening these altered blossoms,
worms are found larger than those which pierce the peduncles, and which are the
offspring of the eggs deposited there. Generally the larva of the saw-fly is of too
large a size by far, to allow of the supposition that it is the same insect, as is
evident from the figures of each given by Reaumur.

As I am not mathematically certain upon this subject, 1 recommend the study
of the habits of the saw-fly, of which I have given a description in another place,
in order that it may be recognized. I will hereafter describe the white-footed
Tenthredo, supposed with more reason to be the parent of the larva, which exca-
vates the stem that bears the Rose.

The red-fly of the gardeners, the Tenthredo Rosa of Panzius, and the HyloUrma
RoscB of Fabricius, is a four-winged insect, whose generic characters are, a single
radiated cellule and four cubitals at each upper or superior wing, and antennae

1 More than sixty species of the ancient genus Tenthredo live at the expense of dif-
ferent parts of the rose-tree, the leaves, blossoms, fruit, bark, etc. But the larvae of
the saw-fly, whose ravages I have described, cause more than three-fourths of the
depredations, and it. is therefore important to distinguish them.

Reaumur speaks in his memoires, of a false caterpillar (tome v. p. 98,) which inocu-
lates the rose-tree, and gives a drawing of its larvae (pi. x.), also of the altered branches
(same pi. f. 1 & 2). It is not thus the ravages of my insect show themselves; it is
probable, as Saint-Fargeau thinks, that it is a different insect.

Reaumur {mem. v. 102) speaks also of a false caterpillar which he calls Chenille
bizarre, on account of its raising the end of its tail like a serpent. It eats the leaves of
the rose-tree in June, July and August. He gives a drawing of this larva (pi. xiv. fig.
1, 2, 3,) and the fly or tenthredine which gives it birth, (same pi. fig. 10.) They are
seen in great numbers in the spring, especially in moist seasons. The rose-trees in
free soil are sometimes stripped of all their leaves, of which there remains only a sieve,
by this larva, which is rarely alone on a leaf, and eats its sides and upper part.

Another larva, also distinguished by the same naturalist (pi. xii. f 20, 21), eats the
lower part of the leaf It is much smaller. Here are then four saw-flies, the two of
which I have here spoken and the two mentioned in the text, whose larvae commit
most havoc on rose-trees. The first, however, injure only the leaves.

The worms found in fruit and vegetables are almost always larvae of the tenthre-
dines.

DISEASES OF THE ROSE. 207

somewhat resembling a club. The greater part of its body is red, except the
head, the upper part of the thorax, the marginal point of the upper wings, and
the circles of the tarses, which are all black. It is from three and a-half to four
lines long, by one in thickness. The antennse are covered, united, but not articu-
lated. Those of the male are fine hair : their wings are transparent, thin as the
peel of an onion, and reticulated by close lines ; there are two wings near the
head, called the superior — and two farther removed, called the inferior. The head
is quadrilateral and long, the eyes long and whitish, and the abdomen seems to
confound itself with the thorax, whose shell, black, cordiform and swelling, ter-
minates with a yellow color. This abdomen has nine distinct rings, is some-
what compressed downward ; the posterior extremity is obtuse, slit longitudinally
for the protrusion of the saw in females, crosswise and open in males.

This insect flies with difficulty, and is easily caught with the fingers upon the
full-siaed leaves of the rose-bush, where it lies all day, from May to August. Its
appearance is, at least, fifteen days later than that of the white-footed fly. But it
is less numerous toward the end of the season, when isolated individuals alone
are seen.

The white-footed fly comes into the ancient genus Tenthredo of authors, and
of Saint-Fargeau particularly, and also the genus Selandria of the moderns. Its
abundance at the time the rose-trees are attacked, and the cessation of the malady
upon its disappearance, give reason to suppose, with a degree of probability, that
they are the cause of it. This genus is characterized by two radiated cellules and
four cubitals, unequal at the superior wings, antennae articulated and small at the
end. It is black all over, except the feet, which are pale white. It is one and
a fourth line long, and a-fourth in thickness. Its antennas have nine joints, and
are somewhat small at the end. The wings are transparent, very thin, with
dusky nervures, and completely folded on each other, when it becomes cold by a
change of temperature. Cold does not always injure them. On*the seventeenth
day of April, 1842, the temperature was at two degrees of Reaumur, and yet I
took a small worm out of the arm-pit of the leaves of one of my rose-trees. The
superior wings are nearer to the head, which is quadrilateral, with a large eye
on each side. The abdomen of the females is terminated by a point or sort of
saw, while that of the males is obtuse. They have a small white shell on the
shoulders, at the insertion of the antennae. The feet are whitish, excepting in
some individual the moiety of the thigh nearest the abdomen, which is black, and
appears to constitute a variety of this insect. In this species, as in the red-fly,
females are but one-tenth the size of the males, and the white-footed are twenty
times more numerous, and one-half less than the red species. It is born in April,
as I have before stated, and ceases to show itself about a month after. This fly,
which is perfectly smooth, does not appear to hatch after this period. At least, I
have not observed it later, while I have seen the red-fly most of the year.

In the cool of the morning, and in particular localities, the white-footed-fly is
seen to form whirlings around rose-trees. Its smallncss and agility make it
difficult to catch, otherwise than with a net.

I have sometimes found them dead, in the arm-pits of the leaves, probably
after they had laid their eggs.

M. Geserin Menneville, to whom I sent this white-footed-fly, thinks it a new
species, distinct from the Selandria allApes (or Tenthredo morio), and the Selandria
pailescens of Gmclin. He wishes to call it Selandria Meratii ; but I prefer to give
the name of Excavator, as in my first notice, and to term it the Selandria Excava^

208 DISEASES OF THE ROSE.

iw, a designation which gives a perfect idea of the manner in which the saw-fly
destroys roses.

Whatsoever may be the species of saw-fly which gives birth to the Excavating
worm, a point on which there is not yet sufficient knowledge to pronounce with
certainty, its ravages are prodigious, and now well known.

As gardens are more exposed to the sim, more airy, less shaded, the rose-trees
are less injured by this larva. At Paris, most of those pertaining to particular
mansions are very much troubled, and mine among the number. Among those
connected with the monuments of the capitol, " Le Jardin des Plantes" is most
noted for its damages — next after it, the " Luxembourg" and the " Palais Royal."
The " Tuilleries" suflers least. In these large establishments, not much, if any
attention, is bestowed on it, so trifling comparatively is the injury.

Our false caterpillar attacks the four-season rose-tree more particularly ; the
Centifolia, whose sprouts are large and tender ; the Pompon, etc. : the later roses,
as the Provence, the Frankfort, etc., are less subject to it. Those grafted on high
trunks, especially the Bengals, so abundant in the gardens at this day, resist this
injury better, on account, either of the greater solidity of their tissue, or their
sprouting later in the season. The moss-rose, and the thorny or pimpernel rose,
are rarely molested ; because the fly cannot easil}' find footing to introduce her
saw. It is the same with rose-trees well provided with vine-fretters, although
the shrub does not gain much by it, for these small animals destroy, in their way,
the roses on the peduncle, by heaping themselves upon them.

As this larva is not seen much over a month, the remontant or perpetual roses
are found not to be injured by it at all. Thus the monthly, or four-season rose
sprouts the second time, while the centifolia not blooming again, does not possess
the same advantage.

The damage consists, as I have already stated, in the destruction of the centre
of the young sjffouts of the rose-tree, thus depriving them of the organs necessary
to their growth. The ravages of this enemy cause the sprouts to" wilt and droop
towards the earth, and its presence can be thus detected. I have sometimes seen
the whole rose-tree thus aflected. More than three-fourths of the sprouts of those
in the free soil of my garden have been destroyed in this way within foui- years,
and all the means used were ineffectual to keep the insects away.

I used various methods in succession, with the hope of finding a remedy for this
disaster. I endeavored to destroy the nymphs or chrysales, before their hatching,
thus : 1st, I scraped, rubbed: brushed, washed, etc., the trunks of my shrubs, believ-
ing, as some authors also do, that the saw-fl}"^ deposits its eggs in the wrinkles or
crevices of the bark, as it is the nature of some tenthreds, and all in vain ; in fact,
all my examinations with a magnifying glass have not enabled me to discover a
single egg on the bark of my rose-trees : 2d, I have cut ofi" at the surface of the
ground in the latter part of the season, these same trunks, with the same idea ;
and these animal devastators have yet excavated the peduncles of my roses : 3d,
I have ploughed, dug, and turned up the earth at the foot of my rose-trees before
the hatching of the nymphs of the saw-fly, in the hope that they would be laid
there when the worm should let herself down upon the ground, and be killed by
this overturning process, but without efiect : 4th, I have placed at the foot of rose-
trees: animal carbon, a bitter substance, composed of pungent and stinging mate-
rials, without any favorable result.

All these attempts at destruction are entirely useless, when the fly has hatched
and deposited her larva in the young sprouts. We should then seek to destroy

DISEASES OF THE ROSE. 209

this larva. As soon as it is perceived in April, that the temperature has pjissed
beyond 12 to 15 degrees, and that the rose-trees put forth sprouts, they should be
examined with care. Persons having good eyes, or by using a magnifying glass,
can see the small punctures made in the arm-pits of the leaves, by the saw of the
fl}', and if they are sufficiently fortunate to perceive the small worm, he can be
taken out with a fine long needle, or simply with a pin. Sometimes it is not
discovered until some little time after it has commenced digging. It is not then too
late to extract it by the same process. I have also fitted a handle to a long needle,
for facilitating the extraction of the worm at the period of its birth. Its appear-
ance is most usually indicated by the small heap of red dust at the mouth of the
opening at which it entered. The point of the needle may then be thiust through
the hollowed peduncle, without injury, especially if the needle be very fine, and
the ravage far advanced. It is sufficient to crush the animal by pressing the
peduncle between the fingers; but carefully, lest the branch should be destroyed
at the same time. The slightest touch destroys this feeble worm. But if the
branch be already considerably injured, which may be known by its drooping,
there is, then, no longer, any remedy. The branch must be cut ofi", particularly
if the animal is yet in it, which is indicated by the absence of the hole for egress.
It has, in most cases, already escaped when the havoc has advanced to that
extent. The peduncles of rose-trees may be hardened by piercing them with a
needle, before the worm penetrates them. A cicatrice growing there prevents the
digging of this troublesome guest, and stays its destructive course.

Notwithstanding the inefficiency of the means in our possession to accomplish
it, every attempt .should be used to destroy this insect in its perfect state. The
most simple consists in pursuing it closely with a net. A hundred an hour may
be caught by exercising a little perseverance in the pursuit. I imagined I might
keep the saw-fly from the rose-tree by covering the top with gauze. In spite of
all my precautions, some few, at least, would succeed in obtaining entrance ;
perhaps I was too late, although I usually did it before the development of the
sprouts, ^t other times, if I were so fortunate as to protect them from the saw-
fly, I desn-oyed my rose-trees by depriving them of air. For one can scarcely
conceive how effectually .so thin a net prevents its approach, or, at least, its circu-
lation, as may be seen by the change of the leaves as they unfold. Moreover,
other larvae, the false caterpillar particularly, retreat, in great numbers, into the
parts which contain them. Another difficulty is, that this experiment can be made
only on tree roses, which have trunks. For the others always having a great
quantity of branches, render their complete destruction almost impossible. I will
here state, however, that when I have put gauze around rose-trees which the saw-
fly had already attacked, they have all come out of their passage and escaped
without my being able to seize one, or even to discover where the)- made their exit.

For the same purpose (protecting rose-trees from the saw-fly), I have covered
the j'oung sprouts with oil by means of a small brush. I had there another result.
There were no larvse, but I had destroyed the vegetation of my rose-trees. I .
ought, however, to confess that I have not persevered in this kind of experiments.
The liquid should be repeatedly tried and varied. For one may possibly be dis-
covered which will not injure the vegetation, at the same time that it will expel
the insects. Ver\- odorous liquids may have such a property. Pure water does
not seem to disturb them. I have seen rose-trees utterly destroyed in spite of an
almost continual rain. Perhaps they had been punctured before it commenced.

The best and most certain preservative of rose-trees, as I have already shown,

18*

210 DISEASES OP THE ROSE.

is plenty of air, free access of sunshine to them, absence of moisture; and, if
possible, the entire removal of overhanging trees, walls, etc. The influence of
these atmospherical agents hardens the texture of the shrubs, and thus renders
them impenetrable to these insects. In addition to this, their indolence and
tenderness makes them prefer the -shade for laying eggs, which seems never to be
done but in darkness.

On terminating this little work, I propose to leave the solution of several points
to those who shall continue it :

1st. What is precisely the species of the saw-fly, whose larva commits the
havoc I have described 1

2d. Is that the true white-fooled saw-fly , which I have designated by that name.

3d. What transformation does this larva undergo, after it leaves the passage
which it has dug 1

4th. Does it belong to the species of the Sclandria Excavator!

5th. Where does it await the period of its transformation into a perfect msect^

We have enumerated but a very small part of the numerous
insects which infest the rose, and in the absence of correct infor-
mation on this important branch of floriculture, it is much to be
hoped that farther investigations will be made by men of leisure.
As an instance of the great variety of these insects, a French
writer remarks, that " he found in less than an hour, on the leaves
of two species only of the Rose, six kinds of small caterpillars, all
differing from each other in the number of their feet, the color of
their head and body, and the lines and points with which they were
marked. Their habits were all apparently the same. They
lived between two or three folds, which they had secured in
shape by the films of their silk. Thus enveloped and pro-
tected, they eat the leaf until it is wholly or at least partly con-
sumed. They then endeavor to establish themselves on another
leaf, in which also they enwrap themselves and consume it in
the same manner. The plants attacked by these caterpillars are
known by their ruffled leaves, partly eaten and more or less cov-
ered with silk." The writer does not give their name, nor the
result of any experiments for their destruction ; he merely men-
tions it, as an instance of the great abundance of insects on ahnost
every plant. Such being the case, there is abundant room for
farther observation and research.

CLASSIPICATION.

CHAPTER XV

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

HE Rose is a shrub or dwarf tree, with
mostly deciduous foUage, and large, beautiful
and fragrant flowers. Its branches are slen-
der, almost always armed with thorns, thinly
furnished with leaves, and* usually alternat-
ing on the parent stem. Its leaves are
usually pinnate, and varying in color and
character, from the rich, dark green and somewhat rough leaf of
La Reine, to the glossy smoothness and rich purple edge of
Chromatella. The blossoms are variously arranged at the ex-
tremity of the newly-foimed branches. The calyx is single and
tubular, swelling at its lower part, contracted at its opening, and
divided at the edge into five lance-pointed divisions, whole or
pinnatified. The corolla or flower is inserted at the mouth of the
tube of the calyx, and is composed of five heart-shaped petals,
which constitute the Rose in its single or natural state. The
double blossoms are formed by the change of the stamens and
pistils, into petals or flower leaves, shorter than those of the
corolla. The fruit or seed vessel or hep, is formed by the tube of
the calyx, which becomes a sort of plump, juicy berry, globular

212 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

or oviform, having but one cell, and containing numerous small
seeds which are oval or globular, and surrounded with a soft
down. The wood is very hard and compact, and of fine grain ;
and if it could be procured of sufficient size, would serve as a
substitute for box in many kinds of manufacture. Its longevity
is, perhaps, greater than that of any other shrub. We recol-
lect seeing a rose-tree near an old castle in Stoke Newington,
England, the stem of which was of immense size, and indicated
great age. " There is a rose-bush flourishing at the residence of
A. Murray Mcllvaine, near Bristol (Penn.), known to be more
than a hundred years old. In the year 1742, there was a kitchen
built, which encroached on the corner of the garden, and the
masons laid the corner-stone with great care, saying " it was a
pity to destroy so pretty a bush." Since then it has never failed
to produce a profusion of roses, shedding around the most deli-
cious of all perfumes. Sometimas it has climbed for years over
the second-story windows, and then declined by degrees to the
ordinary height. The fifth generation is now regaled with its
sweets."

The number of species known to the ancients, was small, com-
pared with the number now recognized by botanists. Pliny, with
whom we find the most detail on this point, says, that the most
esteemed were those of Prseneste and Peestum, which were perhaps
identical ; those of Campania and Malta, of a briglit red color,
and having but twelve petals ; the white roses of Heraclea, in
Greece, and those of Alabande, which seem to be identical with
R. centifolia. According to the Roman naturalist and to Theo-
phrastus, they grew naturally on Mount Panga, and produced
there very small flowers; yet the inhabitants of Philippi went
there to obtain them, and the bushes on being transplanted, pro-
duced much improved and beautiful roses. Pliny speaks also of
some other species, one whose flowers were single, another which
he terms spinola, and also that of Carthage, which bloomed in
winter. Unfortunately, all that we find in his works on this
subject IS, generally, very obscure, and it is difficult to compare
many he has described with those known at the present day.

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 213

Although there are no double wild roses known at the present
day, either in Europe or in this country, yet as other flowers
have been found double in a wild state, it is not impossible that
some of the ancient varieties bore double flowers in their native
condition in the fields. Such may have been the Cetitifolias,
mentioned by Pliny and Theophrastus, as growing upon Mount
Panga, and those which at a still earlier period, according to
Herodotus, grew wild in Macedonia, near the ancient gardens of
Midas.

The poverty in description which we have observed in ancient
writings, and their comparatively small number of species, extends
also to a much later day. In a little treatise published in France
in 1536, a»nd entitled De re Hortensis Libelliis, there are but four
species mentioned, and scarcely anything concerning their cul-
ture. An Italian work published in 1563, mentions only eight
species. In the FlorilegiuTn of Sweet, a folio volume printed at
Frankfort in 1612, are ten very coarse representations of roses,
but with no indication of their names.

In the Paradisus Terresti'is of Parkinson, a folio volume
printed at London in 1629, some twenty-four species are men-
tioned. Some of them are represented by figures in wood, which
are very coarse, and scarcely allow recognition of their species.
In the Jardinier HoUa?idois, printed at Amsterdam in 1 669, are
found but 14 species of roses, very vaguely described, with
scarcely anything on culture.

The first work which treated of roses with any degree of
method, is that of La Q,uintyne, published at Paris in 1690, and
yet its details of the different species and varieties do not occupy
more than a page and a half, while twenty-one pages are given
to the culture of tulips and fifty to pinks. While he describes
225 varie'ies of pinks and 413 tulips, he mentions only 14
species and varieties of roses. For a century subsequent to the
publication of La duintyne's work, the Rose is very little men-
tioned, either in English or French works, and there is nothing
to indicate the existence at that time of many species, two or
three only being required for medicine and perfumery. Some of

214 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

the English colleclions, however, numbered during that century-
some 22 distinct species, and a number of varieties. In 1762,
Linnaeus was acquainted with only 14 species. In 1799, Wil-
denow, in his /Species Plantarum, mentioned 39 ; and Persoon, a
little later, reached 45 species ; De Candolle, in his Prodromus,
(fee, pubHshed in 1825, increased the number to 146 ; and Don,
in 1832, make^ 205 species. If to these are added those which
have been within * fifteen years discovered in the Himalaya
mountains, and in other parts of the globe, the number will
be greatly increased.

Many of those enumerated by Don, should not, in truth, be
considered distinct species, and quite a number are nothing more
than varieties. In fact, roses are so liable to pass into each other,
that botanists are now of the opinion that limits between what
are called species do not exist ; a fact which was strongly sus-
pected by Linnaeus, when he said, " Species limitibus difficillime
circumscribuntur, et forte natura non eos posuit."

There is much confusion in the genus Rosa, and in the best
arrangement, there may be many which on close examination,
would scarcely deserve the np.me of species. The best scientific
work on the Rose, is the " Monographia Rosarum," by Dr. Lind-
ley. This author and Loudon, we shall follow entirely in our
botanical classification. The latter enumerates several other
works on the Rose, which are not within our reach.

The Rose is found in almost every part of the northern hemis-
phere, between the 19th and 70th degrees of latitude.

Captain Fremont, in his description of the Prairies some five
hundred miles west of St. Louis, says — " Every where the Rose is
met with, and reminds us of cultivated gardens and civilization.
It is scattered over the prairies in small bouquets, and, when glit-
tering in the dews and waving in the pleasant breeze of the early
morning, is the most beautiful of the prairie flowers."

It is found from the mountains of Mexico to Hudson's Bay,
from the coast of Barbary to Sweden, in Lapland and Siberia,
from Spain to the Indies, China and Kamschatka. " In Asia,
half the species have been found ; of the thirty-nine which it

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 215

produces, eighteen are natives of the Russian dominions and the
countries adjacent. Most of these are very similar to the Euro-
pean portion of the genus, and five are common both to Europe
and Asia. Of the remainder, one, which is, perhaps, a distinct
genus, has been discovered in Persia, fifteen in China, and two
of the latter, with four others, in the north of India, &c.i

We shall not here describe all the species mentioned by Lindley
and Loudon ; but only those possessing some distinct character-
istics. A large part of the species described by these authors
cannot be found in any collection in this country ; and in fact,
very few possess any interest except to the Botanist, for whose
benefit chiefly is this classification.

I. FEROCES. Lindl. Mon., p. 3.

Derivation. From ferox, fierce : in reference to the branches being thickly beset with
prickles.

Sect. Char. Branches clothed with permanent tomentnm. Fruit

naked. The plants contained in this section are a truly natural group ;

they are low shrubs, losing their leaves early in autumn, and are then

remarkable for their hoary branches, bristles, and numerous prickles.

Their fruit is perfectly smooth, which separates them from the next

section, in which the fruit is downy. Sepals usually toothed. {Don's

Mill., 2, p. 565.)

1. i?. PE^ROX Lmor. The fLGrcelj-prickled Rose.

Identification. Lawr. Ros., t. 42; Don's Mill., 2, p. 565.

Synonymes. R. Kamtschatica Red Ros., 1, p. 47. ; R. kamschatica, ferox Ser. in Dec.
Prod., 2, p. 607: R. echinata Dupont.

Spec. Char., <f-c. Prickles all alike in shape, and much crowded. Flowers lar ■ ^, red.
Fruit globose, scarlet. A shnib, a native of Caucasus, growing to the height of o ft. or
4 ft., and flowering in Jidy and August. A singular shrub, and on that account de«^-y-
ing a place in collections.

&. R. (f.) kamtscha'tica Vent. The Kamtschatka Rose.

Identification. Vent. Cels., t. 67 ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 565.

Spec. Char., (^c. Prickles infra-Stipular, falcate, large. Leaves opaque. Flowers
solitary, deep red. Fruit spherical, scarlet, less than that of R. fSrox. {Don's Mill.,
2, p. 565.) Native of Kamtschatka, in dry rocky places , growing to the height of 3 ft.
or 4 ft., and flowering in June and July. .

II. BRACTEATJ3.

Sect. Char. Branches and fruit clothed with permanent tomentum.
This section is readily distinguished from the last by the woolliness of
the fruit. Leaves dense, usually shining, and prickles placed under the
stipules in pairs. Sepals simple, or nearly so. {Don's Mill., 2, p. 565.)

1 Monographia Rosarum, xxix.

216 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

3. R. BRACTEA^TA Weudl. The /(zro-g-bracted Rose.

Identification. Wendl. Obs., 50 ; Hort. Herrenhaus., fasc. 4, p. 7, t. 22 : Red. Ros.,
1, p. 35., ic. ; Lindl. Ros. Mon., p. 10: Dec. Prod., 2, p. 602; Don's Mill, 2, p. 565.

Si/nonyme. Lord Macartney's Rose.

Spec. Char., <^c. Evergreen. Branches upright, tomentose. Prickles stout,
recurved, in many instances in pairs. Leaflets 5 — 9, obovate, subserrate, coriace-
ous, glossy, glabrous. Stipules scarcely attached to the petiole, bristle-shaped,
but fringed. Flowers solitary, terminal, white, large. Peduncles and calyxes
tomentose. Fruit globose, large, orange-red. (Dec. Prod., 2, p. 602.) Flowers
showy, pure white, solitary, nearly sessile. Fruit spherical, orange-red. Native
of China ; growing to the height of 5 ft. or 6 ft., and flowering from June to Octo-
ber. A very ornamental shrub, evergreen, with large white flowers, and numerous
bright yellow stamens and styles. It flowers abundantly, but is rather tender.
It succeeds best when trained against a wall.

4. R. (e.) micropht'lla Roxb. The small-leafleted Rose.

Identification. Roxb. Fl. Ind. ined., according to Lindl. Rosar. Monog., p. 9, 145,
146 ; Dec. Prod. 2, p. 602 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 565.

Synonyme. Hoi-tong-hong, Chinese.

Spec. Char., t^c. <Btem almost without prickles. Leaflets glossy, sharply ser-
rated, veiny beneath, with densely netted, anastomosing veins. Stipules very
narrow, unequal. Flowers double, of a delicate rose-color. C^yx densely in-
vested with prickles. Sepals short, broadly ovate, echinate, ending in a point.
Prickles having at the base two longitudinal furrows. (Dec. Prod., 2, p. 602.)
Flowers very large, double, and of a delicate blush color. Native of China ;
growing to the height of 2 ft. or 3 ft., and flowering from August to October.

5. R. (b.) involugraVa Roxb. The invo\ncTei-cpr7/mbed Rose.

Identification. Roxb. Fl. Ind. ined., according to Lindl.- Rosar. Monog., p. 8; Dec.
Prod., 2, p. 602; Don's Mill., 2, p. 505.

Synonymcs. R. Lindley^na Tratt. Ros. 2, p. 190; R. paliistris Buchan. {Ham.)
MSS., according to Lindl. Rosar. Monog., p. 8.

Spec. Char., <|"c. Shoots long, tender. Branches pale brown, tomentose, scarcely
prickly. Leaflets 3 — 9, elliptical-lanceolate, tomentose beneath. Stipules hardly at-
tached to the petiole, bristle-like-fringcd. Flowers terminal, mostly solitary, white.
Peduncles and calyxes tomentose. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 602.) Seringe seems to consider
this as a variety ot R. bracteata. It is a native of Nepal and China, with white flowers
in corymbs, surrounded by three or four approximate leaves; grows to the height of
3 ft. or 4 ft. ; and flowers in June and July. Plants of this kind, which is very distinct
both in its foliage and its flowers, are rare in collections. Being somewhat tender, it is
greatly improved in growth by the protection of a wall, on which it makes a fine ap-
pearance.

III. CINNAMOMEJE. Lindl. Ros., p. 13..

l^ect. Char. Plants setigerous or unarmed, bracteate. Leaflets
lanceolate glandless. Disk thin, never thickened. This section is
distinguished by its long lanceolate leaflets, without glands, upright
shoots, and compact habit. Red flowers, never solitary, except by
abortion, and always supported by bracteas. Round, small, red fruit
(soon losing its long narrow sepals), and with small, smooth, shining
carpels. The shoots are usually setigerous next the ground ; but rarely
so towards the apex, except in one or two instances. R. alpina and
R. acicularis, of the following division, sometimes have bracteas ; but
their sepals never fall ofi" till the fruit is decayed. Sepals simple,
entire, or nearly so, unless when mentioned otherwise. (Don's Mill., 2,
p. 565.)

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 217

6. R. LU^ciDA Ehrli^ The shm'mg-lcavcd Rose.

Identification. Ehrh. Beitr., 4, p. 22 ; Red. and Thor. Ros., 1, p. 45, ic. ; Lindl. Rosar.
Monog., p. 17 ; Jacq. Fragm., t. 107, f. 3 ; Dec. Prod., 2, p. C02 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 565.

Synonymcs. R. nibra lucida Rossig. Ros., t. 7, and t. 25, f. 1 ; /?. lucida Jacq. Fragm.,
71 ; Rose Turncps ; Rosier a Feuilles de Frene, Fr.

Spec. Char.. <f-c. Prickles recurved, or none. Leaflets 5 — 9, lanceolate-ellip-
tical, coriaceous, bluntly serrated, gloss3^ Stipules dilated, large, finely serrated,
and extended as far as to the leaflets. Peduncles somewhat hispid. Flowers red,
and opening late in the season. Sepals almost entire, appendicled, .spreading.
Fruit oblately globose, a little hispid or glabrous, scarlet. (Dec. Prod., 2, p. 602.)
Flowers red, overtopped by the leaves and young branches. Fruit bright red.
A native of North America, from New York to Carolina ; near Boston, in
bogs, and on the edges of marshes, and in Newfoundland. Growing from the
height of 4 ft. to 6 ft., and flowering from June to August. A handsome species,
on account of its shining foliage, and one which is very hardy ; but the flowers
have a very disagreeable smell.

7. R. (l.) ni'tida W. The glossy-kaved Rose,

Identification. Willd. Enum., 544: Lindl. Rosar. Monog., p. 13; Dec. Prod., 2,
p. 603; Don's Mill. 2, p. 565.

Si/nonymes. R. Redutea rufescens Thory in Red. Ros., 1. p. 103, ic. ; the dwarf
Labrador Rose.

Spec. Char., d^c. Dwarf and reddish in aspect. Stem and branches almost covered
with slender, rather equal prickles. Leaflets 5 — 9, rather rigid, lanceolate, glossy.
Stipules large, finely serrated, extending as far as to the leaflets. Flowers red. Pedun-
cle bristly. Sepals spreading. Fruit bristly, shining and scarlet. (Dec. Prod., 2, p.
603.) A shrub, a native of Newfoundland, beset with straight red spines. Flowers
'deep red. Fruit depressed, spherical, bright scarlet; growing to the height of 2 ft., and
flowering from June to August. Thi.s is an interesting plant, from its dwarf stature,
its abundant reddish prickles, its glossy loaves, its flowers, and its fruit. Seringe seems
to think it a variety of R. lucida. The R. nitida, which forms No. 36. in Lodd. Cat.,
ed. 1836, is a variety ol R. ferox.

8. R. (l.) TJaVa Base. The Tuini^-fruited Rose.

Identification. Bosc. Diet. d'Agric, according to Poir. Suppl., 4, p. 710; Lindl.
Rosar. Monog., p. 15 ; Red. and Thor. Roj , 2, p. 7, ic. ; Dec. Prod., 2, p. 602: Don's
Mill., 2, p. 565.

Synonymes. R. tiirgida Pers. Ench., 2, p. 49 ; R. ^axinifolia Dumoni in Cours. Bot.
Cult.

Spec. Char., (^c. Taller than R. liicida, and spreading. Branches without
prickles. Leaflets oblong, imdulate, shining. Fruit hemispherical. Closely
allied to R. lucida, of which it is very likely a variety. {Dec. Prod., 2, p. 602.)
Petals always multiplied, smaller than those of R. lucida ; bright red. Fruit
deep red. Sepals compound. Native of North America, in the warmer States;
growing from 3, ft. to 4 ft. high, and flowering from June to August. This is
onlv known in its double-flowered state in British gardens. It is a freely growing,
hardy plant, with large double flowers, and is desirable both in flower-gardens
and shrubberies. It is not of a robust habit, but forms a bush about 3 ft., or per-
haps more, in height. According to Dr. Lindley, this rose ibrms a taller bush
than R. ICicida, but is of a more straggling habit. It is, he says, " a naked, strag-
gling briar, with scarcely a vestige of prickles on the shoots; its flowers are on
long stalks, the mouth of the fruit is so wide, that the fruit itself is nearly hemis-
pherical ; and the sepals are reflexed." (Ros. Monog., p. 16.)

9. R. Woo'dsii Lindl. Wood's Rose.

Identification. Lindl. Ros., p. 21 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 566.

Synonyme. R liltea nigra Pronv. Nom., p. 24.

Spec. Char. cj"-c. Stipules and sepals connivent. Leaflets oblong, obtuse, glabrous.
{Don's Mill, 2, p. 566.) A low shrub with dull, dark branches. Flowers pink. Fruit
ovate, naked. There is a plant which was gatliered about Cumberland House Fort,
which 3Ir. Borrer takes to be a variety of the present species, having t!ie leaves downy
beneath. A native of North America, near the Missouri, and north of the Saskatcha-

19

218 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

wan, and as far as the Bear Lake ; growing to the height of 2 ft. or 3 ft., and flowering
from March to June.

10. R. FRUTETO^RUM Bess. The Coppice Rose.

Identification. Bess, ex Spreng. Syst. 2, p. 548 ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 565.

Spec. Char., <^'c. Prickles almost stipiilar, strong, reflexed. Petioles unarmed, and,
as well as the under surface of the leaves, villous. Leaflets elliptic. Peduncles very
short, glabroii.". Fruit globose, glabrous. {Dun's Mill., 2, p. 565.) Native of Volhy-
nia ; growing to the height of from 5 ft. to 6 ft., and flowering in June and July.

IL R. CAROLi^NA Lin. The Carolina Rose.

Id&nafication. Lin. Sp., 703 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 566.

Synonymes. R. virginiana Du Roi Harbk., 2, p. 353 : Rossing. Ros., t. 13 : R.
paliistris Marsh. Arbr., 135; R. corymhusa Ehrh. Beitr., A, p. 21; R. pennsylvanica
Mich. Fl. Bor. Ainer., 1, p. 296 ; R. Undsoniana Red. Ros., 1, p. 95. t. 35; R. carolia-
na Bigel. Fl. Bost., 121.

Spec. CJiar., <^c. Stipules convolute. Leaflets lanceolate. Sepals spreading, (Don's
Mill., 2, p. 566.) Branches green, or reddish brown. Cymes 1- or many-flowered.
Flowers crimson. Petals concave or flat, crumpled. Fruit round, scarlet, hispid.
Sometimes the ends of the shoots have no prickles. Native of New England, Virgin-
ia, and Canada as far as the Saskatchawan; growing to the height of from 2 ft. to 8 ft.,
and flowering in June and July. As the name of R. paliistris imports, it grows best in
a marshy soil.

12. R. LindleVi Spreng. Lindley's Carolina Rose.

Identification. Spreng. Syst., 2, p. 647; Don's Blill., 2, p. 565.

Synonymes. R. laxa L/hidl. Ros., 18, t. 3 ; R. Carolina Ait. Hort. Kew., ed 2, vol.
3, p. 260 ; R. carohna jiimpinellifolia Andr. Ros., with a figure.

Spec. Char., <f-c. DifTuse. Branches twiggy, almost unarmed. Leaflets oblong un-
dulated, opaque, glaucescent. A spreading shrub, with reddish-brown branches. Flow-
ers rose-colored, growing usually in pairs. Native of North America. In cultiva-
tion, growing from 3 ft. to 4 ft. high ; and flowering in July and August. '

13. R. PARViFLO^RA Ekr. The small-flowered, or Pennsylvanian, Rose.

Ideniijication. Ehrh. Beitr., 4, p! 21 ; Du Roi Harbk., 2, p. 354 ; Don's Mill., 2,
p. 555.

Synonymes. R. humilis Marsh. Arh., 136 ; R carolinlana Mich. Fl. Bor. Amer.,

1, p. 295 : R. caroli y ei S Ail. Hort. Kew., ed. 2, vol. 3, p. 260 ; Pennsylvanian Rose
Lawr. Ros. t. 3, et t. 66, and of the nurseries.

Spec. Char., cf-c. Dwarf. Stipules linear. Prickles acicular. Leaflets lanceolate,
smoothishj sharply serrated. Calyxes clammy. A very low, weak plant. Flowers
pale blush, usually growing by pairs. It is a native of North America, on the declivi-
ties of hills, in the States of New York and Carolina, where it grows to the height of
2 ft., flowering from June till August.

14. R. pRAxiNiFo^LiA Bork. The Ash-leaved Rose.

Identification. Bork. Holz., 301 ; Ker Bot. Reg., t. 458; Don's Mill , 2, p 566.

Synonymes. R. virginiana Mill. Diet., No. 10 ; R. blanda a Sol. MSS., Jacq. Fragm.,
70, t. 105; R. corymbosa Bosc Diet. d'Agri. ex Desf. Cat. Hort. Par., p. 272 7; R.
alpina /? Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2, vol. 3, p. 265. R. alpina laeVis Red. Ros., 1, p. 57;
Lawr. Ros., t. 75.

Spec. Char., i^c. Tall, unarmed. Branches straight, glaucescent. Leaflets opaque,
undulated, and glabrous. Branches dark purple, with a pale blue bloom. Flowers
small, red, in few-flowered cymes. Fruit naked, small-round or ovate, of a dull, pale
red. A native of Newfoundland, and on the north-west coast of America ; growing to
the height of from 4 ft. to 6 ft., and flowering in May and June.

15. R. ciNNAMo^MEA Besl. The Cinnamon-scented Rose.

Identification. Besl. Hort. Eyst. Vem, Ord., 6, p. 5; Lin. Sp., 703; Don's Mill.,

2, p. 566.

Synonymes. R. fcecundissima Munch. Hausv., 5, p. 279 ; Fl. Dan., t. 1214 ; R.
majalis Herm. Diss., 8.

Spec. Char., d^'c. Tall, cinerous. Branches straight. Prickles stipular, straightish.
Stipules dilated, undulated. Leaflets oblong, obtuse, wrinkled, tomontose beneath.

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 219

Flowers solitary, or 2 — 3 together, pale or bright red. Fruit round, naked, and crimson.
The double-flowered variety is most common in gardens. A native of most parts of Eu-
rope. Growing to the height of 5 ft. or 6 ft., and flowering in May and June. A very
desirable sort, on account of its fragrance, which resembles that of cinnamon. There is a
semi-double variety ; and the single state is supposed to be identical with R. majalis
below.

16. R. maj.^'lis Retz. The May Rose.

Ideniificatlon. Retz. Obs. Bot., 3, p. 33; Don's Mill., 2, p. 566.

St/nomjmes. R. imitica PL Dan., 688; /?. spinoslssima Gorter. Ingr., 78;R.co\-
lincola Ehrh. Beitr., 2, p. 70 ; R. cinnamomea Eng. Bot., 2388.

Spec. Char., (^'c. Dwarf, grey. Branches straight, colored. Priclcles scattered,
nearly equal. .Stipules linear. Leaflets oblong, flat, glaucous, and tonientose beneath.
Flowers usually solitary, pale red. Fruit orange red, spherical, and naked. Native
of Sweden andLapland; and of Britain near Pontefract, in Yorkshire; growing to the
height of from 3 ft. to 4 ft., and flowering in May and June. This is supposed by some
to be the single state of R. dnnamomea.

17. R. DicKsoNiA^NA Lindl. Dickson's Rose.

Identification. Lindl. Hort. Trans., 7, p. 224 ; Syn. Brit. Fl., ed. 2, p. 99 ; Don's
Mill., 2, p. 566.

Spec. Char., (^'c. Branches flexuous, setigerous, armed with a few slender, scattered
prickles. Leaflets folded together, unequal, with coarse double serratures. Stipules,
petioles, and sepals compound. Styles stretched out, glabrous. Flowers white. Na-
tive of Ireland; growing to the height of from 5 ft. to 6 ft., and flowering in June and
July.

18. R. tad'rica Bleb. The Taurian Rose.

Identification. Bieb. Fl. Taur., 1, p. 394 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 566.

Spec. Char., <^c. Tall, cinerous. Prickles scattered, weak. Branches straight, un-
armed toward the apex. Leaflets oblong, wrinkled, villous beneath. Sepals com-
pound. Styles stretched out, glabrous. Habit of /?. cinnamomea. Flowers red. Na-
tive of Tauria, in bushy places; growing to the height of from 5 ft. to 6 ft., and flower-
ing in June and July.

19. R. DAHu^RicA Pall. The Dahurian Rose.

Identification. Pall. Fl. Ros., p. 61 ; Lindl. Ros., p. 32 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 566.

Spec. Char., cf-c. Tall, much branched. Branches slender, colored. Prickles stip-
ular, spreading, a little recurved. Stipules linear. Leaflets oblong, wrinkled, tomen-
tose beneath, deeply serrated. Flowers red. Fruit ovate, red. Native of Dahuria and
Mongol Tartary, in birch woods ; growing to the height of from 4 ft. to 6 ft., and flow-
ering in May and June.

IV. PIMPINELLrlFO lil^. Lindl.

Sect. Char., <^c. Plants bearing crowded, nearly equal, prickles, or
unarmed. Bractless, rarely braoteate. Leaflets ovate or oblong. Se-
pals connivent, permanent. Disk almost wanting. This section is
essentially different from the last in habit, but in artificial characters
they approach very nearly. It, however, may be distinguished by the
greater number of leaflets ; which vary from 7 to 13. and even to 15,
instead of from 5 to 7. The flowers are also universally without
bracteas ; except in the R. alpina, R. Sabini, M. J)omdna, and, per-
haps, R. marginata. These having connivent permanent sepals, can-'
not be confounded with the preceding division ; nor, on account of
their disk, with the following. There is no instance of stipular prickles
in the present tribe. The sepals are entire, or nearly so, unless when
mentioned otherwise.

220 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

20. R. ALPi^NA Lin. The Alpine Rose.

Identification. Lin. Sp., 703 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 567.

Synonymes. R. rupestris Crantz. Austr., 85 ; H. monspeliaca Gouan Monsp., 255 :
R. inerniis Mill. Diet., No. 6 ; R. hy'brida Vill. Dauph., 3, p. 554 ; R. lagenaria Vill.,
1. c. p. 563 ; R. biflora Krok. Fl. Sil., 2, p. 157.

Spec. .Char., (^c. Unarmed. Fruit elongated, pendulous. Peduncles hispid.
Flowers erect, blush-colored, solitary. Fruit orange red, oblong or obovate, with long
sepals, generally pendulous. Native of the Alps of Austria, hills in the south of France,
Silesia, Bohemia, Dauphine, Switzerland, <&c., growing to the height of from 5 ft. to 8
ft., and flowering in June and July.

22. R. ACicuLA^Ris Lindl. The neeAXe-prickled Rose.

Identification. Lindl. Ros., p. 44 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 567.

Synonyme. R. alpina £ aculeata Scr. in Dec. Prod., 2, p. 6U.

Spec. Char., (^'c. Tall. Prickles acicular, unequal. Leaflets glaucous, wrinkled,
rather convex. Fruit rather flask-shaped, drooping. Flowers solitary, pale blush,
fragrant. Fruit obovate, naked, of a yellowish orange color. Native of Siberia; grow-
ing to the height of from 6 ft. to 8 ft., and flowering in May and June.

23. R. lute'scens Pursh. The yellow American Rose.

Identification. Pursh. Fl. Amer. Sept., vol. 2, p. 735 ; Lindl. Ros., p. 47 ; Don's
Mill., 2, p. 568.

Synonyme. R. hispida Curt. Bot. Mag., t. 1570.

Spec. Char., <^c. Prickles of branches crowded, unequal, slender, refle.xed ; of the
branchlets, small and nearly equal. Leaflets flat, glabrous, simply serrated. Flowers
pale yellow. Fruit large, ovate, black. Native of North America and Siberia ; grow-
ing to the height of from 4 ft. to 6 ft., and flowering in May and June. It forms a very
distinct variety, or probable species, and on that account, is weU deserving a place in
botanical collections.

24. R. suLPHU^REA Ait. The s\x\'^\iX!LV-colored-flowered Rose.

Identification. Ait. Hort. Kew., 2, p. 201 ; Lindl. Ros., t. 77 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 568.

Synonymes. R. hem.ispherica Hsrm. Diss., 18; R. glaucophy'lla Ehrh. Beitr., 2, p.
69 ; Rosa liitea flore pleno Rai. Hist., 1475. No. 31 ; R. lutea Brot. FL Lus., 1, p. 337 ;
the double yellow Rose.

Spec. Char., (^c. Stipules linear, divaricate, dilated at the apex. Leaflets
glaucous, flattish. Tube hemispherical. Stem prickles uneqital, scattered. Flow-
ers large, of a fine transparent yellow, always double. Native of the Levant ;
growing to the height of from 4 ft. to 10 ft., and flowering in July. This sort
does not flower freely, except in open airy situations ; and. if trained against a wall,
exposed to the north or east rather than to the south. Its flower buds are apt to
burst on one side before they expand, and consequently to become deformed ; to
prevent this, the blossom buds should be thinned, and care taken that they have
abundance of light and air. Watering it freely in the flowering season is also
found advantageous, and the shoots in general ought not to be shortened. This
beautiful species is said to flower treely, if grafted on the musk cluster at 8 ft. or
10 ft. from the ground; or it will do well on the China rose. It is grown in great
abundance in Italy, where its flowers produce a magnificent efiect, from their large
size, doubleness, and brilliant yellow color. It is one of the oldest inhabitants of
our gardens, though the exact year of its introduction is unknown. "Ludovico
Berthema tells us, in 1503, that "he saw great quantities of yellow roses at Calicut,
whence it appears probable, that both the single and donble-flowered varieties
were brought into Europe by the Turks; as Parkinson tells us, in a work which
he dedicated to Henrietta, the queen of our unfortunate Charles 1., that the double
yellow rose 'was first procured to be brought to England, by Master Nicholas
Lete, a worthy merchant of London, and a great lover of flowers, tiom Constan-
tinople, which (as we liear) was first brought thither from Syria, but perished
quickly both with him, and with all other to whom he imparted it; yet afterward
it was .sent to Master John de Frangueville, a merchant of London, and a great
lover of all rose plants, as well as flowers, from which is sprung the greatest store
that is now flourishing in this kingdom.'"

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 221

25. R. spiNosi'ssiMA L. The most spin)'-, or Scotch, Rose.

Identification. Lin. Fl. Suec, 442 ; Sp., 491 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 568.

Spec. Char., d^c. Prickles unequal. Leaflets flat, glabrous, simply serrated.
A dwarf compact bush, with creeping suckers. Flowers small, solitary, white or
blush-colored. Fruit ovate, or nearly round, black or dark purple. Native of
Europe ; plentiful in Britain. Shrub, I ft. to 2 ft. high ; flowering in May and
Jime.

Varieties. A great many varieties have been raised of this rose, with flowers
double, semi-double, white", purple, red, and even yellow. The fii-st double varie-
ty was found in a wild state, in the neighborhood of Perth.

26. R. hibe'rnica Smith. The Irish Rose.

Identificaiion. Smith in Engl. Bot., 2196 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 569.

Spec. Char., tf-c. Prickles unequal, slightly hooked, smaller ones bristls-formed.
Leaflets ovate, acute, simply serrated, with the ribs hairy beneath. Sepals pinnate.
Fruit nearly globular, smooth, as well as the peduncles. Flowers small, light blush-
colored. Fruit orange-colored. Native of Ireland, in the counties of Derry and Down,
in thickets. A shrub, from 4 ft. to 6 ft. in height, and liowering from June to Novem-
ber.

27. R. oxyaca'ntua Bieb. The sharp-prickled Rose.

Identification. Bieb. Fl. Taur., 3, p. 338 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 569.

Spec. Char., (f^c Stems very prickly. Prickles setaceous, reversed. Petioles prick-
ly and glandular. Leaflets sharply and simply serrated, glabrous. Sepals undivided.
Peduncles clothed with glandular bristles; when in fruit, reflexed. Fruit nearly glo-
bose, glabrous. Flowers red. A native of Siberia. A shrub, from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high,
and flowering in June and July.

28. R. SANGUisoRBiFo^LiA Donii. The Burnet-leaved Rose.

Identification. Donn Hort. Cant., ed. 8, p. 169; Don's Mill., 2, p. 569.

Synonymes. R. spinosissima var. i sanguisorbifolia Lindl. Ros., p. 51; R. spinos.
var. macrophy'Ua Scr. in Dec. Prod., 2, p. 609.

Spec. Char., tf-c. Tall. Prickles nearly equal. Leaflets 9^11, oblong, glabrous,
simply serrated. Fruit globose, depressed, dark. Flowers white. This plant is easily
distinguished from the last, by the greater number of its leaflets, the shortness of its
peduncles, and by its globose depressed fruit. It is a shrub, from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high, and
flowering in May and June.

29. R. GRAVDiFLO^RA Lindl. The large-flowered Rose.

Idmtijimticm. Lindl. Ros., p. 53 ; Bot. Reg., t. 888 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 569.

Synonyme. R. pimpinellifolia Bieb. Fl. Taur., 2, p. 394.

Spec. Char., <^c. Branches without bristles. Prickles nearly equal, distant. Leaf-
lets flat, glabrous, simply serrated. Flowers white. Fruit dark. Native of Siberia;
growing to the height of from 4 ft. to 6 ft. and flowering in May and June. Of this
rose Dr. Lindley remarks, that it differs from R. spinosissima, though scarcely so much
as to render it a distinct species. " However," he says, " it is too remarkable a plant
to escape notice ; and, if it should hereafter be reduced to R. spinosissima, it must
stand as a distinct variety."

30. R. MYRiACANTHA Dcc. Thc myriad-pricklcd Rose.

Ideniifwation. Dec. Fl. Fr., 4, p. 439 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 569.

Synonymes. R. par\'ifolia Pall. Ross., 621; R. provincialis Bieb. Fl. Taur., 1, p.
396 i ; R. spinosissima var. n myriacantha Ser. in Dec. Prod., 2, p. 603.

Spec. Char., (^-c. Prickles unequal, larger on^s dagger-formed. Leaflets glandular,
glabrous, orbicular. Flowers white. Native of Dauphine, and near Montpelier; grow-
ing from 1 ft. to 2 ft. high, and flowering in May and June. According to Dr. Lindley,
this rose forms a diminutive .shrub, with almost simule and erect shoots, resembling, in
many respects, R. spinosissima in a stunted state; though the glands on its leaves ap)-
pear sufficient to prevent the two sorts from being mistaken for each other.

19*

222 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

31. R. involuVa Smith. The \T\vo\uXe-pctcded Rose.

Identification. Smith in Eng. Bot., 2068; Don's Mill., 2, p. 569.

Synonyme. R. nivalis Donn. Hort Cant., ed. 8, p. 170.

Spec. Char., <f-c. Prickles very unequal, and very much crowded. Leaflets doubly
serrated, pubescent. Petals convolute. Fruit prickly. Petals pale red, concave. Na-
tive of the Hebrides, in the Isle of Arran and in Glen Lyon. Shrub, 2 ft. to 3 ft. high,
:ind flowering in June.

33. R. reve'rsa Waldst. et Kit. The rewersed.-'prickled Rose.
Identification. Waldst. et Kit. Hung., 3, p. 293; Don's Mill., 2, p. 569. •
Spec. Char., ipc. Prickles setaceous, nearly equal, reflexed. Leaves doubly serrated,
pubescent. Fruit hispid. Flowers solitary, white, tinged with pink. Fruit ovate,
dark purple. Native of Hungary, on the mountains of Matra, in stony places ; growing
to the height of from 2 ft. to 5 ft., and flowering in June and July.

33. R. Sabi'ni Woods. Sabine's Rose.

Identification. Woods in Lin. Trans., 12, p. 188; Don's Mill., 2, p. 569.

Spec. Char., <^'C. Peduncles, calyx, fruit, and branches bristly. Prickles scattered,
straightish. Leaflets doubly serrated, nearly smooth, with hairy ribs. Sepals pinnate.
Flower stalks rather aggregate. Petals fine red. Fruit ovate, bright scarlet. Native
of Scotland, near Dunkeld; in England, in Cumberland, Northumberland, and York-
shire. 5 ft. to 8 ft. high, and flowering in July.

3i. R. DoNiA^NA Woods. Don's Rose.

Identification. Woods in Lin. Trans., 12, p. IS.j ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 570.

Synonyme. R. »Sabini 8 Ldndl. Ros,, p. 59.

Spec. Char., i^^c. Peduncles bractless, bristly, as well as the globular fruit and calyx.
Stem bristly and prickly like the downy petioles. Leaflets elliptical, doubly and sharp-
ly serrated, hairy on both sides. Petals spreading. Flowers pink, expanded. Seg-
ments of the calyx simple. Native of tiie Highlands of Scotland, particularly on the
mountains of Clova, Angusshire. Shrub, 4 ft. to 5 ft. high and flowering in June and
July. This rose was named m honor of Don of Forfar; and Sir Edward Smith ob-
serves of it: "It is much to be wished, that this rose should afford a permanent
wreath in honor of its discoverer, one of the most indefatigable as well as accurate of
botanists, who loved the science for its own sake, and braved every difficulty in its ser-
vice. He infused the same spirit into his sons [two of whom. Prof Don, and G. Don,
author of Don's Miller, are well known in the botanical world], who are now living evi-
dences of his knowledge, and of his powers of instruction."

V. CENTIFO^L.1^ Lindl.

Derivation. From centum, a hundred, and folium, a leaf; because the species con-
tained in this section agree in character with tlie hundred-leaved rose, which is so ex-
tensively double as to seem to have a hundred petals.

Sect. Char., d^c. Shrubs, all bearing bristles and prickles. Pe-
duncles bracteate. Leaflets oblong or ovate, wrinkled. Disk thicken-
ed, closing the throat. Sepals compound. This division comprises
the portion of the genus i?.osa which has most particularly interested
the lover of flowers. It is probable that the earliest roses of which
there are any records of being cultivated belonged to this section ; but,
to which particular species those of Cyrene or Mount Pangoeus are to
be referred, it is now too late to inquire. The attar of roses, which is-
an important article of commerce, is either obtained from roses belong-
ing to this division indiscriminately, as in the manufactory at Florence,
conducted by a convent of friars ; or from some particular kind, as in
India. It appears, from specimens brought from Chizapore by Colonel
Hardwicke, that II. damascena is there exclusively used for obtaining
the essential oil. The Persians also make use of a sort which Kaemp-

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. ^ 223

fer calls K. shirazensis (from its growing about Shiraz), in preference to
others : this may be either R. damascena. or R. gallica, or R. centifolia,
or perhaps R. moschata. The species contained in the present section
are all setigerous, by which they are distinguished from the following
divisions : their thickened disk and divided sepals separate them from
the preceding. To the section of RubigiuosjB the glanduliferous sorts
approach ; but the difference of their glands, the size of their flowers,
and their dissimilar habit, prevent their being confounded.

35. R. DAMASCE^NA Mill. The Damascus, or Damask Rose.

Identification. Mill. Diet., No. 15; Don's Mill., 2, p. 571.

Synomjmcs. R. beigica Mill. Diet., No. 17; 7?. calendarum Munch. Hausv. ex Dark.
Holz. 330, Rossig. Eos., t. 8, and t. 33; R. bifera Poir. Suppl. 6, p. 276, Red, Ros. 1, p.
107 and p. 121 ; Rose a quatre Saisons.

Spec. Char., i^'c. Prickles unequal, large ones falcate. Sepals reflexed. Fruit
elongated. Native of Syria. Flowers large, white or red, single or double. The
present species may be distinguished from R. centifolia by the greater size of the
prickles, the greenness of the bark, the elongated I'ruit, and the long reflexed se-
pals. The petals of this species, and all the varieties of R. centifolia, as well as
those of other species, are employed indiscriminately for the purpose of making
rose-water. A shrub growing from 2 ft. to 8 ft. high, and flowering in June and
July. This species is extremely beautiful, from the size and brilliant color of its
flowers. It is asserted by some writers to have been brought from Damascus in
Syria at the time of the crusades, but there is every probability that it came from
Italy, since it is the same as the bifera or the twice-bearing rose of the ancient
Roman gardeners, and is the original type of our Remontant Roses. The Roman
gardeners could have produced a certain autumnal bloom only by a sort of re-
tarding process similar to that mentioned in our chapter on culture, for although
the Damask Rose will, under peculiar circumstances, bloom in autumn of its
own accord, yet it cannot always be relied upon to do so. During the early
period of the French monarchy, when none of the Remontant Roses were known
and this species was common, it was considered quite a phenomenon to see them
appear naturally in winter. Gregory of Tours, speaking of the year 584, says,
" This year many prodigies appeared and many calamities afflicted the people, for
roses were seen blooming in January, and a circle was formed around the sun."
And of the year 589 he says, " This year trees blossomed in autumn and bore fruit
the second time, and roses appeared in the ninth month."

R. centifo'lia Lin. The hundred-petaled, Provence, or Cabbage Rose.

Identification. Lin. Sp., 704; Don's Mill., 2, p. 571.

Synonymes. R. provincialis Mill. Diet., No. 18; R. polyanthos Ros.ng. Ros., t. 35;
R. earyophy'llea Poir. Suppl., 6, p. 276; R. unguiculata Desf. Cat., lit; R. varians
Pohl Dohevi., 2, p. 171.

Spec. Char., d^c. Prickles unequal, larger ones falcate. Leaflets ciliated with
glands. Flowers drooping. Calyxes clammy. Fruit oblong. Native of Eastern
Caucasus, in groves. Flowers white or red; single, but most commonly double.
This species is distinguished from R. damascena by the sepals not being reflexed,
and the flowers having their petals curved inwards, so as, in the double state, to
give the flower the appearance of the heart of a cabbage ; whence the name of the
cabbage rose. Its fruit is either oblong or roundish, but never elongated. From
R. gallica it is distinguished by the flowers being drooping, and by the larger size
of the prickles, with a more robust habit. A shrub, growing li'om 3 ft. to 6
ft. high, and flowering in June and July. When this rose becomes unthrifty from
age, it is renewed by cutting off the stems close to the ground as soon as the flow-
ers have fallen ; shoots will then be produced sufficiently vigorous to furnish a
beautiful and abundant bloom the following spring.

Varieties. Above 100 varieties have been assigned to this species, and classed
in three divisions :

R. c. 1 provincialis Mill. ; the Provence, or Cabbage Rose.

224 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

R. c. 2 xauscdsa Mill., the Muss Rose.

R. c. 3 pomponia Dec, (he Pom.punc Rose.

According to Loudon we have made this a variety of the centifolia, although
some authors assert it to have been found growing wild in 1735, by a gardener
of Dijon, in France, who discovered it while cutting wood on a mountain near
that city. Many varieties of it have been obtained, among which the most singu-
lar is the little dwarf given in the New Du Hamel as a distinct species. It does not
grow more than 12 or 15 inches high and frequently perishes before blossoming.

R. c. 4 bipinndta Red. Ros., ii., p. 4, which has bipinnate leaves.

37. R. ga'llica L. The French Rose.

Identification. Lin Sp., 704 ; Dec. Prod., 2, p. 603.

Synonymes. R. centifoha Mill. Diet., No. 41 ; R. sylvatlca Gater. Mont., p. 94;
R. riilira Lam. Fl. F'r. 3, p. 130; R. holosericea Rossig. Ros., t. 18 ; R belgica Brot.
Ft. Lus., 1, p. 333 ; R. blanda Brot., 1, c ; Rose de Provins, Fr. ; Essig Rose, Ger.

Spec. Char., &c. Prickles unequal. Stipules narrow, divaricate at the tip.
Leaflets 5 — 7, coriaceous, rigid, ovate or lanceolate, .deflexed. Flower bud ovate-
globose. Sepals spreading during the time of the flowering. Fruit subglobose,
very coriaceous. Calyx and peduncle more or less hispid with glandcd hairs,
somewhat viscose. A species allied to R. centifolia L., but with round fruit, and
very coriaceous leaflets, witli more numerous nerves, that are a little prominent,
and are anastomosing. Native of middle Europe and Caucasus, in hedges. The
flowers vary from red to crimson, and from single to double ; and there is one va-
riety with the flowers double white. The petals of some of the varieties of this
rose are used in medicine, particularly that called ofRcinal ; which, though not so
fragrant as those of the Dutch hundred-leaved rose, also one of the varieties of this
species, are preferred lor their beautiful color and their pleasant astringency.
The petals ol R. gallica are those which are principally used for making conserve
of roses, and, when dried, for gargles: their odor is increased by drying. They
are also used in common with those of R. centifolia, lor making I'ose-water and
attar of roses. This rose was called by old writers the red rose, and is supposed
to have been the one assumed as the badge of the House of Lancaster. This, al-
so, is one of the roses mentioned by Pliny ; from which, he says, all the others
have been derived. It is often confounded with the Damask rose ; and is the Rosa.
damascena of the druggists' shops.

Variety. The varieties of this species are very numerous. One of the most
distinct is —

R. g. 7 parvifolia Ser. in Dec. Prod., ii., p. 664; /?. parvifolia Ehr. Beitr., vi., p.
97, Ker in Bot. Reg., t. 452, Don's Mill., ii., p. 573; R. burgundiaca Rosaig. Ros.,
t. 4; R. remensis^Desf. Cat., t. 175, and our Jig. 494. The Bui gundy Rose. — A
dwarf compact shrub, with stiff, ovate acute, and sharply serrated small leaflets,
and very double purple flowers, which are solitary, and have some resemblance,
in form and general appearance, to the flower of a double-flowered Asiatic ra-
nunculus. Besides the botanical varieties, given in Don's Miller, there are 19 in
the Nouveau Du Hamel.

38. R. pulche'lla Willd. The neat Rose.

Identification. Willd. Enum., p. 545 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 573.

Spec. Cliar., cf>c. Ovaries roundish-obovate. Peduncles and calyxes beset with
glandular bristles. Petioles clothed with glandular pubescence, unarmed. Cauline
prickles scattered. Native country unknown' Allied to R. turbinata ; but the stems
are much smaller; the flowers also smaller; and the form of the ovaries is diiTerent.
Perhaps this is the rose de Meaux of the gardens, or some variety of R. gallica. It is
a shrub, 2 ft. high, and produces its flowers in June and July.

VI. VILiIiO'S^.

Derivation. From villosus, villous ; in allusion to the hairiness of the species.
Sect. Char. Surculi erect. Prickles straightish. Leaflets ovate
or oblong, with diverging serratures. Sepals conniveut, permanent.
Bisk thickened, closing the throat. This division borders equally close

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 225

upon those of Caninse and Rubiginosae. From both it is distinguished
by its root-suckers being erect and stout. The most absolute marks
of difference, however, between this and Caninse, exists in the prickles
of the present section being straight, and the serratures of the leaves
diverging. If, as is sometimes the case, the prickles of this tribe are
falcate, the serratures become more diverging. The permanent sepals
are another character by which this tribe may be known from Caninte.
llubiginosaj cannot be confounded with the present section, on account
of the unequal hooked prickles and glandular leaves of the species.
Roughness of fruit, and permanence of sepals, are common to both.

39. R. turbinaV.\ Ait. The tarhinate-calyxcd, or Frankfort Rose.

Identification. Ait. Hort. Kew., ed 1, v. 2, p. 206 ; Dec. Prod., 2, p. 603 ; Don's Mill.,
2, p. 576.

Synonymes. R. campanulata Ehrh. Beitr., 6, p. 97; 7?. francofortiana Munch.
Haust., 5, p. 24; R. francfurtensis Rossig. Ros., t. 11.

Spec. Char., (f-c. Stem nearly without prickles. Branches smooth. Leaflets 5 — 7,
ovate-cordate, large, wrinkled in a buUate manner, serrate, approximate, a little villous
beneath. Stipules large, claspmg the stem or branch. Flowers disposed subcorym-
bosely, large, violaceous red. Peduncles wrinkled and hispid. Caly.x turbinate,
smooihish. Sepals undivided, subspathulate. Flowers large, red, and loose ; probably
a native of Germany; growing to the height of from 4 ft. to G ft., and flowering in June
and July,

40. R. viLLO^sA Lin. The viWous-leaved Rose.

Identification. Lin. Sp., 704; Don's Mill., 2, p. 576.

Sijnomjmes. R. mollis Smith in Eng^. Bot., t. 2459 ; R. tomentosa /? Lindl. Ros., p.
77; R. heterophy'lla Woods in Lin. Trans., 12, p. 195; R. pulchella Woods 1, c, p.
196; R. pomifera Herm. Diss., 16.

Spec. Char., c^c. Leaflets rounded, bluntish, downy all over. Fruit globose, rather
depressed, partly bristly. Sepals slightly compound. Flowers red or pink. This is a
very variable phnt. Branches without bristles. It is a native of Europe, in hedges; in
Britain, in bushy rather mountainous situations, in Wales, Scotland, and the north of
England, growmg to the height of 5 ft. or 6 ft., and flowering in July.

41. R. gra'cilis Woods. The slender Rose.

Identification. Woods in Lin. Trans., 12, p. 186 ; Don's Mill., 2, 570.

Synonyme. R. villosa Smith, in Eng. Bot., t. 583, excluding the synonyme and the
fruit.

Spec. Char., i^c. Peduncles usually in pairs, bristly, often bracteate. Branches,
fruit, and calyx bristly. Larger prickles curved, usually twin. Leaflets doubly serrated,
hairy on lioth sides. Petals slightly concave, of a pale pink. Fruit globular. Seg-
ments of the calyx simple. Growing to the height of 8 ft. or 10 ft., and flowering in
July.

42. R. TOMENTO^sA Smith. The tomentose, or woolly-leaved Rose.

Identification. Smith Fl. Brit., 539; Eng. Bot., 990; Don's Mill., 2, p. 576.

Synonymcs. R. villosa Ehrh. Arb., p. 45, Du Roi Harbk.. 2, p. 341, PI. Dan., t.
1453 ; R. mollissima Bi.>rk. Holz., p. 307 ; R. dubia Wibel. Wirth., p. 263 ; R. villosa
,3 Huds., 219.

Spec. Char., <^c. Leaflets ovate, acute, more or less downy. Fruit elliptical, hispid.
Sepals pinnate. Prickles slightly curved. Petals white at the base. Native of Eu-
rope, in hedges and th'ckets ; plentiful in Britain ; growing to the height of 6 ft., and
flowering in June and July.

43. R. Shera'rdi Davies. Sherard's Rose.
Identification. Davies' Welsh Bot., 49; Don's Mill., 2, p. 578.

Synonymes. R. subglobosa Smith Eng. FL, 2, p. 384 ; R. tomentosa var. £ and n
Woods in Lin. Trans., 12, p. 201.

226 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

Spec. Char., <^c. Prickles conical, hooked, compressed. Leaflets elliptical, acute,
downy on both surfaces. Sepals pinnate. Fruit globular, abrupt, rather bristly.
Found near Kingston upon Thames, near Tunbridge Wells, and on the Downs in Kent,
in Cambridgeshire, and in the Isle of Anglesea. Peduncles from 1 — 8, the more nu-
merous the shorter, beset with glandular bristles. Fruit large, and globular. A shrub,
growing to the height of 6 ft., and flowering in June and July.

44. R. SYLVE'sTRis Lindl. The Wood Rose.

Identification. Lindl. Syn. Brit. Fl., p. 101 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 576.

Synonyme. R. tomentosa sylvestris Woods.

Spec. Char., cf-c. Stem erect, colored, flexuous. Prickles hooked. Leaflets oblong,
acute, hoary on both sides. Sepals diverging, deciduous before the fruit is ripe. Fruit
elliptic, bristly. Native of Oxfordshire, in hedges. Growing to the height of 6 ft. or 8
ft., and flowering in June and July.

45. R. mo'llis Led. The sofl-leaved Rose.

Identification. Led. ex Spreng. Syst., 2, p. 551 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 577.

Synonyme. R. Ledebourti Spreng. Syst., 2, p. 551.

Spec. Char., tf-f. Ovaries ovate, glaucous, and prickly, as well as the peduncles.
Branches unarmed and pubescent, as well as the petioles. Leaflets obtuse, doubly ser-
rated, villous on both surfaces. Native of Caucasus ; growing to the height of from 4
ft. to 6 ft., and flowering in June and July.

46. R. a'lba Lin. The common white Rose.

Identification. Lin. Sp., 805; Lawr. Ros., t. 23, 25, 32, 37; (Ed. Fl. Dan., t. 1215;
Red. Ros. 1, p. 97, and p. 17 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 577.

Synonyme. R. usitatlssima Gat. Montaub., t. 94.

Spec. Char., <^c. Leaflets oblong, glaucous, rather naked above, simply serrat-
ed. Prickles straightish or falcate, slender or strong, without bristles. Sepals pin-
nate, reflexed. Fruit unarmed. Native of Piedmont, Cochin-China, Denmark,
France, and Saxony. Flowers large, either white, or of the most delicate blush
color, with a grateful fragrance. Fruit oblong, scarlet, or blood-colored. A shrub,
growing from 4 ft. to 10 ft. in height, and flowering in June and July.

Vn. RUBIGINO^SJE Lindl.

Derivation. From mhiginosus, rusty ; the leaves of the species being usually fur-
nished with rust-colored glands beneath.

Scci. Char., <^c. Prickles unequal, sometimes bristle-formed, rarely
wanting. Leaflets ovate or oblong, glandular, with diverging serra-
tures. Sepals permanent. Disk thickened. Root-shoots arched.
The numerous glands on the lower surface of the leaves will be suffi-
cient to prevent anything else being referred to this section ; and
although R. tomentosa has sometimes glandular leaves, the inequality
of the prickles of the species of Rubiginosae, and their red fruit, will
clearly distinguish them. This division includes all the eglantine, or
sweet-briar roses.

47. R- luVea Dndon. The yellow Eglantine Rose.

Identification. Dodon. Pempt., 187; Mill. Diet., No. 11; Lawr. Ros., t. 12; Curt.
Bot. Mag., t. 363; Don's Mill., 2, p. 577.

Synonymes. R. Eglanth-ia Lin. Sp. 703, Red. Ros., 1, p. 69; R. foe'tida Herm.
Diss., 18; R. chlorophy'lla Ehrh. Beitr., 2, p. 69; R. cerea Rossig. Ros. t. 2.

Spec. Char., cf-c. Prickles straight. Leaflets deep green. Sepals nearly entire,
setigerous. Petals flat, concave. Flowers deep yellow, large, cupshaped, solitary.
Fruit unknown. A shrub, a native of Germany and the south of France ; growing
from 3 ft. to 4 ft. high, and flowering in June.

48. R. RUBiGiNO^SA Lin. The msty-leaved Rose, Sweet-Briar, or Eglantine.
Identification. Lin. Mant., 2, p. 594 ; Dec. Prod., 2, p. 604 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 577.

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 227

Syno7iymes. R. suavifolia Lightf. Scot., 1, p. 261, Fl. Dan., t. 870; R. Eglantlria
Mill. Diet, No. 4, Lin. Sp., edit. 1, p. 491; R. agr^stis Savi Fl. Pis., p. 475; R. ru-
biginosa parviflura Rau. Euum., 135.

Spec. Char., d^'C. Prickles hooked, compressed, with smaller straighter ones in-
terspersed. Leaflets elliptical, doubly serrated, hairy, clothed beneath with rust-
colored glands. Sepals pinnate, and bristly, as well as the peduncles. Fruit
obovate, bristly toward the base. Native throughout Europe, and of Caucasus.
In Britain, in bushy places, on a dry gravelly or chalky soil. Leaves sweet-
scented whien bruised, and re.sembling the fragrance of the Pippin Apple. When
dried in the shade and prepared as a tea, they make a healthful and pleasant bev-
erage. This species is extensively used in Europe for the formation of Tea Roses,
and it is estimated that two hundred thousand are budded annualh^ in the vicinity
of Paris alone. The species is very vigorous, but does not seem to answer well in
our hot sun. The change from its native shaded thickets and hedges is too much
for its tall exposed stem and although the stock may not itself die yet the variety
budded upon it will frequently perish in two or three years. This is doubtless
partly owing to a want of analogy between the stock and the variety given it for
nourishment, but that the former is the prominent evil is evident by the fact that
dwarfs of the same stock, where the stem is shaded by the foliage, flourish much
better. The Eglantine, in favored situations, is very long-lived. A French wri-
ter speaks of one in which he had counted one hundred and twenty concentric
layers, making thus its age the same number of years. Another writer speaks of
an Eglantine in Lower Saxony, whose trunk separated into two very strong
branches, twenty-four feet high and extending over a space of twenty feet. At the
height of seven feet, one of the branches is nearly six inches and the other four
inches in circumference. There is a tradition that it existed in the time of Louis
the Pious, King of Germany in the ninth century. This however must evidently
be received with some allowance. Flowers pink. Fruit scarlet, obovate or ellip-
tic. A shrub, growing from 4 ft. to G ft. in height, and flowering in June and
July.

49. R. suAVE^OLENS PuTsh. The sweet-scented Rose, Americaii Sweet-Briar, or

Eglantine.

Identification. Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept. vol. 1, p. 346 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 578.

Synonymes. R. rubiginosa and Eglantiria of the Americans, Rajin. Ros. Amer. in
Ann. Phys., 5, p. 518.

Spec. Char., <^c. Prickles scattered, straight. Petioles beset with glandular bristles.
Leaflets ovate, serrated, sparingly glandular beneath. Flowers usually solitary. Pe-
duncles bracteate. Fruit ovate. Native of North America. Leaves sweet-scented
when bruised. Flowers pink. Sepals entire. A shrub, growing to the help' it of 5 ft.
or 6 ft., and flowering in June and July.

50. R. micra'ntha Sm. The small-flowered Rose, or Sweet-Briar.

Identification. Smith in Eng. Bot., t. 2490; Don's Mill., 2, p. 578.

Synonyme. R. rubiginosa 0 micriintha Lindt. Ros., p. 87, with erroneous syno-
nymes.

Spec. Char., (f-c. Prickles hooked, si^attered, nearly uniform. Leaflets ovate, doubly
serrated, hairy, glandular beneath. Sepals pinnate. Fruit elliptic, rather bristly, con-
tracted at the summit. Stems straggling. Native of Britain, in hedges and thickets,
chiefly in the south of England. Leaves sweet-scented. Flowers small, pale red. A
shrub, from 4 ft. to 5 ft. in height, flowering in June and July.

51. R. SE^piuM Thuil. The Hedge Rose, or Briar.

Identification. Thuil. Fl. Per. 252; Borr. in Eng. Bot. SuppL, t. 2653 ; Don's Mill.,
2, 578.

Synonymes. R. helvetica and R. myrtifolia Hall; i? canina /? Dec. Fl. Fr., ed. 3,
No. 3617; R. agrcstis Savi Fl. Pis., 1, p. 474; R. biserrata, R. macrocarpa, and R.
stipularis Mcr. Fl. Par., 190, ex Desp., f. 75.

Spec. Char., (f-c. Prickles slender. Branches flexuous. Leaflets shining, acute at
both ends. Flowers usually solitary. Fruit polished. Sepals pinnate, with very nar-
row segments. Native of Europe in hedges ; in England, near Bridport, Warwick-

228 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

shire. Flowers small, pink. A shrub, growing from 4 ft. to 6 ft. in height, and flow-
ering in June and July.

52. R. ibe'rica Stev. The Iberian Rose.

Identification. Stev. m Bieb. Fl. Taur. Suppl., 343; Don's Mill, 2, p. 578.

Spec. Char., (^c. Cauline prickles scattered, hooked, dilated at the base. Petioles
glandular and prickly. Leaflets broad, ovate, glandularly biserrated, and beset wilh glands
on bolh surfaces. Fruit ovate, smooth, or with a few bristles, as well as the peduncles.
Native of Eastern Iberia, about the town of Kirzchinval. Very nearly allied to R. pul-
verulenta, according to Bieberstein. A shrub, growing from 4 ft. to 6 ft. in height, and
flowering in June and July.

53. R. GLUTiNo\sA Smith. The clammy Rose, or Briar.

Identification. Smith. Fl. Grcec. Prod., 1, p. 348 ; Fl. Grsec. t. 482 ; Don's Mill., 2,
p. 578.

Synonymes. R. rubiginosa cretica Red. Ros., 1, p. 93, and p. 125, t. 47; R. rubigi-
nosa sphasrocarpa Devs. Journ. Rot., 1813, t. 118, Cupan. Pamph., ed. I, t. 61.

Spec. Char., if'c. Branches pilose. Prickles numerous, falcate. Leaflets roundish,
coarsely serrated, hoary, glandular, atid viscid on both surfaces. Fruit and peduncles
beset with stiff bristles. Flowers pale blush. Sepals subpinnate. Fruit scarlet. Na-
tive of JMount Parnassus, and of Sicily and Candia, on the mountains ; growing to the
height of 2 ft. or 3 ft., and flowering in June and July.

54. R. Klu^kii Bess. Kluki's Rose, or Siccct-Briar.

Identification. Bess. Cat. Hort. Crem., 1816, Suppl., 4, p. 19; Bieb. Fl. Taur. Suppl.,
343; Don's Mill., 2, p. 579.

Synonymes. R. rubiginusa Bieb. Fl. Taur., No. 979, exclusive of the synonymes ;
R. floribundi Stev. ; R. balsamea Bess.

Spec. Char., (^'c. Cauline prickles strong, compressed, dilated at the base, recurved.
Petioles villous and prickly. Leaflets small, elliptic, acute, sharply biserrated, with the
serratures glandular, villous above, but rusty and glandular beneath. Peduncles and
fruit beset with glandular bristles. Flowers pink. Allied to R. rubiginosa, according
to Bieberstein ; but, according to Besser, to R. alba. Native of Tauria ; growing to
the height of 5 ft., or 6 ft. and flowering in June and July.

55. R. MoNTEZU^Mffi Humb. Montezuma's Rose, or Briar.

Identification. Humb. et Bonpl. in Red. Ros., 1, p. 55 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 579.

Spec. Char., i^c. Petioles armed with little hooked prickles. Branches unarmed.
Leaflets ovate, sharply serrated, glabrous.' Flowers solitary, terminal. Tube of calyx
elliptic, and as well as the peduncles, glabrous. Native of Mexico, on the chain of por-
phyry mountains which bound the valley of Mexico on the north, at the elevation of
1416 toises, on the top of Cerro Ventosa, near the mine of San Pedro. Flowers pale
red. Sepals compound, dilated at the end. A shrub growing to the height of from 4
ft. to 6 ft., and flowering in June and July.

VIII. CANI^XJE Lindl.

Derivation. From caninus, belonging to a dog; because R. canina is commonly
called the dog ros3. The name is applied to this section, because all the species con-
tained in it agree in character with R. canina.

Sect. C/iar., 6fc. Prickles equal, hooked. Leaflets ovate, glandlesa
or glandular, with the serratures conniving. Sepals deciduous. Disk
thickened, closing the throat. Larger suckers arched.

56. R. CAUCA^sEA Pall. The Caucasian Dog Rose.

Identification. Pall. Ross., t. 11; Lindl. Ros., p. 97; Don's Mill., 2, p. 579.

Synonyme. R. leucantha Bieb. Fl. Taur. Suppl., 351. 1

Spec. Char. d^c. Prickles strong, recurved. Leaflets soft, ovate. Calyx and pedun-
cles hispid. Sepals simple. Fruit smooth. Flowers Irrge, growing in bunches, white
or pale red. A shrub, growing to the height of from 10 ft. to 12 ft., and flowering in
June and July. This species, as grown in the collection of Loddiges, at London, is of a
robust habit, with glaucous leaves, flowering and fruiting freely. The plant is a useful
one for the filling up of large slirubbcries.

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 229

57. R. CANi^NA Lin. The common Dog Rose.

Identification. Lin. Sp., 704 ; Don's MiU., 2, p. 579.

Synonymes. R. dumalis Dechst. Forslb., 241, and 939, ex Rau; R. andegavensia
Bat. M. Main, tt Loir., 1S9, Red. Ros., 2, p. 9, t. 3 ; A', glaiica Lois, in Desv. Joum. ; R.
arvensis Schrank Fl. Mon. ; R. glaucescens Mer. Par. ; R. nitens Mer., 1, c ; R. ten-
eriffensis Donn Hort. Cant., ed. 8, p. 169; R. senticosa Acliar. Acad. HandL, 34 p. 91,

Spec. Char., d^c. Prickles strong, hooked. Leaflets simply serrated, pointed, quite
smooth. Sepals pinnate. Fruit ovate, smooth, or rather bristly, like the aggregate
flower stalks. Native throughout Europe, and the north of Africa ; plentiful in Britain,
in hedges, woods, and thickets. Flowers rather large, pale red, seldom white. Fruit
ovate, bright scarlet, of a peculiar and very grateful flavor, especially if made into a con-
serve with sugar. The pulp of the fruit, besides saccharine matter, contains citric acid,
which gives it an acid taste. The pulp, before it is used, should be carefully cleared
from tlie nuts or seeds. A shrub, growing to the heidit of 6 ft. or 10 ft., and flowering
in June and July.

58. R. Fo'rsteri Sm. Forster's Dog Rose.

Identification. Smith Engl PI., 2. p. 302; Borr. in Eng. Bot. Suppl., 2611; Don's
MiU., 2, p. 580.

Synonyme. R. collina ff and y, Woods in Lin. Trans., 12, p. 392.

Spec. Char., <^c. Prickles scattered, conical, hooked. Leaflets simply serrated,
smooth above, but hairy on the ribs beneath. Sepals doubly pinnate. Fruit elliptical,
smooth, like the aggregate flower stalks. A native of Europe, in hedges ; plentiful in
England. Flowers pale red. A shrub, growing to the height of from 6 ft. to 8 ft. ; flow-
ering in June and July.

59. R. DUMETO^RUM TkuUl. The Thicket Dog Rose.

Identification. Thuil. Fl. Par., 250; Bor. in Eng. Bot. Suppl., t. 2610; Don's Mill,
2, p. 580.

Synonymes. R. leucantha H acutifolia Bast, in Dec. F7. Fr., 5, p. 535 ; R. sepium
Borkk. ex Rau. Enum., 79; R. solstitiahs Bess. Prim. Fl. Gall., 324; R. corymblfera
Gmel. FL Bad. Ah:, 2, p. 427.

Spec. Char., d^'c. Prickles numerous, scattered, hooked. Leaflets simply serrated,
hairy on both surfaces. Sepals pinnate, deciduous. Peduncles aggregate, slightly
hairy. Fruit elliptical, smooth, as long as the bracteas. Native of Europe, in hedges ;
and found, in England, in the southern counties, but seldom in any abundance. Flow-
ers reddish. A shrub, growing from 4 ft. to 6 ft. in height, and flowering in June and
July.

60. R. bracte'scens Woods. The bractescent Dog Rose.

Identijication. Woods in Lin. Trans., 12, p. 216; Don's Mill. 2, p. 580.

Spec. Char. (^c. Prickles aggregate, hooked. Leaflets ovate, almost simply ser-
rated, downy beneath. Bracteas rising much above the fruit. Sepals pinnate, falling
off. Peduncles aggregate, occasionally rather hairy. Fruit globose, smooth. Native
of England, in hedges, about Ulverton, Lancashire ; and Ambleton, Westmoreland.
Flowers flesh-colored. A shrub, 6 ft. to 7 ft. high, and flowering in June and July.

61. R. SARMEVTA^CEA Swaflz. The sarmentaceous Dog Rose.

Identification. Swartz aiSS.; Woods in Lin. Trans., 12, p. 213; Don's Mill., 2, p.
580.

Synonymes. R. glaucophy'Ua W,nc!t Geo jr. Didrib., ^5 : R. canina RothFl. Germ.,
2, p. 560.

Spec. Char., t^c. Prickles hooked. Leaflets ovate, doubly serrated, smooth, glandu-
lar. Peduncles aggregate, smooth or minutely bristly. Sepals pinnate, deciduous.
Fruit broadly elliptic, naked. Native of Europe, common in hedges and bushy places;
plentiful in Britain. Flowers pink, and fragrant. Fruit scarlet ; as grateful to the pal-
ate, probably, as that of i?. canina, with which this equally common plant is generally
confounded. A shrub, 8 ft. to 10 ft. high ; flowering in June and July.

62. R. cm'sxk Sm. The grey Dog Rose.
Identification. Smith Eng. Bot., t. 2367; Don's Mill., 2, p. 580.
Synonymes. R. canina pubesccns Afz. Ros. Suec. Tent., 1, p. 2 ; R. canina f cs^ia
lAndl. Ros., p. 99.

20

230 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

Spec. Char., (^r. Pric-kles hooked, uniform. Leaflets elliptical, somewhat doubly
serrated, glaucous, hairy beneath, without glands. Sepals distantly pinnate, deciduous.
Flower stalks smooth, solitary. Fruit elliptical, smooth. Native of Scotland, in the
Higliland valleys, but rare; at Tayrnilf, in Mid-Lorn, Argyleshire ; and in Strath Tay,
between Dankeid and Aberfeldie, .-lini iiy the side of Loch Tay. Flowers generally of a
uniform carnation hue, but occasionally white. A shrub, from 4 ft. to 5 ft. in height;
flowering in July.

63. R. Bo'rreri Woods. Borrer's Dog Rose.

Ideufijkallon. Woods in Lin. Trans., 12, p. 210; Don's Mill., 2, p. 580.

■Syiimiynies. R. dumetiirum Smith in Eng. Bot., t. 2579; R. rubiginosa 5 Lindl.
Ros., p. 83: /?. rubiginosa inodura Hook. Land., t. 117; R. sepium Dorkh. ex Rau.
Esium. 90? but not of Thuil. ; R. alf inis i?aM. Enum., 79; R. uncinella B Besser
Emtm., 64 1

Spc€. Char., tf-c. Prickles hooked. Leaflets ovate, doubly serrated, hairy, without
glands. Sepals pinnate, often doubly pinnate, deciduous. Flower stalks aggregate,
hairy. Fruit elliptical, smooth. Native of Britain, in hedges and thickets. Flowers
pale red. Fruit deep scarlet. A shrub, growing from 6 ft. to 10 ft. in height ; flowering
in June and July.

64: R. nuERiFoYiA Vill. The red-leaved Dog Rose.

Idmtifwation. Vill. Dauph., 3, p. 549; Don's Mill, 2, p. 581.

Sy-nonijines. R. multiflora Rcyn. Act. Laus., 1, p. 70. t. 6 ; i?. rubiciinda Hall. Fit. in
Room. Arch., 3, p. 376 ; R. liuida Aiidr. Ros. ; R. dnnamomea y rubrifolia Red. Ros., 1,
p. 134.

Spec. Char., if-c. Prickles small, distant. Leaflets ovate, and, as well as the branches,
glabrous, opaque, discolored. Sepals narrow, entire. Fruit ovate, globose, smooth.
Flowers corymbose. Peduncles smooth. Native of Dauphine, Austria, Savoy, Pyr-
enees, and Auvergne, in woods. Stems red. Leaves red at the edges. Flowers small,
deep red. Sepals narrow, longer than the petals. A shrub, growing to the height of 5
ft. or 6 ft., and flowering iu June and July ; and producing a pleasing effect in a shrub-
bery, from the pinkness of its foliage. At the funeral of Villars, who first named and
described this rose, branches and flowers of it were cut and strewed over his grave.

65. R. i'ndica L. The Indian, or rnmmon China Rose.

Identification. Lin. Sp., 705; Don's Mill., 2, p. 581.

Synonymes. R. sinica Lin. Syst. Veg., ed. 13, p. 393; R. semperflorens carnea Ros-
sig. Ros., t. 19; R. indiea chinensis semiplena Ser. McL, 1, p. 31; R. reclinata flurc
submultipliei Red. Ros., p. 79 ; the monthly Rose, the blush China Rose, the Tea-scent-
ed Rose ; Rosier Indien, Rose The Er. ; Indische Rose, Gcr.

Spec. Char., d^c. Stem upright, whitish, or green, or purple. Prickles stout,
falcate, distant. Leaflets 3 — 5; ovate-acuminate, coriaceous, shining, glabrous,
serrulate ; the surfaces of difl"erent colors. Stipules very narrow, connate with
the petiole, almost entire, or serrate. Flowers solitary, or in panicles. Stamens
bent inward. Peduncle sub-articulate, mostly thickened upward, and with the
calyx smooth, or wrinkled and bristly. Native of China, near Canton. Flower.s
red, usually serai-double. Petioles .'^etigerous and prickly. Petals obcordate. A
shrub, growing to the height of from 4 ft. to 20 ft., and flowering throughout the
year.

Varieties. There are numerous varieties of this beautiful rose cultivated in
England; but the garden varieties of it arc very generally confounded with those
of R. semperflorens. The following are quite distinct ; and may each be considered
the t)'pe of a long list of subvarieties.

R. i. 2 Noisetlikna. Ser. in Dec. Prod., 2, p. 600, Don's Mill., 1, p. 581. The
Noisette Rose. Stem firm, and, as well as the branches, prickly. Stipules nearly
entire. Flowers panicled, very numerous, semi-double, pale red. Styles exserted.
This well-known and very beautiful rose is almost invaluable in a shrubbery, from
its free and vigorous growth, and the profusion of its flowers, which are continu-
ally being produced during the whole summer.

R. i. 3 odoralissima Lindl. Ros., p. 106, Bot. Reg., t. 864, Don's Mill., ii., p. 582 ;
R. odoralissima Siot. H>rt. S<ih. Lond. ; R. indiea fragrans Red. Ros., i., p, 6. 1. 19 ;
the sweetest, or tea-scented, China Rose; Rose a Odeur de The, Fr.; has semi-

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 231

double flowers, of a most delicious fragrance, strongly resembling the scent of the
finest green tea. There are numerous subvarieties.

66. B. SKMPERFLO^RENS Cur/. The ever-flowering China Rose.

Identification. Curt. Bot. Mag., t. 284 ; Smith Exot. Bot. 2, p. 91 ; Jaeq. Schonbr.,
3, p. 2Si ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 582.

Si/noiiymes. R. diversifolia Vent. Cels., t. 35; /?. bengalensis Pers. Ench., 2, p. 50;
R. indica Red. Ros., 1, p. 49, t. 13, p. 123, t. 46, and 2, p. 37, t. 16.

Spec. Char., (^c. Branches dark green, armed with scattered, compressed,
hooked prickles, and a very few glands. Leaflets 3 — 5, ovate-lanceolate, crenate-
serrated, shining above, but glaucous and slightly setigerous beneath. Sepals
compound, narrow. Fruit .spherical. Native of China. Flowers solitary, single,
or .semi-doulale, deep crimson. There are some very splendid varieties of this
species, M'ilh semi-double crimson flowers, in our gardens; and the French appear
to have some others still more beautiful, which have not yet been imported. A
shrub, growing from 8 ft. to 10 ft. in height, and flowering throughout the year.
For this beautiful rose we are indebted to Gilbert Slater, Low-Layton, Essex, a
gentleman to whose memory a genus has not yet been devoted, though he was the
means of introducing several of our finest plants.

67. R. Lawrencea^na Swt. Lawrence's China Rose.

Identification. Sweet Hort. Suburb; Lindl. Ros., p. 110; Dons Mill., 2, p. 582.

Synoni/mes. R. semperflurens minima Sims Bot. Mag., t. 1762 ; R. indica var. o acu-
minata Red. Ros., 1, p. 53 ; R. Indica LawrencecJ^a Red. Ros., 2, p. 38.

Spec. Char., df'c. Dwarf. Prickles large, stout, nearly straight. Leaflets ovate,
acute, finely serrated. Petals acuminated. Native of China. Flowers small, single
or semi-double, pale blush. A shrub, 1 ft. in height, which flowers throughout the year.
The beautiful little plants called fairy roses are nearly all varieties of R. Lawrenceuna ;
and they are well worthy of culture, from their extreme dwarfness (often flowering when
not more than six inches high), and the beautiful color of their miniature rose-buds, the
petals of which appear of a much darker hue than'those of the expanded flower.

IX. SY'STYIiJE Lindl.

Derivation. From sun, together, and stulos, a style ; in reference to the styles being
connected.

Sect. Char. Styles cohering together into an elongated column.
Stipules adnate. The habit of this section is nearly the same as that
of the last division. The leaves are frequently permanent.

68. R. sy'styla Bat. The connate-style Rose.

Identification. Bat. Fl. Main, et Loir. Suppl., 31 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 582.

Synonymes. R. collina Smith in Eng. Bot., t. 1895; R. stylosa Desv. Joum. Bot.,
2, p. 317 ; R. brevlstyla Dec. Fl. Fr. Suppl, p. 537 ; R. bibracteata Dec, Ic; R. sy'styla
a ovata Lindl. Ros., p. 111.

Spec. Char., <^'c. Shoots assurgent. Prickles strong, hooked. Peduncles glandular.
Sepals pinnate, deciduous. Styles smooth. Floral receptacle conical. Native of
France and England, in hedges and thickets ; common in Sussex; at Walthamstow,
Q,uendon, and Clapton, near London ; at Durmington Castle. Berkshire ; near Penshurst,
Kent; and Hornsey, Middlesex; hills in the south of Scodand. Flowers fragrant,
pink or almost white. Fruit ovate-oblons. A shrub, growing from 8 ft. to 12" ft. in
height, and flowering from May to July. There are several varieties, but they do not
differ materially in appearance from the species.

69. R. arve'nsis Huds. The Field Rose.

Identification. Huds. Fl. Angl., ed. 1, p. 192, according to Lindl. Ros., Mon ; Lin.
JIant., p. 245 ; Dec. Prod., 2, p. 596.

Synonymes. R. svlvestris Hem. Diss., p. 10; R. scandens Masnrh Weiss. PI., p.
118; R. herperhodon E'lrh. Beilr., 2, p. 69 ; R. Halleri Krok. Siles, 2, p. 150 ; R. fiisca
Macnch Met!i ., p. 683; R. serpens Ehrh. Arbor., p. 35; R. semncrvirens Rossig. Ros;
7?. repens Gmel. Fl. Bad. Als. 2. p. 418, Jucq. Frngm., p. 69, t. 104 ; R. ranipans y?eyn.
Mem. Laus. 1, p. 69, t. 5.

232 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

Spec. Char., <^c. Shoots cord-like. Prickles unequal and falcate. Leaves
deciduous, and composed of 5 — 7 glabrous, or indistinctly ciliated, leaflets, glau-
cescent beneath. Stipules diverging at the tip. Flowers solitary or globose.
Sepals almost entire, short. Styles cohering into an elongated glabrous column.
Fruit ovate, or ovate-globose, coriaceous, crimson, glabrous, or a little hispid, as
well as the peduncles. In open situations, a trailing plant, sometimes rooting at
the joints; but, in hedges, and among bushes, a climber by elongation ; reaching
to their tops, and covering them with tufts of foliage and flowers; the leaves re-
maining on late in the season ; and the fruit often remaining on all the winter.
The shoots are, in general, feeble, much divided, and entangled; and they gener-
ally produce, here and there, rugged excrescences, which readily take root. Hence
by budding the more rare sorts on the shoots, a little above these excrescences,
and, after the buds have united, cutting ofl" a portion of the shoot containing the
excrescence at one end, and the inoculated bud at the other, and putting in these
portions as cuttings, difierent varieties may be propagated with expedition and
ease.

R. a. 2 ayresh'irea Ser. R. capreolata Neill in Edin. Phil. Journ., No. 3, p.
102. Cultivated in British gardens under the name of the Ayrshire Rose.
Prickles slender, very acute. Leaflets ovate, sharply serrate, thin, nearly of the
same color on both surfaces. Peduncles hispid with glanded hairs, or wrinkled.
A vigorous-growing climber, producing shoots sometimes 20 ft. in length in one
season, and flowering profusely from the middle of May to the middle of Septem-
ber. One of the hardiest of climbing roses, and particularly useful for covering
naked walls, or unsightly roofs. It is supposed by some to be of American origin,
and to have been introduced into Ayrshire by the Earl of Loudon.

70. R. (a.) sempervi^rens Lin. The evergreen (Field) Rose.

Identification. Lin. Sp., 704 ; Dec. Prod., 2, p. 597 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 583.

Synonymes. R. scandens Mill. Did., No. 8 ; R. balearica Desf. Cat. Pers. Ench.,
2,*p. 49; R. atrovirens Viv. PL ItaL, 4, t. 6; R. sempervirens globosa Red. Ros., 2,
with a fig. ; R. sempervirens var. a seandens Dec. PL Pr., 5, p. 533.

Spec. Char., d^-c. Evergreen. Shoots climbing. Prickles pretty equal, falcate.
Leaves of 5 — 7 leaflets, that are green on both sides, coriaceous. Flowers almost
solitary, or in corymbs, Sepals nearly entire, longish. Styles cohering into an
elongate pilose column. Fruit ovate or ovate-globose, orange-colored. Pedun-
cles mostly hispid with glanded hairs. Closely allied to R. arvensis, but differ-
ing in its being evergreen, in its leaves being coriaceous, and in its stipules being
subfelcate, and more acute at the tip. Native of France, Portugal, Italy, Greece,
and the Balearic Islands. A climbing shrub, flowering trom June to August.
Used for the same purposes as the Ayrshire rose ; from which it dilTers in retain-
ing its leaves the greater part of the winter, and in its less vigorous shoots. This
species is well adapted tor rose carpels made by pegging down its long flexile
shoots. Itglossy, rich foliage forms, in this way, abeautiiul carpet of verdure en-
ameled with flowers.

71. R. MULTiFLo^RA T%u7ib. The many-flowered Rose.
Identification. Thunb. Fl. Jap., 214 ; Dec. Prod., 2, p. 598 ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 583.
Synonyme. R. flava Donn. Hort. Cant, ed. 4, p. 121 ; R. florida Pair. SuppL; R.
diffusa Roxb.

Spec. Char., i^'C. Branches, peduncles, and calyxes tomentose. Shoots very
long. Prickles slender, .scattered. Leaflets 5 — 7, ovate-lanceolate soft, finely
wrinkled. Stipules pectinate. Flowers in corymbs, and, in many instances,
very numerous. Buds ovate globose. Sepals short. Styles protruded, incom-
pletely grown together into a long hairy column. A climbing shrub, a native of
Japan and China; and producing a profusion of clustered heads of single, semi-
double, or double, white, pale red, or red flowers in June and July. It is one of
the most ornamental of climbing roses; but, to succeed, even in the climate of
London, it requires a wall. The flowers continue to expand one after another
during nearly two months.

R. m. 2 GreviUci Hort. R. Roxbiirghii Hort. ; R. platyphy'lla Red. Ros., p. 69.
The Seven Sisters Rose. A beautiful variety of this sort, with much larger and

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 233

more double flowers, of a purplish color ; and no climbing rose belter deserves cul-
tivation against a wall. It is easily known from R. multiflora by the fringed edge
of the stipules; while those of the common R. multiflora have much less Iringe,
and the leaves are smaller, with the leaflels much less rugose. The form of the
blossoms and corymbs is pretty nearly the .same in both. A plant of this variety
on the gable end of R. Donald's house, in the Goldworth Nur.sery, in I8'2(), covered
above 100 square feet, and had more than 100 corymbs of bloom. Some of the co-
rymbs had more than 50 buds in a cluster ; and the whole a ve raged about 30 in each
corymb ; sj that the amount of flower buds was about 3000. The variety of color
produced by the buds at first opening was not less astonishing than their number.
White, light blush, deeper blush, light red, darker red, scarlet, and purple flow-
ers, all appeared in the same corymb; and the production of these seven colors at
once is said to be the reason why this plant is called the seven sisters rose. This
tree produced a shoot the same year which grew 18 ft. in length in two or three
weeks'. This variety, when in a deep free soil, and an airy situation, is of very
vigorous growth, and a free flowerer ; but the shoots are of a bramble-like texture,
and the plant, in consequence, is but of temporary duration. R. Donald's R.
Grevillet died in three or lour years.

R. VI. 3 Russcllia.nFi is a variety diff^^ring considerably, in flowers and foliage,
Irom the species, but retaining the fringed toot-stalk; and i.s, hence, quite distinct
from R. sempervirens Russell/d/m.

R. m. 4 Doursaidtv Hurt., DoursanU's Rose, is placed, in Don's Miller, under
this species; though it difl"ers more liom the preceding variety than many .species
do from each other. It is comparatively a hard-wooded, durable rose, and valua-
ble for flowering early and freely. This is a very remarkable rose, from its pe-
tals having a reticulated appearance.

72. 7?. Bruno\»jii Lindl. Brown's Rose.

Identification. Lindl. Ros. Monog., p. 120, t. 14; Dec. Prod., 2, p. 598.

Synonyme. R. Bruwnii Spreng. Syst., 2, p. 556.

Spec. Ckar., d^c. Shoots trailing. Prickles of the stem stout and arched. Leaflets
5 — 7, lanceolate, pilose on both surfaces ; the under one glandulous, and of a diflerent
color from the upper one. Stipules narrow, acute. Inflorescence corymbose. Pedun-
cles and calyxes pilose, and a little hispid. Sepals entire, narrow, and longish. Styles
cohering into a very long pilose column. Fruit ovate. A native of Nepal. Leaves
simply serrated. Flowers in terminal bunches, white or pale red. A rambling shrub,
flowering in June and July.

73. R. moschaVa Mill. The Musk Rose.

Identification. Mill.' Diet., No. 13; Red. et Thor. Ros., 1, p. 33, ic, and p.* 99, ic;
Lindl. Rosar. Monog., p. 121 ; Dec. Prod., 2, p. 59S ; Don's Mill., 2, p. 583.

Synonymes. R. opsostemma Ehrh. Deltr., 2, p. 72 ; R. glandulifera Roxb.

Spec. Ckur., <^c. Shoots ascending. Prickles upon the stem slender, recurved.
Leaflets 5 — 7, lanceolate, acuminate, nearly glabrous, the two surfaces of different
colors. Stipules very narrow, acute. Flowers, in many instances, very numer-
ous; white, with the claws of the petals yellow; very fragrant. Lateral pedun-
cles jointed, and, as well as the calyx, pilose, and almost hispid. Sepals almost
pinnately cut, long. Fruit red, 1 ovate.

Description, (^-c. The branches of the musk rose are generally too weak to sup-
port, without props, its large bunches of flowers, which are produced in an umbel-
like manner at their extremities. The musky odor is very perceptible, even at
some distance from the plant, particularly in the evening, —

" When each inconstant breeze that blowa
Steals essence t>om the musky rose."

It is said to be a native of Barbary ; but this has been doubted. It is, however,
found wild in Tunis, and is cultivated there for the sake of an essential oil, which
is obtained from the petals by distillation. It has also been found wild in Spain.
The first record of the musk rose having been cultivated in England is in Hakluyt,
m 1582, who states that the musk rose was brought to England from Italy. It
was in common cultivation in the time of Gerard, and was formerly much valued
for its musky fragrance, when that scent was the fashionable pcTfume. The Per-

20*

234 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

sian attar of roses is said to be obtained from this species. The musk rose does
best trained against a wall, on account of the length and weakness of its branches ;
nnd Miller adds that it should always be pruned in spring, as in winter it will
not bear the knife. It requires very little pruning, as the flowers are produced at
the extremities of the shoots, which are often 10 ft. or 12 ft. in length. It flowers
freely, and is well worthy of cultivation. This rose is thought by some to be the
same as that of Cyrene, which Athenseus has mentioned as affording a delicious
perfume, but of this there is no certain evidence. It seems to have been rare in
Europe in the time of Gessner, the botanist, who, in a letter to Dr. Occon, dated
Zurich 15G5, says that it was growing in a garden at Augsburg, and was extremely
anxious that the doctor should procure some of its shoots for him. Rivers men-
tions that Olivier, a French traveler speaks of a rose tree at Ispahan, called"
the '■ Chinese Rose Tree," fifteen feet high, formed by the union of several stems,
each four or five inches in diameter. Seeds of this tree were sent to Paris and
produced the common Musk Rose.

74. R. RUBiFO^LiA /?. Br. The Bramble-leaved Rose.

Jdent'fication. R. Brown in Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2, vol. 3, p. 260 ; Lindl. Rosar.
Monog.', p. 123, ic ; Dec. Prod., 2, p. 593.

Spec. Char., <^c. Stems ascending. Branches glabrous. Prickles scattered, fal-
cate. Leaves pubescent beneath. Leaflets 3, ovate-lanceolate, serrate. Stipules nar-
row, entire. Flowers very small, of a rosy color, mostly solitary. Buds ovate. Sepals
ovate, short, simple. Peduncles and calyxes a little hispid. Styles cohering into a
lomentose club-shaped column, as long as the stamens. Fruit pea-shaped. A native
of North America. A shrub, from 3 ft. to 4 ft. in height, and flowering in August and
September.

X. BAXKSIA'N^ Lindl.

Derivation. So called in consequence of all the species contained in this section
agreeing in character with R. Banksitc, a rose named in honor of Lady Banks.

Identification. Lindl. Ros., p. 125; Don's Mill., 2, p. 584.

Sect. Char., ifc. Stipules nearly free, subulate, or very narrow,
usually deciduous. Leaflets usually ternate, shining. Steins climb'-
ing. The species of this section are remarkable for their long, grace-
ful, and often climbing, shoots, drooping flowers, and trifoliolate shin-
ing leaves. They are particularly distinguished by their deciduous,
subulate, or very narrow stipules. Their fruit is very variable.

75. R. si'nica Ait. The trifoliate-leaved China Rose.

Identification. Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2, vol 3, p. 261; Lindl. Ros., p. 126, t. 16; Don's
Mill., 2, p. 534.

Synonymes. R. trifohata Base Diet, ex Pair. ; R. ternata Pair. Suppl., 6, p. 284 ; R.
cherokeensis Don. Hort. Cant., ed. 8, p. 170; R. nivea Dec. Hort. Monsp., 137, Red.
I'os., 2, p. 81, with a fig.

Spec. Char., (f-c. Stipules setaceous, deciduous. Cauline prickles equal, falcate.
Petioles and ribs of leaves prickly. Peduncles and fruit beset with straight bristles.
Sepals entire, permanent. Flowers white, solitary. Fruit elliptic, orange-red. Disk
conical. A rambling shrub, a native of China, and flowering in May and June.

76. R. BA'NKsiiE R. Br. Lady Bank's Rose.

Identijkation. R. Br. in Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2, vol. 3, p. 256 ; Lindl. Rosar. Monog.,
p. 131 ; Dec. Prod., 2, p. 601.

Synonymes. R. Banksulmz Abel Chin., 160; R. inermis Roxb.1
Spec. Char., <^c. Without prickles, glabrous, smooth. Leaflets 3 — 5, lanceo-
late, sparingly serrated, approximate. Stipules bristle-like, scarcely attached to
the petiole, rather glossy, deciduous. Flowers in umbel-like corymbs, numerous,
very double, sweet-scented, nodding. Tube of the calyx a httle dilated at the tip.
Fruit globose, black. A native of China. A climbing shrub, flowering in June
and July.

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 235

Description, <^c. This is an exceedingly beautiful and very remarkable kind of
rose; the flowers being small, round, and very double, on long peduncles, and re-
sembling in form the flowers of the double French cherry, or that of a small ra-
nunculus, more than those of the generality of roses. The flowers of R. Banksia
alba are remarkaly fragrant ; the scent strongly resembling that of violets.

77. R. microca'rpa Lindl. The small-fruited Rose.
Identification. Lindl. Rosar. Monog., 130, t. 18; Dec. Prod., 2, p. 601.
Synonyme. R. cymosa Trait. Ros., 1, p. 87.

Spec. Char., cf-c. Prickles scattered, recurved. Leaflets 3 — 5, lanceolate, shining,
the two surfaces diflerent in color. Petioles pilose. Stipules bristle-shaped or awl-
shaped, scarcely attached to the petiole, deciduous. Flowers disposed in dichotomous
corymbs. Peduncles and caly.xes glabrous. Styles scarcely protruded higher than the
plane of the spreading of the flower. Fruit globose, pea-shaped, scarlet, shining. Al-
lied to R. B-AnksicB. A native of Cliina, in the province of Canton. Flowers very nu-
merous, small, white. A rambling shrub, flowering from May to September.

1, L. BERBERiFo^Li.4 Liiidl. The Berberry-leaved Lowea.

Identification. Lindley in Hot. Reg., t. 1261.

Si/no7iT/mes. Rosa, simplicifolia Sal. Hort. Allert., 359, Parad. Land., t. 101, Oli-
vier's Voyage, 5, 49, atl. t. 43 ; R. berberiaiia Pull, in Nov. Act. Petr., 10, 379, t. 10, f.
5, Willd. Sp., 2, p. 1063, Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2, 3, p. 253, Smith in Rees' Cyclnpcedia,
Redouts Ros., 1, 27, t. 2, Lindl. Rosarum Monog-., p. 1, French edition, p. 23, Dec. Prod.,
2, p. 602, Spreng. Syst., 2, p. 546, Wallroth Monog., p. 25.

Spec. Char., <^'C. Leaves undivided, without stipules, obovate-cuneate, serrated
at the tip. Prickles decurrent, andof liie color of ivory. Sepals entire, subspath-
ulate. Petals yellow, marked with purple at the base. An undershrub, a native
of Persia, near Amadan, where it abounds in saltish .soil ; and also in fields at
the bottom of Mount Elwend, and in the Desert of Soongaria. It grows to the
height of '3 ft., and flowers in June and July. It is said to be so common in Per-
sia, that, according to Michaux, who first brought it into France, it is used for
healing ovens.

We have classed this singular plant with the Rose, although Dr. Lindley makes
it a separate genus, under the name of Lowea, and with very correct reasoning.
There are, however, many who have been accustomed to consider it a Rose, and
would be disappointed in not finding it here, and we therefore give it the old clas-
sification.

Description, t^c. The plant of this species in the garden of the London Horti-
cultural Society is an undershrub, with recumbent, .slender, and rather intricate
branches, and whitish leaves. It rarely flowers ; and, in regard to its propagation
and culture. Dr. Lindley, in the Dot. Reg. tor August, 1829, remarks that no more
appears to be now known of it, than was at the period of its first introduction in
1790. " It resists cultivation in a remarkable manner, submitting permanently
neither to budding nor grafting, nor layering, nor striking from cuttings, nor, in
short, to any of those operations, one or other of which succeeds with other plants.
Drought does not suit it ; it does not thrive in wet ; heat has no beneficial efiect,
cold no prejudicial influence ; care does no! improve it, neglect does not injure it.
Of all the numerous seedlings raised by the Horticultural Society from seeds sent
home by Sir Henry Wilcock, and distributed, scarcely a plant remains alive.
Two are still growing in a peat border in the Chiswick Garden, but they are
languishing and unhealthy; and we confess that observation of them, in a living
state, for nearly four years, has not suggested a single method of improving the
cultivation of the species." These plants still remain without increase; but
young plants may be obtained in some of the nurseries, which have been raised
from seeds; and at Vienna, as we are informed by Mr. Charles Rauch, it suc-
ceeds perfectly by budding on the common dog rose.

Thunberg speaks of the Rosa rugosa, as growing in China and
Japan, being extensively cultivated in the gardens of those coun-

236 BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.

tries, and producing flowers of a pale red or pure white. The
original plant is of a deep purple color. Siebold, in his treatise
on the flowers of Japan, says that this rose had been already cul-
tivated in China about eleven hundred years, and that the ladies
of the Court, under the dynasty of Long, prepared a very choice
pot-pourri by mixing its petals with musk and camphor.

More than one hundred distinct varieties are mentioned by
botanists, in addition to those we have enumerated, but none of
very marked characters or much known.

CHAPTER XVI.

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

HE varieties of a plant are, by Botanists, de-
signated by names intended to convey an
idea of certain characteristics, — the form
and consistency of the leaves — the arrange-
ment, number, size, and color of the flowers,
seed-vessels, &c. The varieties of roses,
however, have so few distinct characteristicSj
that amateurs find it difficult to give any name expressive of the
very slight shades of difference in the color or form of the flower.
Fanciful names have therefore been chosen, indiscriminately,
according to the taste of the grower ; and we thus find classed,
in brotherly nearness, Napoleon and Wellington, Q,ueen Vic-
toria and Louis Philippe, Othello and Wilberforce, with many
others. Any half-dozen English or French rose growers may
give the name of their favorite Wellington or Napoleon to a rose
raised by each of them, and entirely different, in form and color
fi-om the other five bearing the same name. Thus has arisen
the great confusion in rose nomenclature.

A still greater difficulty and confusion, however, exists in the
classification adopted by the various English and French rose
growers. By these, classes are multiplied and roses placed in
them without sufficient attention to their distinctive characters ;
these are subsequently changed to other classes, to the utter con-
fusion of those who are really desirous of attaining some know-
ledge of the respective varieties. Even Rivers, the most correct
of them all, has in several catalogues the same rose in as many

238 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

different classes, and his book may perhaps place it in another.
He thus. comments upon this constant change :

" Within the last ten years, how many plants have been
named and unnamed, classed and re-classed ! — Professor A. pla-
cing it here, and Dr. B. placing it there ! I can almost imagine
Dame Nature laughing in her sleeve, when our philosophers are
thus puzzled. Well, so it is, in a measure, with roses : a variety
has often equal claims to two classes. First impressions have
perhaps placed it in one, and there rival amateurs should let it
remain."

If there exists, then, this doubt of the proper class to which
many roses belong, we think it would be better to drop entirely
this sub-classification, and adopt some more general heads, mider
one of which every rose can be classed. It may often be difficult
to ascertain whether a rose is a Damask, a Provence, or a Hybrid
China ; but there can be no difficulty in ascertaining whether it
is dwarf or climbing, whether it blooms once or more in the year,
and whether the leaves are rough as in the Remontants, or
smooth as in the Bengals. We have therefore endeavored to
simplify the old classification, and have placed all roses under
three principal heads, viz. :

I. Those that make distinct and separate periods of bloom
throughout the season, as the Remontant Roses.

II. Those that bloom continually, without any temporary ces-
sation, as the Bourbon, China, &c.

HI. Those that bloom only once in the season, as the French
and others.

The first of these includes only the present Damask and Hy-
brid Perpetuals, and for these we know no term so expressive as
the French Remontant. Perpetual does not express their true
character.

The second general head we call Everblooming. This is
divided into five classes :

1. The Bourbon which are easily known by their luxuriant
growth and thick, large, leathery leaves. These are, moreover,
perfectly hardy.

GARDEN CLASSIFICATI N. 239

2. The China, which includes the present China, Tea, and
Noisette Roses, which are now much confused, as there are many
among the Teas which are not tea-scented, and among the Noi-
settes which do not bloom in clusters ; the)^ are, moreover, so
much alike in their growth and habit, that it is better each
should stand upon its own merits, and not on the characteristics
of an imaginary class.

3. Musk, known by its rather rougher foliage.

4. Macartney, known by its very rich, glossy foliage, almost
evergreen.

5. Microphylla, easily distinguished by its peculiar foliage
and straggling habit.

The third general head we divide again into five classes :

1. Garden Roses. This includes all the present French,
Provence, Hybrid Provence, Hybrid China, Hybrid Bourbon,
White, and Damask Roses, many of which, under the old ar-
rangement, differ more from others in their own class than from
many in another class.

2. Moss Roses, all of which are easily distinguished.

3. Briar Roses, which will include the Sweet-Briar, Hybrid
Sweet-Briar, and Austrian Briar.

4. The Scotch Rose.

5. Climbing Roses ; which are again divided into all the
distinctive subdivisions.

We had thought of making a separate group of roses that are
so robust as to need some support, and to call these Pillar Roses ;
but, for various reasons, deem it better to leave them among the
others for the present, simply designating them as Pillar. In
describing colors, we have given those which prevail. It is well
known that many roses are very variable in this respect, and
that the same flower will frequently be white or yellow, crimson
or blush, at different periods of its bloom. We have seen a plant •
produce several flowers totally unlike each other, one being
dark crimson and the other pale blush. We therefore describe
the prevailing color, and the cultivator should not be disap-
pointed if his rose, the first season, should not correspond with

240 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

the description ; neither should he be disappointed if a rose which
we describe as very double, should wath hiin prove very single.
Transplanting will often temporarily change the character of
roses, and they often refuse to develop themselves perfectly under
our hot sun, or in a poor soil. A second season is thus often
required to test them fairly. We have seen the fine rose figured
in this work, La Reine, semi-double and w^orthless at midsum-
mer, while at other seasons, and perhaps in a diflferent location,
it is fully equal, if not superior, to our engraving. It is fre-
quently til ■ nse, that roses imported from Europe, under glowing
descriptions, prove worthless the first season, but fully sustain
their character the second. We mention these things here, in
order that the amateur may be prepared for any temporary dis-
appointment that may occur. In describing two hundred choice
varieties, we have endeavored to select those whose character is
well established for superior and distinct qualities. There are
many equally good that have been necessarily omitted, and there
are also new varieties we have recently received from Europe,
which may prove superior to many we have named.

From this list of two hundred, the rose amateur may feel safe
in selecting, without incurring the risk of obtaining inferior vari-
eties. A descriptive catalogue of 3,000 kinds, with their syno-
nymes, will be found at the end of the work.

ROSES THAT BLOOM DURING THE WHOLE SEASON.

REMONTANT ROSES.

The term Remontant — signifying, literally, to grow again —
we have chosen to designate this class of roses, there being no
word in our own language equally expressive. They were for-
merly called Damask and Hybrid Perpetuals, but are distin-
guished from the true Perpetual or Everblooming Roses by their
peculiarity of distinct and separate periods of bloom. They
bloom with the other rose- in early summer, then cease for a

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 241

while, then make a fresh season of bloom, and thus through the
summer and autumn, differing entirely from the Bourbon and
Bengal Roses, which grow and bloom continually through the
summer. In order, therefore, to avoid confusion, we have
deemed it best to adopt the French term, Remontant.

These roses have generally been obtained by hybridization
betw^een the Hybrid China and Damask and the Bourbon and
China Roses, uniting the luxuriant growth and hardy character
of the two former with the everblooming qualities of the latter.
They are generally large, double, very fragrant, and bloom,
many of them, freely throughout the season. They are also
perfectly hardy, and grow well in any climate without protection.
These qualities render them very desirable, and they are fast
driving out of cultivation the Garden Roses, which bloom but
once, and during the rest of the season cumber the ground.
There are, it is true, among the latter some varieties like Ma-
dame Plantier, Clienedole, Persian Yellow, and others, that are
not equaled by any varieties existing among the Remontants.
Such, however, is the skill now exerted by rose growers, that
this will not long be the case, and we may hope soon to have
among tlie Remontants, roses of every shade of color, with the
snow-like whiteness of Mad. Plantier, the golden richness of Per-
sian Yellow, or the peculiar brilliancy of Chenedole.

These roses are difficult of propagation in any other way than
budding, and two or three varieties only will readily take from
cuttings. When budded on strong stocks, however, they will
nearly all make luxuriant shoots and show an abundant bloom.
The following varieties are among the most esteemed for various
excellent qualities. The other varieties will be found in the list
at the end of the work.

Amanda Patenotte is a new rose, and one of a class re-
cently originated by Vibert, having the scent of the Dog Rose.
It has large, bright, rose-colored flowers, very double, and globu-
lar. It is also very fragrant.

Aubernon is a brilliant and beautiful crimson rose, opens
well, and blooms abundantly throughout the season.

21

242 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

Augustine Mouchelet is a beautiful and desirable variety.
Its color is a rich velvety crimson, slightly shaded, and much re-
sembling La Reine. As a forcing rose it is not surpassed by any
in this class, and, under our glass, has scarcely been equaled the
past two seasons. It has all the fragrance of the Damask Rose,
opens Vvell, and blooms abundantly. In the open ground, how-
ever, it is not equal to some other varieties.

Baronne Prevost is one of the very bestjof this class, bloom-
ing freely in autumn, and producing very fragrant flowers, of a
bright rose color. It is also of luxuriant growth, and large, rich
foliage.

Bernard is a desirable rose, with small but very fragrant
flovv^ers. Tlj'jy are well formed and double, and their color a
light carmine tinted with salmon.

Blanche Vibert is one of the new white roses received this
season from Vibert. It is of the same class with Amanda Pate-
notte, and one of the few white Remontants. It is of medium
size and double, slightly inclines to yellow when it first opens,
and blooms profusely throughout the season. It was considered
so great an acquisition in Paris, that our correspondent there in-
voiced it to us last spring at thirty-two francs.

Comte d'Eu is a fine rose, opening and blooming freely. lis
color is a bright carmine, inclining to scarlet, its foliage and
flower somewhat resembling those of Gloire de Rosamene, al-
though not possessinig the pillar habit of that luxuriant rose.
Its form is cupped.

Comte de Paris is one of the best, growing and bloomisig
freely throughout the summer. It is double and globular, and
possesses a very agreeable tea scent. Its color is light crimson
with a shade of lilac.

Comtesse Duchatel is a cupped and large flower, \ cry
double, fragrant and perfect. Its color is a bright rose.

Crimson Perpetual is an old rose, and one of the very best.
Its form is cupped ; its color is rich crimson ; and its fragrance
delightful. A small bed of these will furnish an abundance of
flowers through the whole season. It very rarely will flourish on

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 243

its own root, but will make luxuriant growths when budded on a
strong stock. It was introduced by Calvert, a nurseryman of
Rouen, in France, having been originated by Lelieur, the gardener
of Louis XVIIL, at Sevres, who wished to name it after himself.
The rose was, however, so much admired, that the minister
wished it named Rose da Roi, and appealed to the king, who
decided in the minister's favor, when Lelieur immediately re-
signed his situation.

Dr. Marx is a hardy and luxuriant growing rose, blooms freely
throughout the summer and autumn, and is very fragrant. Its
shape is cupped and fine, and its color a bright, rosy carmine.

Due d'Aumale is a new and thrifty variety, with beautiful
and very fragrant flowers of a bright crimson.

Duchess of Sutherland is a very beautiful cupped rose. Its
growth and foliage are very luxuriant, and its color delicate rose.
It cannot however be relied upon for an autumnal bloom.

Eliza Balcombe is one of the new white Remontants. Its
flowers are well formed and small, sometimes slightly tinted with
blush, and blooming in clusters. Like the other white Remon-
tants, it is a desirable acquisition to this class.

Ernestine de Barente is one of the new French roses, and
is indeed a beautiful little flower, very regularly cupped, very
double, and in shape much resembling a fine double Ranunculus.
Its size is scarcely larger than a quarter dollar, and its color is a
bright pink. With its delicate, small, dark foliage, good habit,
perfect hardiness, and abundant blooming qualities, it forms one
of the most desirable little floral gems we know.

Earl Talbot is a very double and fragrant rose, of the largest
size. Its color is a deep rose, and it is well adapted for a warm,
dry climate, and for forcing.

Lady Alice Peel is a very perfect and beautiful rose, finely
cupped and very double. Its color is deep pink, often veined
with red.

La Reini: is the largest Remontant rose known. It is beau-
tifully cupped, almost globular, very double, and very fragrant.
Its color is a brilliant rose, sligjitly tinged with lilac, and as

244 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

bloomed in our grounds, is not at all inferior to the frontispiece.
Its foliage and habit are very good, and it may fairly rank as one
of the most magnificent roses. It owes its origin to Laffay, and
made its appearance in 1843.

Laurence de Montmorency is a new and very fine variety.
Its flowers are cupped, well formed, large, and very double. Their
color is a deep, rosy pink, tinted with lilac.

Madame Laffay is unsurpassed in beauty of form and bril-
liancy of color. Its beautifully cupped form is almost perfect,
although of medium size. Its fine, large foliage, and its very
fragrant flowers of a glowing, rosy crimson, place it at the very
head of this class. It blooms freely throughout the summer and
autumn, and its form and color render it, like Chenedole, striking
among a thousand flowers.

Marquise B09ELLA is a rose of very robust but rather dwarf
habit, with stiff and erect flower-stems. Its flower is fragrant,
large, very double, and of a pale rose color. It is a free bloomer,
and one of the best of the pale Remontant roses.

Mauget. This is one of a new class of Moss Roses, bloom-
ing in the autumn. It is of medium size, double, and of a deep
rose color, and is valuable as a mossy Remontant. It will
probably give rise to an interesting series of new varieties.

MoGADOR is a very double and superb rose, of robust habit.
Its form is beautifully cupped, and its color a brilliant crimson,
slightly shaded with purple. The above name is one of its
synonymes, but we have chosen it as being rather more pro-
nounceable than its legitimate name of Rose du Roi ajleiirs
ponrpres, or even that given it by the English rose growers, of
Superb Crimson Peiyetual. We think it always better to guard
against confusion; and there is already one Crimson Perpetual.

PoMPONE de Ste. Radegonde is one of the new roses, and
is a most abundant bloomer throughout the summer and autumn,
sometimes almost hiding the foliage with its flowers. These are
well formed and of a deep rose color, inclining to violet.

Prince Albert is one of the most beautiful of this class,
scarcely second to any but Mad. Laffay. Its flowers are double,

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 245

finely formed, and unusually fragrant. Its color is a deep crim-
son purple, and it is one of the best forcing roses.

Prince of Wales is a remarkably vigorous and luxuriant
growing variety. In good soils it would make a fine pillar rose.
Its flowers are produced in very large clusters, and are of a bright
rose color tinted with lilac.

Prudence Raeser is a very fragrant rose, blooming in large
and very beautiful clusters. Its flowers are cupped, finely formed,
and of medium size. Its color is pale rose with fawn centre.
Every shoot gives a cluster of flowers throughout the summer
and autumn, and it is well adapted for pillars.

Reine de la Guillotiere is a free blooming rose, with
glossy foliage and brilliant crimson flowers.

Rivers is one of the best cupped roses, blooming abundantly
all the autumn, and producing its large, crimson flowers in beau-
tiful clusters.

Robin Hood is a very symmetrical and perfect rose, very fra-
grant, and of a deep, rosy pink. Its finely cupped flowers are
produced in large clusters.

Stanwell is a Scotch Remontant, and has the peculiar fohage
and habit of the Scotch roses. Its flowers are large, blush-
colored, and rather flat. It is an abundant and constant bloomer
throughout the season, and its peculiar, delightful fragrance ren-
ders it very desirable.

William Jesse is one of the very largest roses iu this class,
scarcely second in size to La Reine. Its flowers open freely, but
require good culture to be produced abundantly in the autumn.
Its form is cupped, and its color crimson, with a tinge of lilac.

The directions for the culture of Remontant rose.^ are very
much the same as for roses in general, and will be found in a
preceding chapter. In order to ensure a perfect autumnal bloom,
it is well to shorten a large number of the flower-bearing shoots,
as soon as the flower buds appear early in summer; for there is
then a great abundance of summer roses, and these are not
needed. The plant will then furnish a fine bloom the latter part
of summer, and through the autumn. The faded blooms should

21*

246 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

also be removed from the plant, as, if left to form seed-vessels,
much of the sap is diverted from the support of the yomig shoots.
For forcing (according to directions given in a preceding chapter)
the Remontant Roses are very beautiful. From their luxuriant
growth they also form very fine tree roses. A few varieties, in the
list at the end of the work, will sometimes make barren shoots. As
soon as this is perceived, they should be cut down to eight or ten
buds, and will then generally give flowering branches.

The Remontant is a valuable class of roses, and will doubtless
soon furnish so great a variation in form and color as to drive
out of cultivation the old summer varieties.

EVERBLOOMING ROSES.

These roses are distinguished from the Remontant by bloom-
ing continually throughout the season, without any temporary
oessation. They include the Bourbon, the Bengal and its sub-
varieties, the Tea and Noisette, the Musk, the Macartney, and
the Microphylla Roses. They number almost every variety of
form and color, and their character of constant blooming renders
them very desirable wherever the climate will allow their culti-
vation.

BOURBON ROSBS.

For this latitude, or even that of Albany and Boston, this is
perhaps the most desirable class of roses ; and even in the Southern
States, its valuable qualities will make it a formidable competitor
for the Tea-scented Rose. These qualities are, its perfect hardi-
ness, its very thick, leathery foliage, its luxuriant growth, its con-
stant bloom, and its thick, velvety petals of a consistency to endure
even the burning heat of a tropical sun. It w^as introduced into
France by Jacques, head gardener of the Duke of Orleans, at
Neuilly, w4io received it in 1819 from Breon, director of the royal
gardens, in the Isle of Bourbon. The following account of its
origin is given by Breon, and is also mentioned by Rivers ;

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 247

"At the Isle of Bourbon, the inhabitants generally inclose their
land with hedges made of two rows of roses ; one row of the com-
mon China Rose, the other of the Red Fom* Seasons. M. Peri-
chon, a planter in the island, found in one of these hedges a
young plant, differing very much from the others in its shoots
and foliage. This he transplanted into his garden. It flowered
the following year, and proved to be of a new race, and very differ-
ent from the above two roses, w^hich at that time were the only
varieties known in the island."

Its resemblance to the Bengal Rose was, however, so strong,
that it was soon considered a variety of that species. Its char-
acteristics, are, however, so entirely difTerent from the Bengal,
particularly in its entire hardiness, that w^e give it a separate
place in our garden classification. To tlie French we owe nearly
all the varieties of this class which have been produced from the
original semi-double rose, or Bourl)on Jacques, as it was called.
Of these varieties, the following are distinct, and possess many
charming qualities that cannot fail to gratify the amateur :

Augustine Lelieur is one of the most brilliant and beautiful
of this class, with erect, bell-shaped flowers. Its form is cupped,
and its color vivid rose.

BouauET de Flore is a superb cupped rose, with large, double
and fragrant flowers of a deep carmine. In rich soils^ it will
make a good pillar rose.

Charlemagne is a new and very beautiful rose, grown by
Dorisy, a French cultivator. It is a large flower, with pointed
petals, Ijlooming freely, and of vigorous habit. Its color is
variable ; sometimes white, and sometimes rose and carmine.

CoMiCE DE Seine et Marne is a new and superb cupped
rose, with brilliant crimson flowers.

Comte de Rambuteau is a rose of fine foliage and habit. Its
flower is cupped, and of a deep crimson hue, tinged with lilac.
It is well adapted for forcing.

Dr. Chaillot is new and very distinct. Its flower is of me-
dium size, delicate roso c^-lor, and very beautiful.

248 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

Edouard Desfosses is a very beautiful cupped rose, of very
symmetrical shape. Its color is a bright rose.

Emile Courtier is one of the finest roses of this group. Its
form is cupped, double and* perfect, and its color is deep rose.

Enfant d'Ajaccio is a very robust growing rose, making
shoots twelve or fifteen feet long. As a pillar rose, or even a
climber, it is perhaps the best of this group. Its flower is double,
cupped, very fragrant, and of a brilliant scarlet crimson.

George Cuvier is a very distinct rose, with cupped and ele-
gant flowers. Its color is a beautiful light cherry.

Gloire de Rosamene is a rose of very luxuriant growth and
large foliage. It will make longer shoots in the same period than
any other rose in this group, and will form a good pillar rose or
climber. It is an abundant bloomer, and its flowers are cupped,
large, semi-double, and of a brilliant deep scarlet. .

Grand Capitaine is a fine cupped rose, with serrated foliage.
Its color is a brilliant velvety scarlet.

IIermosa is an old variety, but still one of the very best of
this group. Its form is cupped, very double and perfect, and no
rose blooms more abundantly, either forced or in the open ground.
Its color is delicate rose. The plant is of medium growth, and
well adapted, for grouping or for planting in beds with Mrs. Bo-
sanquet and Agrippina.

Imperatrice .Iosephine is a very beautiful variety, bloom-
ing in iminenbc clusters of a delicate pink. Its form is cupped,
and the very robust habit of the plant makes it a good pillar rose.

Julie de Loynes is a fragrant white rose, blooming in clus-
ters. This is an instance of the disadvantage of the old classi-
fication, having been placed alternately among the Noisettes and
Bourbons. Its foliage and habit, however, make it clearly a
Bourbon.

Lavinie d'Ost is a large and very double variety, of a pale
rose-color. Its form is cupped, and its very vigorous habit adapts
it well for pillars.

Leveson Gower is a new rose, of so great merit as to com-
mand twenty-five francs in Paris. It is very large and double,

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 249

and of a deep rose color. It is said to be fully equal in form to
Souvenir de Malmaison, and if so, will prove a superb variety.
Although a very beautiful rose, it has not bloomed sufficiently
long- in our grounds to test its claims to the above high character.

Madame Angelina is a very distinct and beautiful variety,
resembling Queen of Bourbons in habit. Its flowers are cupped,
double, finely formed, and of a lovely pale-creamy fawn color.

Madame Aubis is a vigorous growing rose, and suitable for
pillars. Its flowers are cupped, finely formed, large, and of a
bright rose color. Many of these roses are suitable for pillars, if
well cultivated and watered with liquid manure, either from the
barn-yard or made with two pounds of guano to twelve gallons
of water.

Madame Desprez is a very robust rose, blooming in larger
clusters than any other of this class. Its form is cupped and
very double, its color is a rosy lilac, and its luxuriant growth
makes it one of the best pillar roses.

Madame Lacharme is a new variety, of the same habit as
the preceding. Its flowers are of a rich blush, inclining to white.
It blooms in clusters of beautifully-formed and double flowers.

Madame Nerard is a fragrant and very perfectly-shaped
rose, of a delicate blusli color.

Menoux is a new and very brilliant scarlet rose. Its form is
cupped and fine, and it is one of the most beautiful dwarf-grow-
ing roses.

Paul Joseph is the most beautiful of the dark, purplish-crim-
son roses. Its growth is robust and luxuriant, and its large,
thick, deep glossy-green foliage contrasts well with its brilliant
crimson flowers.

Premices des Charpennes is a new, delicate rose-colored
variety, of moderate growth. Its flower is cupped, and its petals
are regular and unusually pointed.

Q,UEEN is a veiy beautiful and delicate rose-colored variety,
slightly tinged with buff. It is cupped, very fragrant, large, and
double, and its petals are arranged with a beautiful, wax-like
regularity.

250 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

Reine des Vierges is a new rose, much resembling Souvenir
de Malmaison. Its flowers are more pale, and smaller than that
variety, but perfect and regular in their shape.

SoucHET is a new and very fine variety, with large, double,
and perfectly cupped flowers. Its color is dark-crimson, shaded
with purple.

Souvenir de Malmaison is altogether the most perfect and
superb rose of this or any other class. It was originated by Be-
luze, a Frenchman. Its flov/ers are cupped and of very perfect
form, very double, with thick, velvety petals ; they are of the
largest size, often four to five inches in diameter, and their color
delicate blush, with a rich tint of cream. Its large and very
luxuriant foliage, compact habit, and flowers of exceeding beauty,
render this the very finest rose known. We should have figured
it, had we been familiar with its beauty at the time our engrav-
ings were executed.

Splendens is a fragrant rose, of robust and very luxuriant
habit. It opens well, and is an abundant bloomer. Its color is
rich purplish-crimson, and its leaves are remarkably large and
beautiful. It Vvill make a good pillar rose.

Triomphe de la Guillotiere is one of the most vigorous
pillar roses of this family. It blooms in large clusters of deep
rosy-red flowers.

Many of these varieties of Bourbon roses are well adapted for
pot-culture and forcing. For window culture some of them are
unsurpassed, when budded on strong stocks. Nearly all of them
are so difficult of propagation by cuttings, that they will be
found budded, in most of the nurseries. When planted in groups
in a rich soil, and with a skilful blending of colors, they will pre-
sent a beautiful show of leaf and flower throughout the season ;
they make, also, fine standards for a lawn, and many of them are
almost sufficiently luxuriant to make a good hedge. They do
not require so much pruning as Perpetuals, but should be thinned
out in the winter, and shortened to half a dozen buds. We hope
to see this class of roses more generally cultivated, for it is cer-

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 251

tainly not surpassed by any other, and in many important quali-
ties it is unequaled.

CHINA ROSES.

It is now nearly half a century since this abundant blooming
rose was introduced into Europe from India, and was called the
Bengal Rose. It was, however, not indigenous to India, but was
brought to that country from China. It is, therefore, more ap-
propriately called the China Rose. The numerous varieties have
been produced from two distinct species — Rosa Indica and Rosa
Semperflorens ; but the garden varieties from these distinct spe-
cies have so run into each other, that it is impossible to classify
them by their parentage. Next to the Bourbon, this is perhaps
the most valuable class of roses ; but, in this chmate, need pro-
tection from the cold. This, however, can be easily afTorded by
means of salt hay or straw. They bloom most freely and abun-
dantly— flower succeeding bud and bud succeeding bloom through-
out the whole season. Such is their ever-blooming nature, that,
if brought into a mild temperature on the approach of cold
weather and properly pruned, they will bloom the v>'hole year
without cessation. This quality renders them peculiarly adapted
for early and late forcing and for window culture ; for, by means
of them a regular succession of abundant bloom can be enjoyed
during what are deemed the dreariest months of the year. This
class is also valuable for the great range of color taken by its
varieties. When planted in a good soil, it grows very thriftily
and makes strong shoots. A French writer speaks of a plant of
this species in the vicinity of Paris, which was twice the height
of a man, and formed a bush so thick that four persons could
scarcely embrace it. At the time of its first bloom, this bush was
said to have borne some two to three thousand flovv^ers, and during
the remainder of the season bore many hundreds at a time. In
some parts of Europe it is used for making hedges, which are
regularly pruned with shears, and arbors are also formed, from
nine to ten feet high, which are generally in bloom during nine
months of the year.

252 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

Audot, in his "Notes sur les Jardins d'ltalie," speaks of hav-
ing seen, in the garden of an EngUshman named Mills, on the
site of the ancient imperial palaces at Rome, a number of rose
arcades, called, by the Italians, Pergoles (see fig. 17). The
columns or posts which formed them were about nine feet high,
and the same distance apart. This pergole was constructed of
very light material, and entirely covered with a free-growing
variety of the China Rose, which is never injured by the cold in
the mild climate of Italy. " It is impossible," says Audot, " to
conceive a more splendid bloom than that of these roses, trained
upon pergoles so graceful. The foliage disappeared under the
gorgeous drapery of glittering roses."

This rose is particularly adapted for bedding out upon a lawn.
Now that an improved taste is discarding the old and regular
flower-garden, and in its place beds and patches of flowers are
scattered about the lawn, there are few objects more beautiful
than circular or oval beds of China roses, scattered in graceful
irregularity, and intermingled with groups of trees and shrubs.
They should be kept free from weeds, and when the soil is rich
and the thrifty young shoots are kept pegged down, these slashes
will present a beautiful mass of foliage and bloom in every va-
riety of color. It frequently happens that the grounds about a
house are of such a nature as to require several terraces. A very
beautiful display can be formed by planting the perpendicular or
sloping sides of these terraces with dwarf-growing China Roses,
which, when kept pegged down, and in dry weather occasionally
watered, will present a rich and glowing mass of bloom.

It is since the advent of the China Rose and its congeners, the
Bourbons and Remontants, that the rose can be said to have
taken its true place as the most valuable flower of the garden.
While the rose was only known as blooming once in the season,
there was some excuse for the preference given to hyacinths,
tulips, carnations, &c. ; but at this time, while the latter require
so very careful culture, and then bloom but for a short time, they
cannot compare in value with the many varieties of Remontant,
Bourbon, and China Roses, which furnish a constant succession

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 253

of bloom throughout the season. The Tea and Noisette Roses
have been generally classed distinct from the China ; they are,
however, but varieties of the latter, and there is so much confu-
sion in the old classification, that the amateur is frequently mis-
led. Many of the roses now classed among the China have a
strong tea scent, and many of the present Tea Roses have very
little fragrance. The characteristic of the Noisette Rose is un-
derstood to be its cluster-blooming habit. In the Noisette Roses,
however, as formerly classed, there are some varieties that do not
bloom in clusters, and a^nong the China, Tea, and Bourbon,
many that frequently bloom in clusters. With this confusion
existing, we have thought it best to place them altogether under
their true head of China Roses. For the benefit of those who
may have been accustomed to the old classification, we have
given each its old designation of Tea or Noisette, as classed by
Rivers, Vibert, and others.

The original variety of the Tea Rose was imported from China
into France in 1810, and the yellow variety in 1824. Many of
the tea-scented varieties have thick, rich petals, fine foliage, and
beautiful colors ; they are, however, more tender than others. In
the warm climate of Italy and our Southern States they grow
and bloom most beautifully, and are general favorites. Above
all other roses, they require a rich soil, with a dry bottom and
a sheltered situation ; they will sometimes endure our winters
with the thermometer at zero, but it is better to protect them by
means of straw and hay, or of boards upon low stakes. Perhaps
the least troublesome way of protecting them is, to have one or
more hot-bed frames, six feet by twelve and about a foot and
a half or two feet deep. This can be set several inches in the
ground, and litter of any kind placed around the sides. The
roses can be carefully taken up, and planted in this frame aa
thick as they will stand. The top can then be covered with
boards a little slanting, to carry off the rain, and the plants will
be suflTiciently protected. If the weather is very severe, some
litter can also be placed upon the top. The whole can be made of
rough boards very cheaply, and will protect a great many plants.

22

254 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

The original Noisette Rose is stated, both by EngHsh and
French writers, to have be«n introduced into France by Louis
Noisette, the author of a work on fruits, who received it, early in
the present century, from his brother in Charleston, S. C. An
English writer, however, contradicts this, and states that it was
raised in Long Island, whence a plant was taken to Rouen by
one Landorme, some time before Noisette received his plant from
America. Be this as it may, the variety was much admired in
Paris, and very soon all roses blooming in clusters began to be
called Noisettes, even when hke Smithii, Chromatella, and others,
they had very few of the distinctive characters of the first Noisette
Rose, for the true Noisette roses are distinct both in habit and
bloom. The original Noisette was at first thought a Musk Rose,
being precisely similar to a variety raised from the seed of the
Musk Rose by M. Robeit, overseer of the Marine Garden at
Toulon, in France. Subsequently, various writers and botanists,
Loudon among them, have made it a variety of the Bengal Rose.
With this authority, and with the fact before us that the lines of
difference between the old China, Tea, and Noisette Roses very
much run into each other, we think we are fully warranted in
the adoption of our present classification, which is intended less
for the benefit of the botanist or the nurseryman than for the con-
venience of the amateur.

Like other classes, this of the China Rose includes a great
number of varieties, which, with their synonymes, may be found
at the end of the work. The following are some of the best, and
their quality is such as to ensure the amateur good varieties,
whichever of them he may select :

Adam, T., is one of the finest new tea-scented roses. Its
flowers are cupped, very double and large, and of perfect form.
It is very fragrant, and its color is a rich, glossy rose.

Agrippina, though an old rose, is still one of the best and
most popular of its class. As a forcing rose, and for an abundance
of bloom, it is largely cultivated by bouquet venders. It is cupped,
beautifully formed, and of a rich, brilliant crimson, with a deli-

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 253

cate white stnpe in the centre of each petal. It is one of the
most hardy and desirable of the old China Roses.

AiMEE Plantier is a fine, large rose, cupped and very double.
Its color is bright fawn, tinted with blush, and it is one of the
hardiest of the class.

AiMEE ViBERT, N., is One of the most beautiful of the Noisette
or cluster-flowering roses. It blooms freely through the season,
is tolerably hardy, and produces an abundance of small, snow-
white flowers, in fine clusters.

Archduke Charles is a fine cupped and hardy rose (in this
class we always use hardy comparatively). Its color is rose,
changing to crimson during expansion, and having frequently a
beautiful carnation-like appearance.

Augustine Hersent is a very hardy and luxuriant-growing
variety, of distinct character ; its form is cupped, and its color a
fine bright rose.

Barbot, T., is a very large cupped rose, tea-scented and of a
beautiful fawn color.

BocAGE, T., is a very beautiful new tea-scented variety. Ita
flowers are large and double, and of a delicate white, tinged with
yellow.

BouGERE, T., is a very large, superb rose, one of the very best
of the tea-scented varieties. Its form is cupped, and its color a
rich, glossy, bronzed rose.

Boulogne, N., is a brilliant cupped rose, blooming in clusters
of a deep crimson-purple.

Bouquet tout fait, N., is a very luxuriant-growing pillar
rose, blooming in immense clusters. It is very fragrant, and its
color is creamy white, with buff" toward the centre.

Caprice des Dames is a very beautiful little miniature rose,
formerly classed with others of the same character, under the
name of Rosa Lawrenceana. Its foliage is beautiful and deli-
cate, and its very small, fairy flowers are of a bright rose color.
For window culture these little miniature roses are very beautiful.

Caroline, T., is a fine variety, with very double and perfect
flowers, of a bright rose color.

256

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

Chromatella, N., is a truly magnificent and splendid rose,
raised at Angers (France), from Lamarque ; and, as bloomed in
our vinery and grounds, is fully equal to our engraving. It is of
robust habit, and its luxuriant shoots would make it a fine pillar
rose. Its leaves are large and glossy, with a beautiful, rich pur-
ple edge when young., The bud is of a rich cream color, but
when the large globular flower is fully expanded, its color is a
brilliant and beautiful yellow, with petals whose thickness will
endure the hottest sun without fading. When the plant is young,
it is rather a shy bloomer, but when of some age and in a good
soil and location, nothing can exceed the magnificence of its
superb flowers. In our grounds it has endured our coldest win-
ters, but it would be safest to protect it.

Clara Sylvain is one of the best white roses of the old
China class. It grows very freely, and gives its globular, pure
white and fragrant flowers in the greatest abundance.

Clarissa Harlowe, N., is a fine cluster-flowering variety,
with very large and double flowers, of a pale blush color. Its
vigorous and luxuriant growth adapts it well for pillars.

Comte de Paris, T., is a superb cupped and tea-scented
rose, whose magnificent size and hardy, robust nature fully com-
pensate for its deficiency of petals, when fully expanded. Its
foliage is large, its growth is very luxuriant, and its flowers of a
pale rose color.

CoMTE Osmond, T., is a new and fine rose, with very double
flowers, of a beautiful cream color.

Daily Blush is one of the oldest China Roses, but one of the
very best. There can be nothing more perfect than its half-
expanded bud, of a light crimson, inclining to blush. It com-
mences blooming among the earliest, and, if the old seed-vessels
are picked oflf, will continue to bloom abundantly through the
summer and autumn, even after severe frosts. It is one of the
hardiest of the class, and if left in this latitude unprotected dur-
ing the winter, will lose no more wood than it will be necessary
to cut out in the spring. It grows freely, and making a stifle, up-
right bush, would be well adapted for a hedge — the winter per-

GARDEN «CLASSIFICATION. 257

forming the office of the shears. We recollect seeing at Genoa,
in Italy, a beautiful hedge of this rose, which, even at that time,
in mid-winter, had not lost all its foliage. We can imagine few
things more beautiful than a well- cultivated hedge of this rose,
with its smooth, glossy foliage well sprinkled with the beautiful
ruby-tinted buds.

Daily White is very similar to the preceding, in eveiything
but the color of its flowers, which are pure white. Like the
other, its fully expanded flowers are inferior to many other varie-
ties, but its half-blown buds are very perfect, and make it a de-
sirable plant for the bouquet-maker.

Devoniensis, T., is a very beautiful rose, of immense size.
Like Chromatella, it is sometimes a shy bloomer when young,
but is well adapted for forcing. Its form is cupped, and its color
a fine creamy white, tinted with rose.

Duchess of Kent is a very beautiful variety. It is very
double, with a perfect form, and of a delicate blush and pink
color.

DucHEssE DE Mecklenburgh, T., is a very beautiful tea-
scented variety, with very large cupped flowers, of a creamy
yellow or straw color.

Eclair de Jupiter, N., is a very distinct pillar rose, of most
luxuriant habit. Its flowers are cupped, semi-double, and large.
The inside of the petals is of a hght vivid crimson, and the out-
side of a peculiar whitish appearance, as if powdered.

Eliza Sauvage, T., is one of the finest of the tea-scented
roses. Its habit is good, its bloom is free and abundant, and its
very large and double globular flowers are of a fine pale yellow,
with orange centre.

Eugenie Jovin, T., is one of the best of the new roses, scarcely
inferior to any in this list. Its flowers are large, abundant, and
of a flesh-colored white, slightly tinted with fawn.

Fabvier is a good rose, and hardy. It is desirable for its
disliiict flowers, whose color is a very brilliant .and beautiful
Fcarlct.

F}:i.;.j%?iTirno, N., is one of the finest crimson cluster-blooming

22*

258 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

roses. Its form is cupped, its color brilliant crimson, and when
well grown, is of very good habit.

GouBAULT, T., is one of the most hardy of the tea-scented
roses, and its growth is luxuriant. It is very fragrant, its form
is cupped, and its color bright rose.

Grandiflora is one of the most luxuriant and robust of the
old China Roses, and a distinct, excellent variety. Jts flowers
are crimson, globular, and of the largest size.

Jaune Desprez, N., is an old variety of first-rate excellence,
and scarcely surpassed by any in this list. Its form is cupped,
and its color a singular rosy-copper, inclining to fawn. It is
of large size, and its delightful fragrance is sufficient to perfume
a distance of many yards. It is very hardy, and of robust and
luxuriant growth, making a fine pillar of twelve to fifteen feet in
height.

Josephine Malton, T., is a beautiful tea-scented variety,
with finely-cupped and large flowers, of a creamy white. Its
hardy and robust nature, combined with its beauty of form and
color, render it a very desirable rose.

Julie Mans a is, T., is a large and superb tea-scented rose,
globular, and very fragrant. Its color is white, with lemon centre.

Lamarque, N., is a well-known and superb variety, whose
very vigorous growth adapts it well for a pillar, or even for a
climber, as in rich soils and favorable locations it will make
shoots of fifteen feet in a season. When budded on a strong
stock, few roses can surpass its large cupped and straw-colored
flowers, weighing down the stems with their weight. It is a
fragrant and most desirable variety.

Lyonnais, T., is a hardy and very large rose, of a pale flesh-
color, and blooming freely. Its half-opened buds are really beau-
tiful.

Madame Breon is one of the new China Roses, and one of
the very best. Its flowers are very large and double, beautifully
cupped, and of a brilliant rose color. Few of the old China Roses
can surpass it.

Marshal Bugeaud, T., is a new and superb tea-scented

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 259

rose. Its habit is very luxuriant and robust, and its shoots are
armed with large and stout tliorns. Its cupped and beautifully-
formed llowers are large, very double, and of a bright rose color.

Moire, T., is one of the best tea-scented roses for a hot cli-
mate, having very thick petals. Its form is cupped and large,
and its color a beautiful fawn, tinted sometimes with cream and
rose.

Mrs. Bosanquet is one of the most desirable of the old China
Roses, and there are few in any other class that can surpass it.
Its growth is luxuriant, and its superb cupped, wax-like flowers,
are of a delicate flesh-color, and are produced in the greatest
abundance.

Narcisse, N., is a new and very beautiful yellow rose, bloom-
ing freely in clusters. Its form is rather expanded, when fully
open, but its buds are beautiful. Its good habit, its abundant
blooming quality, and its fine color, render it one of the very best
of the yellow roses.

Ne Plus Ultra, N., is one of the best of the cream-colored
roses. Its form is cupped, it is very fragrant, and is well adapted
for forcing.

Opiiire, N., is a medium-sized rose, of a very singular color,
entirely diflerent from any other rose known, being a bright
sahuon, almost saffron. It blooms in clusters, and its luxuriant
habit would make it a good pillar rose.

Pactole, N., is one of the very best of the cluster-flowering
roses. Its form is cupped, and its color pale sulphur, with a
deep yellow centre. It blooms very abundantly, and is robust
and hardy.

Phaloe, N., is one of the new cluster-flowering roses, and is
very beautiful. It is an abundant bloomer, and its large flowers
are of a whitish-fawn color, beautifully clouded with rose.

PouRPRE de Tyr, N., is a new variety, large and very double,
with brilliant crimson flowers. Its robust habit and its large,
dark-green foliage, make it a good pillar rose.

Prince Charles is a beautiful cupped rose, with large and
globular flowers of a brilliant carmine.

260 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

Princesse Adelaide, T.,. is a highly improved Ajariety of
the old Yellow Tea Rose, and of deeper color. Its flowers are
cupped, large, and very double.

Princesse Marie, T., is one of the finest tea-scented roses.
Its flowers are very large, often more than four inches in diame-
ter, and of a dark flesh-color.

Retour du Printemps is a very pretty miniature rose, for-
merly classed as Rosa Lawrenceana. It is quite distinct, with
bright rose-colored and cupped flowers, surrounded by a curious
calyx. The plant is as luxuriant as any of its congeners, and
the leaves are deeply tinged with red.

Safrano, T., is scarcely excelled by any rose. Its half-
opened bud is very beautiful, and of a rich deep fawn color.
When open, its form is cupped, and its color a much lighter
fawn. These fawn-colored roses have peculiar charms for us;
and of them all, there are none more beautiful or richer than
Safrano.

Silene, T., is a very beautiful tea-scented rose, cupped, very
double, and fragrant. Its color is rose, shaded with crimson, and
the plant is hardy and of luxuriant growth.

Smitiiii, N., although an old rose, is one of the very finest we
possess. Its form is large and globular, and, when full-blown, is
of a rich straw color, with j^ellow centre. Its half-expanded buds
are beautifully formed, and of a rich yellow. It blooms in clus-
ters, opens freely, and is a very luxuriant grower.

SoLFATERRE, N., is another superb rose, of very much the
same character. Its flowers are large and globular, inclining to
flat, and their color bright lemon. When half opened, the buds
are superb. Like Chromatella (and. Lamarque, the parent of
both), its growth is very luxuriant. Rivers mentions a plant
which threw out a shoot from a single bud eighteen feet in
one season, and the next season was covered with flower-
buds.

Souvenir d'un Ami, T., is a new tea-scented rose, purchased
in France for 15 francs ; and with none of the high-priced roses
have we been so well pleased as with this. It is indeed the

gardi:n classification. 261

queen of the tea-scented roses, and will rank the very first among
them. Its habit is good, it blooms freely, and its large and beau-
tifully imbricated flowers, when open, much resemble in form
those of Souvenir de Malmaison. Its color is a delicate salmon,
shaded with rose, and its general character highly recommends
it as first-rate in every respect.

Strombiot, T., is an old tea-scented variety, but still one of
the finest. Its habit is good, and its large flowers are beautiful
and cream-colored.

Sully is a new and very beautiful rose. Its flowers are finely
cupped, large, very double, and quite fragrant. Its color is a
pale rose, shaded with fawn.

Triomphe de Litxembourg, T., is an old and well-known
tea-scented variety, and remarkably fine. On its first appear-
ance, it was sold in Paris as high as 40 francs per plant. Its
cupped flowers are of immense size, and, when half-blown, of
great beauty. Their color is buff'-rose, slightly tinged with yel-
low. The plant is of luxuriant growth.

In the preceding list, we have given some of the best varieties
of the China Rose, and trust the amateur will find no difficulty
in selecting. Many of the varieties we have designated as pillar
roses ; and these, so trained, would be beautiful objects on a lawn,
either singly, or in groups of three to a dozen. Where the height
of the pillars can be gently graduated to the highest in the centre,
the effect will be very fine. In the chapter on Culture, we have
given more particular directions for pillar cultivation. Many of
the luxuriant growing varieties can be trained upon a common
pale fence, and will cover it with flowers and foliage the whole
season. Straw can be easily thatched over to protect them from
the severity of winter, or bass mats would be still better. There
is another very beautiful mode of cultivating the most dehcate
of these tea-scented roses, Avhich we have never seen adopted,
but which we are confident would produce a very fine effect. A
large three or four gallon pot should be procured, and painted
green on the outside ; a locust post should then be obtained, some

262 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

three or four inches in diameter, and five to twelve feet in height,
according to the usual length of the shoots of the variety of rose
to be planted. Upon the top of this post can be placed a circular
or square piece of board, the diameter of the bottom of the pot.
The post should then be planted firmly in the ground and painted
green. Fill the pot with rich soil, as directed in a preceding
chapter ; plant in it one or two roses of pillar varieties, and place
it on the top of the post. The surface of the soil should then be
covered with moss, and if the sides can also be covered, the good
effect will be enhanced. The plants, if strong, will soon throw
out long, graceful shoots, which, drooping to the grovmd, will
hide the pot and post, and present the appearance of an ever-
blooming weeping tree of great beauty. If a pyramid is desired,
wires can be carried from the top of the post to the ground, some
two or three feet from its base, and the shoots trained down these.
We can imao^ine few thinfjs more beautiful than Chromatella and
Solfaterre, or Bourbon Madame Lacharme growing and blooming
in this way.

MUSK ROSES.

The Musk Rose grows naturally in Persia and other eastern
countries, where it attains the height of a small tree, and ia
doubtless the rose which has been celebrated by eastern poets.
It is also found in India, where it is probably the species used
for making attar. In this latitude it is quite hardy, and we have
a plant of the old White Musk in our grounds, that has braved
the severity of more than twenty winters. It has already, this
season, made shoots of more than six feet, and in our Southern
States more than double the growth would probably be obtained.
The blossoms appear in clusters, and commencing later than any
other rose, continue abundant throughout the season. The Old
White Cluster has been widely distributed throughout the coun-
try, and is deservedly a favorite. The two best varieties, how-
ever, are the following :

Eponine is a cupped and very double variety, with the pe-
culiar musk fragrance. It is pure white, and a very pretty rose.

Princess of Nassau is a luxuriant-growing and very fra-

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 263

grant variety, and would make a good pillar rose. It blooms
in large clusters of cupped flowers, changing from yellow to cream-
color as they open.

MACARTNEY ROSES.

This rose was brought from China to England, by Lord Mac-
artney, in 1793. Its habit is luxuriant, and its foliage is more
beautiful than that of any other rose, its leaves being thick and
of a rich glossy green. It commences blooming about midsum-
mer, and its flowers, whose fragrance is like the perfume of an
apricot, succeed each other without interruption till the first frosts,
while the leaves remain till the very latest. Although as hardy
as the hardiest of the China Roses, it would be better in this lati-
tude to give it the same protection as recommended for the China.
It is one of the most desirable roses for beds or borders. When
covering the u^iole ground, and kept well pegged down, its rich,
glossy foliage, gemmed with fragrant flowers, produces a beau-
tiful efllect. The varieties of this rose are ver)'^ few, but the two
best are the following :

Alba Odorata is a vigorous growing rose, with very rich
and beautiful foliage. Its fragrant flowers are cream-colored,
and, when in bud, are very beautiful. It has stood the last three
winters uninjured in our grounds without protection, and is a
very beautiful and desirable variety. It is classed by Rivei^^ as a
Microphylla, but it so little resembles that rose, and is so de-
cidedly Macartney in its character, that we place it with the latter.

Maria Leonida is a very beautiful, but not entirely double
variety, as its stamens can sometimes be seen, which, however,
give a graceful appearance. Its flowers are finely cupped, and
pure white, with a tinge of blush at the base of the petals.

MICROPHYLIiA ROSES.

This rose came originally from the Himalayan Mountains, and
was brought to Europe in 1823. Its foliage is small and singu-
lar, and its growth is very robust. Its flowers bloom from mid-
summer till frost, and have a singular appearance ; they are very

2(34 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

double, with a calyx whose small, bristling sepals give the open-
ing bud the appearance of a small chestnut. The plant is hardy,
and has endured the winter in our grounds for the past ten
years without protection, losing only a portion of the top of its
shoots. Of the several varieties, one of the best is

Rubra, which has very double and cupped flowers, of a blush
and often rose-color, with a deep-red centre.

ROSES THAT BLOOM ONLY ONCE IN THE SEASON.

GARDEN ROSES.

For want of a better, we use this term to designate all those
roses that bloom only once in the season, and that strongly re-
semble each other in habit and flower. It includes those classes
called, by rose-growers, French, Provence, Hybrid Provence, Hy-
brid China, Hybrid Bourbon, White and Damask Roses.

On a preceding page we have given our opinion respecting
classification, but we wish it to be understood fully, that we do
not deny the existence of clearly distinctive characteristics in the
true French, Provence, Damask, &.C., but simply assert that the
lines of difference betv>^een these so run into each other, and are
so blended together, that it is almost impossible to know where
to place a new rose, which may partake of the qualities of all.
We have mentioned Rivers as the most skilful and correct of rose-
growers ; and yet, in classing Lady Fitzgerald and Madame Har-
dy among the Damask, he says that neither of them are pure
Damask ; and the Duke of Cambridge, which at first he thought
a Hybrid China, he now places among the Damask ; other sim-
ilar instances are frequent. Many roses, moreover, are classed as
hybrids which are not truly such. We are quite inclined to think
that, owing to superfoetation and other unavoidable causes, a
large number of the varieties supposed to have been produced by
hybridizing, are nothing more than the natural produce, and that
the pollen, in many cases, has not impregnated the pistil to which

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 265

it. was applied. With this uncertainty, therefore, as evinced by
Rivers in his work, and with doubts of the hybridity of supposed
hybrids, we deem it better to class them all together ; and,
for the benefit of those who may prefer the old classification,
to attach to each name the class by which it has been hitherto
known.

We write principally for the amateur, and we think he will find
it less embarrassing to make a selection from the new than the
old classification.

A great number of Garden Roses will be found in the list at
the end of the work, and we describe here only a few distinct
varieties, with colors which are seldom found among the Re-
montants.

Bachelierd, is a Belgian rose, of cupped and compact shape.
It is rose-colored, large, and very double.

Blanchefleur, H. p., is a beautiful cupped white rose, of
perfect symmetry.

BouLA de Nanteuil, F., is one of the best. Its large and
finely cupped flowers are very double, and their color crimson-
purple.

Brennus, H. C, is a superb pillar rose, growing ten feet in a
season. If not too much pruned, it will produce an abundance
of crimson flowers, of great brilliancy.

Cerise Superbe, F., is one of the best summer roses, of a
brilliant cherry red. It is cupped, double, and very beautiful.

ChenIidole, H, C, is one of the most splendid roses, and is
truly beautiful. Its foliage and habit are very good, and its very
luxuriant growth makes it a good pillar rose. Its flower is cup-
ped, large, double, and fragrant, and its color is a rich, glowing
crimson, of almost dazzling brilliancy. It is altogether the most
desirable rose of this class.

Coupe d'Hebe, H. B., is a very beautiful and symmetrical rose,
with very regular petals, of a beautiful pink. Its growth is lux-
uriant, and adapted for pillars.

Due DE Luxembourg, A., is a beautiful rose, with very large
and globular flowers. A singular and beautiful effect is produced

23

266 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

by its petals, which are ahiiost wliite outside and a purplish rose
inside.

Duke of Devonshire, H. C, is a cupped variety, of very per-
fect shape. Its color is lilac rose, finely striped with white. Its
habit is sufficiently luxuriant for a pillar, and it is a desirable
rose.

Duke of Sussex, H. C, is a very fine globular rose, of a bright
cherry red color. Its growth is luxuriant, and it blooms freely.

Emerance, H. p., is a beautiful cupped rose, of a color unusual
in this class, being of a pale lemon or straw color. Its form is
very regular, and the habit of the plant good.

FuLGENS, H. C, is a very beautiful variety, with globular flow-
ers of a brilliant scarlet. Its foliage is peculiarly tinted with red,
and its luxuriant spreading branches make a veiy fine head.
Nothing can exceed the tout ensemble of a fine plant of this va-
riety in full bloom. The veiy abundant and vivid scarlet flowers
form, with the tinted foliage, a rich and glowing mass.

George the Fourth, H. C, is an old rose, produced by T.
R-ivers, but is still one of the most desirable of this class. Its
flowers are of a dark crimson, and its young shoots have a pm-
ple tinge. Its very luxuriant habit makes it suitable for a pillar.

Great Western, H. B., is a most robust variety, with im-
mense leaves, and blooming in large clusters of rich, purplish red
flowers, which are veiy brilliant in clear, dry weather.

Lady Stuart, H. C, is a cupped, fragrant, and very beautiful
rose, of a pale blush color. Its half-expanded buds are almost
round, and very perfect.

La Negresse, D., is one of the darkest roses known. Its
flowers are cupped, and of a deep crimson-purple color.

Madame Plantier, H. C, is a cupped and double, pure white
rose. It is a luxuriant grower, a most abundant bloomer, and
one of the very best of the white summer roses.

Madame Zoutman, D., is a new and very beautiful rose. Its
form is cupped, and its color a delicate cream, tinted with fawn.

Nero, H. P., is a rose of luxuriant growth, suitable for pillara
Its form is cupped, and its color dark-red, tinged with purple.

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 267

New Double Globe, H. P., is a new white rose, of luxuriant
habit. Its form is cupped, and it sometimes has a slight, deUcate
tinge of lemon.

Nova C^lestis, A., is a beautiful cupped rose, pure white,
and blooms very abundantly.

CEillet Parfait, F., is a new and most beautiful striped
rose, scarcely distinguishable from a carnation. Its form is com-
pact, and its color a very light blush, nearly white, beautifully and
distinctly striped with rose and bright crimson.

Perle DES Panachees, F., is a new cupped rose, of a pure
white, striped with bright-red and purple.

Pope, D., is a new cupped rose, produced by Laffay. It is
large, very double, of a fine crimson-purple, and sometimes in-
<ilined to bloom in autumn.

Princess Clementine, H. P., is a pure white rose, of luxuri-
ant habit, and well adapted for a pillai'. Its flowers are abundant,
finely formed, very double, and when in full bloom, make a beau-
tiful show.

Princesse de Lamballe, a., is a pure white and abundant
blooming rose. Its form is compact and perfect, and it is one of
the most desirable of the white roses.

Pulcherie, D., is a distinct and elegant rose, pure white, and
perfect in form.

Schismaker, F., is one of the darkest roses known, its color
being a deep slaty purple. Its flowers are cupped and large, and
its habit good.

Semiramis, D., is a very distinct and beautiful rose. Its form
is cupped and its color rose with a fawn-colored centre.

Sophie de IMarsilly, A., is a very double and perfect mottled
rose of much beauty. Its color is flesh, showing a pink centre
Ets the flower expands.

Tippoo Saib, H. B., is a new and very beautiful rose with
finely cupped flowers whose color is a deep mottled pink tinted
with salmon.

Tricolor d'Orleans, F., is a new striped rose, of rather ex-
panded form. Its ground color is red, with white stripes.

268 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

Triomphe d'Angers, H. C, is a fine variety, with luxuriant
habit. Its flowers are large, and of a brilliant crimson, sometimes
striped with white. They have also a pleasant fruit-like per-
fume.

Triomphe de Jaussens, F., is a superb variety with vigorous
habit. Its flowers are large, very double, with cupped and perfect
form. Their color is brilliant crimson, and when half expanded,
they are really beautiful.

Uniq,ue de Provence, P., is an old variety, but still one of
the best. Its habit is good, and its double, pure white flowers
are produced in abundance.

Venus, A., is a beautiful rose, of medium size, perfectly cup-
ped, and of very symmetrical shape. It is white, delicately shaded
to a pink centre. Its habit is good, and it will compare well with
the best.

MOSS ROSES.

The Moss Rose was introduced into England from Holland
in the sixteenth century, and is first mentioned by Miller, in
1727, by whom it was supposed to be a sport of the Provence
Rose, which opinion has been confirmed by modern botanists.
Its peculiarities are the delicate prickles which crowd its stem,
and the beautiful mossy covering of its calyx. This mossy ap-
pearance has been deemed by some a mere liisus natrirce, and by
others the work of an insect similar to that which produces the
Be'deguar. The former opinion, however, prevails ; and this
freak of nature, cultivators have succeeded in fixing and perpetu-
ating in a great number of varieties. The first Moss Rose known
in France was said to have been introduced there by Mad. de Gen-
lis, who brought it with her on her return from England. In
1810 scarcely more than one variety was known, and now there
exist more than a hundred. Of these the best and most distinct
are the following :

Alice LeroyIs a very good variety, of a deep rose color ting-
ed with lilac. Its large flowers are cupped and double, and its
habit robust.

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 2G9

Common is the old rose-colored Moss, which has been general-
ly cultivated in gardens. It grows well, blooms freely, is well
covered with moss, and is one of the best of the old varieties.

Crimson is a very fine variety, which appeared accidentally
in the garden of a clergyman in England. Its habit is more lux-
uriant than the preceding, and there is more moss upon its branch,
leaf and calyx. Its form is cupped, and its color light crimson.
When on its own root, it is a good variety for pegging down in
beds or borders.

Catharine de Wurtemburg is a new, large, globular rose,
blush-colored, and blooming in clusters. Its robust habit makes
it a desirable variety.

Celina is a dark crimson rose, of first-rate character and habit.
Its foliage is a dark, glossy green, and its large brilliant crimson
flowers are sometimes tinged with purple.

Cristata is a very singular and beautiful variety, said to
have been discovered in the crevice of a wall at Friburg, in Switz-
erland. Rivers classes it with the Provence Roses, and when open
it is merely a variety of that rose ; but when in bud it is more
properly a moss, although its calyx is not covered with a fine
moss, but has more of a crested appearance. In a rich soil this
fringe-like crest most beautifully clasps and surmounts the bud.
and gives the rich clusters a truly elegant appearance. Its form
is globular and its color rose.

Eclat ante is an excellent variety of very vigorous growth.
and brilliant rose-colored flowers.

Lancel is a compact, deep-reddish rose, of rather irregular
form when fully expanded. Its buds, however, are very beauti-
ful, and covered abundantly with bright green moss.

Luxembourg is a most excellent variety, of very luxuriant
growth. Its flower is cupped, and of a dark crimson color, tinged
with purple. It is, altogether, one of the very best of this class.

Perpetual White is not a true Perpetual, but, in moist sea-
sons and rich soil, will sometimes flower in the autumn. Its ex-
panded flower, like many of the best Moss Roses, is not good, but
its very pretty bud is produced in large clusters.

23*

270 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

Prolific is a dwarf variety of the common Moss, and most
excellent for forcing. It is globular, rose-colored, and a most
abundant bloomer.

Princesse Adelaide is a remarkably vigorous-growing va-
riety, with large and handsome foliage, and would make a good
pillar rose. Its regularly-formed flowers, of a bright pink or
rose, are produced in clusters and open well. This is one of the
most desirable of this class, and owes its origin to Laffay.

Princess Royal is a very robust rose, almost equal to the
preceding in vigor. Its young leaves and branches have a red
tinge, and its cupped flowers are of a deep crimson-purple, mar-
bled and spotted with red. Although not quite double when
fully open, they are very beautiful when in bud. A moss rose,
however double, is peculiar only in bud, for when fully expanded,
the mossy calyx must inevitably be hidden.

Unique de Provence is precisely similar in robust habit and
abundant bloom to the old Unique. With the same large clus-
ters of beautiful white flowers, it unites the mossy calyx, and is
a most excellent and desirable rose.

ZoE is a very singular and beautiful variety, with globular
and rose-colored flowers similar to the Common Moss. Its pe-
culiar beauty resides in the moss, which covers most abundantly
its buds, leaves, and branches. From this peculiarity arises one
of its names, Mousseuse Partout.

Like all other roses, and even in a greater degree, the Moss
Rose requires a light and very rich soil, with a dry bottom.
Many of them make very beautiful beds and patches, when
planted in rich soil and kept well pegged down. A good supply
of stable manure should be given theim in the autumn, to be
washed down about their roots by the winter rains. They do
not generally require or bear so much pruning as other roses, but
their bloom may sometimes be prolonged by shortening part of
the shoots close, and only the tips of the remainder. When
properly cultivated, few objects can be more beautiful than these
roses, either singly or in masses. Without making so brilliant a

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 271

show as some other classes, the moss which envelops them im-
parts a touch of graceful beauty belonging to no other flower.

SCOTCH ROSES.

These roses are all derived from a dwarf rose found growing
wild in Scotland and in the north of England. They are distin-
guished by their small leaves, abundant bloom and delicate hab-
it. Being perfectly hardy, they are desirable for beds or borders,
in which, with proper arrangement of colors, they show beauti-
fully, sometimes two weeks before other roses open, and produ-
cing flowers all along the stem. Rose growers describe, on their
catalogues, two or three hundred varieties, but of them all, scarce-
ly forty or fifty are distinct ; of these the best three are the fol-
lowing :

Countess of Glasgow is a very pretty and brilliant dark
rose, blooming abundantly.

Q,ueen of May is a fine and distinct variety, of a bright pink
color.

William the Fourth is an excellent variety, of luxuriant
growth. Its flowers are pure white, and among the largest of the
class.

BRIAR ROSES.

These roses are distinguished by their small, rough foliage
and briar habit. They include the Sweet-Briar, the Hybrid
Sweet-Briar, and the Austrian Briar. The Sweet-Briar is found
in various parts of this country and in Europe, and is distin-
guished by the peculiar dehghtful fragrance of its leaves. Its
simple little flower, found among the hedges, has been long a fa-
vorite, and, under the name of Eglantine, has been often the
theme of poets.

The Hybrid Sweet-Briar is allied to the preceding, but ha.^
larger foliage and is of more robust growth. Many roses have
been placed in this class and among the Sweet-Briars that have
none of the peculiar scent of the Sweet-Briars ; and hence, again,
the necessity of classing together these and the Austrian Briars,

272 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

respecting which there is much confusion. The true Austrian
Rose is a native of the South of Europe, and is a clearly distinct
rose, but some have been called Austrian which have scarcely any
of the characters of the original rose. All three, however, are
Briars, that is, they produce their flowers on short joints all along
the stem, and have the peculiar rough briery leaves. We there-
fore place them all together, attaching as before the name of the
old class. The best of those described at the end of the work are
the following :

Celestial, S. B., is a small cupped rose, very double and fra-
grant, of a pale flesh-color and very pretty.

Copper Austrian, A. B., is a very singular looking rose,
blooming well in this climate. The inside of the flower is of a
coppery-red, and the outside inclining to pale yellow or sulphur.
It is desirable for its singularity.

Double Margined Hip, H. S. B., is a Hybrid Sweet-Briar of
luxuriant growth, almost adapted for a pillar. Its form is cupped,
and its color creamy- white, shaded with pink.

Double Yellow Provence is the best of the two varieties
which compose the species called Sulphurea. We have never
seen its flowers, and English writers all speak of the great diffi-
culty of making it bloom. Rivers recommends to bud it on strong
stocks, and says that it blooms most profusely in the warm, dry
climate of Florence and Genoa. The plant grows with luxuri-
ance and produces plenty of flower-buds, which, with proper cul-
ture, would probably open in our warm climate, which is very
similar to that of Florence and Genoa. Its small foliage and
slender, thorny wood, place it fairly among the Briars. Its flower
is so good that it is well worth the trouble of repeated experiment
to obtain a good bloom. It has long been admired and exercised
the skill of rose growers, as proved by the following passages
from some old works, which give instructions for its proper cul-
ture :

" Whereas all other roses are best natural, this is best inocu-
lated upon another stock. Others thrive and bear best in the
sun ; this, in the shade : therefore, the best way that I know to

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 273

cause this rose to bring forth fair and kindly flowers, is performed
after this manner. First in the stock of a Francfort Rose, near
the ground, put in the bud of the single yellow rose, which will
quickly shoot to a good length ; then, half a yard higher than the
place where the same was budded, put into it a bud of the double
yellow rose, which growing, the suckers must be kept fiom the
root, and all the buds rubbed off, except those of the kind desired,
which, being grown big enough to bear (which will be in two
years), it must in winter be pruned very near, cutting off all the
small shoots, and only leaving the biggest, cutting off the tops of
them also, as far as they are small. Then in the spring, when
the buds for leaves come forth, rub off the smallest of them, leav-
ing only some few of the biggest, which, by reason of the strength
of the stock, affordeth more nourishment than any other, and the
agreeable nature of the single yellow rose, from whence it is im-
mediately nourished, the shoots will be strong and able to bear
out the flowers, if they be not too many, which may be prevented
by nipping off the smallest buds for flowers. The tree should
stand something shadowed, and not too much in the heat of the
sun, and in a standard by itself, rather than under a wall."' That
which follows is from a book called Systema Horticulturce^ dated
1688 : — " There is no flower-bearing tree that yields blossom so
beautiful as the rose, whereof the yellow Provence Rose is the
most beautiful where it brings forth fair and kindly flowers, which
hath been obtained by budding a single yellow rose on the stock
of a flourishing Francfort Rose near the ground : when that sin-
gle yellow is well grown, in that branch inoculate your double
yellow rose ; then cut off all suckers and shoots from the first and
second, leaving only your last, which must be pruned very near,
leaving but few buds, which will have the more nourishment,
and yield the fairer and more entire blossoms. This tree, or a
layer from a rose of the same kind, delights most, and blows fair-
est, in a cold, moist, and shady place, and not against a hot wall."
Persian Yellow, A. B., is the deepest yellow rose known,
and is a highly improved edition of the old and well-known Har-
risonii. Its flowers are more double, of a deeper yellow than that

274 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

rose, and supersede it entirely. It grows freely, blooms abund-
antly, and its small double flowers possess a richness of color un-
equaled by any other rose. No garden should be without it.

Rose Angle, S. B., is an excellent variety, with very fragrant
foliage, and large double flowers of a bright rose color. It is one
of the best of the true Eglantines.

Like the Moss Roses, the Briars will not bear much pruning,
and require merely the tips of the shoots to be cut oflT.

CLIMBING ROSES.

In our list at the end of the work, we divide these into vari-
ous distinctive sub-divisions. We describe here, however, so
small a part of them, that, for convenience sake, we place them
together, giving at the same time, the family to which each be-
longs :

Amadis is one of the best Boursault roses, with its pendulous
clusters of large purplish-crimson flowers. This family is marked
by its long, flexible, reddish shoots, growing rapidly, and perfectly
hardy. Their smooth bark renders them desirable for stocks to
bud upon, and a fine rose of this class, covering a trellis and bud-
ded with roses of various colors, would present a beautiful ap-
pearance.

Double Blush Ayrshire is a most vigorous climber, with
a pretty flower, and will grow in the poorest soil. Like many
others of the Ayrshire family, it is very valuable for covering
unsightly places, old buildings, and decayed trees. They bloom
some two weeks earlier than other roses, and will grow in soil
where others would scarcely vegetate. Hence they are valuable
for covering naked sand-banks, or bare spots of earth, and their
roots would be of material assistance in keeping up the soil of
loose banks. Rivers gives an extract from the Dundee Courier,
showing the effect produced by some of these roses.

" Some years ago, a sand pit at Ellangowan was filled up with
rubbish found in digging a well. Over this a piece of rock was
formed for the growth of plants which prefer such situations, and
among them were planted some half dozen plants of the double

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 275

Ayrshire Rose, raised in this neig-hborhood about ten years ago.
These roses now most completely cover the whole ground, a space
of thirty feet by twenty. At present they are in full bloom, show-
ing probably not less than ten thousand roses in this small
space."

The Ayrshire Roses are also valuable for weeping trees ; when
budded on a stock some ten or twelve feet high, the branches
quickly reach the ground, and protecting the stem from the sun by
their close foHage, present a weeping tree of great beauty, loaded
with flowers.

Dundee Rambler is one of the best and most double of the
Ayrshire Roses. Its color is white, often edged with pink, and
blooming in large clusters. It is a very desirable variety.

Felicite Perpetuelle is a most beautiful rose, and one of
the very best of the Sempervirens, or Evergreen family. Its
shoots may be thinned out, but not shortened ; and when proper-
ly cultivated, it produces an abundance of very double creamy-
white flowers, shaped like a double ranunculus. The Evergreen
Roses are very beautiful and desirable, and although not entirely
evergreen in this chmate, retain their foliage very late in the sea-
son. They are very easy of cultivation, and most luxuriant
cUmbers over naked trees, old houses, fences and walls, or along
the surface of the ground, which they will soon cover to the ex-
clusion of all weeds, and present a large mass of rich, glossy fo-
liage and abundant bloom. When thus planted, the large weeds
should be pulled up until the plant fairly covers the ground, when
no more attention will be needed. They are well adapted for
training up columns, and we know of few things more beautiful
than a temple or pergole formed of numerous columns, with Ev-
ergreen Roses growing luxuiiantly upon them and festooned
gracefully between. Nothing, indeed, can be more gracefully
beautiful than festoons, wherever they can be made. They con-
stitute the chief beauty of the vine-clad fields of Italy, and there
would be no less beauty in occasional festooning of roses trained
between pillars or the trees of a lawn. They are also very beau-
tiful when budded on high standards, their dark green glossy

276 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

foliage weeping to the ground, and forming a fine dome or p3a'a-
mid of leaf and bloom. When pruned in the winter, the branches
may be thinned out, but not shortened ; for if pruned close, they
will make a luxuriant growth the next season, but will produce
no flowers.

Garland is a most vigorous hybrid climber, blooming in im-
mense clusters of fragrant creamy-while flowers, changing to
blush after expansion. When in full bloom, the contrast of
the large white clusters with the bright green foliage is very
beautiful.

IndicxV Major is a hybrid climbing rose, of most luxuriant
growth and nearly evergreen foliage. Its flowers are very large,
double and of a delicate rose color. The very rapid growth of
this rose makes it excellent for covering old buildings. We re-
collect being shown last spring, at the Bartram garden of Phila-
delphia, a fine old plant which had covered the whole side of the
house, and presented a beautiful appearance. Buist states it to
be this variety.

Jaune Serin is a luxuriant-growing variety of the Bank-
sian Rose, with yellow flowers of larger size than those of the
old Yellow Banksia. The Banksian Roses require a green-
house in this climate, and, trained against the back wall, are
very beautiful. We recollect seeing, at the Botanic Garden at Na-
ples, a very large plant of the Banksian Rose, the main stem being
six inches in diameter, and branching off into a dozen others,
fifty feet or more long. In the Southern States they would grow
well in the open air, and being most vigorous climbers, would
soon cover a house or trellis, and, with their small but most abun-
dant flowers interspersed among the smooth glossy-green foliage,
would form an object of surpassing beauty.

Laure Davoust is one of the most beautiful of the Multi-
flora Roses, hardy and of most luxuriant growth. It has larger
flowers and handsomer foliage than any of the other Multiflora
Roses, and blooms in immense clusters of perfect flowers, chang-
ing from white to pink. For covering houses or trellises it is
very desirable.

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 277

Madame d'Arblay is a truly gigantic hybrid climber, per-
fectly hardy, and with strong, Bourbon-like foliage. It blooms
in large clusters of pure white flowers, and is a truly excellent
variety.

Melanie de Montjoie is an Evergreen Rose of much beauty.
Its abundant and glossy dark-green foliage contrasts beautifully
with its large pure white flowers.

Myrianthes is one of the most beautiful of the Evergreen
Roses. Its flowers are most perfectly shaped, and of a very deli-
cate rose color.

Queen of the Prairies is a most superb variety of the
Riibifolia or Michigan Rose. The double varieties of the origi-
nal Michigan Rose have nearly all been produced by Samuel
Feast, of Baltimore, while a few new varieties owe their origin
to Joshua Pierce, of Washington. They are remarkable for
their perfectly hardy nature, braving equally well the frosts of
Canada or the heat of Louisiana. The leaves are large, rather
rough, and of a rich dark-green. They grow with unexampled
rapidity, exceeding in this respect any of the climbing roses, and
would cover old buildings or naked ground in a very short space
of time. They bloom after the other summer roses are mostly
gone, and produce their flowers abundantly in large clusters of
diflferent shades, from the pale delicate blush of Superba to the
rich deep rose of Q,ueen of the Prairies.

This last is the best, and of the most luxuriant growth. Its
large flowers are of a peculiar cupped form, almost globular, when
in bud, and altogether of very perfect shape. They are of deep
rose color, with a white stripe in the centre of each petal. This
rose is truly superb, and, for our cold winters and hot sun, an
unequaled cUmber. It would be a fine rose to cover a trellis or
building, and then bud into its branches a dozen different Re-
montant or Bourbon Roses of various colors. The tout en-
semble would be superb.

Superba is the best pale colored rose of the same class. Its
very double flowers are smaller than the preceding, but are very
perfectly cupped and of a delicate blush color, almost white. Its

24

278 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

beautiful clusters are produced most abundantly, and when train-
ed on a pillar, trellis, or house, or gracefully wreathed in festoons,
their effect is strikingly elegant. Both these varieties are valua-
ble acquisitions to the list of climbing roses.

Triomphe de Bollwiller is a very fine Evergreen Rose,
rather tender in this climate, but valuable for its tendency to
bloom in the autumn. Its flowers are very large, double, fragrant
and globular, and their color is a blush or creamy white. At the
South where it would not be killed by the cold weather, this
would be one of the most desirable climbing roses.

White Banksia is a beautiful little rose about half an inch
in diameter, blooming abundantly in small and pure white clus-
ters with a slight perfume like that of the violet. Both this and
Jaune Serin are very elegant when in full bloom on a well-grown
plant, either on the wall of a green house or in the open air at
the South.

We have endeavored in the preceding pages to convey all the
information requisite to guide the amateur in the culture and
selection of choice varieties of the rose. In rose culture, as in
everything where there is room for the exercise of humau skill,
progress is the watchword and the result ; and while we deem
the instructions given in these pages the best in the present
state of knowledge on this subject, we shall hail with pleasure
any improvement upon them. The preparation of a portion of
this work has afforded us pleasant recreation in the intervals of
leisure from business, and for the more toilsome part we shall feci
abundantly repaid if we are found to have thrown one mite into
the constantly increasing treasury of horticultural taste. That
this taste is increasing we deem one of the best signs of the times,
an evidence that men are beginning to discover that the accumu
lation of wealth is not the whole business or pleasure of life. In
a true love for trees and plants there is always something elevat-
ing. A love for wealth and its accumulation is inseparable from
idolatry, but a love for trees and plants is productive of the best
results in a mind properly constituted. It not only preserves it

GARDEN CLASSIFICATION, 279

from groveling thoughts and desires, but also leads it to purer
and higher aspirations. Not only is there wisely implanted in
us a general love for these things, but an attachment to individ-
ual trees and shrubs which have been planted by our own hands,
or by the good and the wise of past generations. Men every-
where are prone to be unsettled, and to wander wherever novelty
may lead them, to the utter destruction of right mental training.
To counteract this there is nothing so effective as attachment to
particular localities and all their features, whether trees, moun-
tains or streams. Nothing gives such a depth of meaning to the
word home and creates so strong a determination to preserve it sa-
cred by the performance of every duty of a good citizen. It should
therefore be the desire of every man to provide a pleasant home
for his children, for upon a happy childhood depends far more
than is generally supposed the character of the man. The father
should encourage, as one element of happiness a, love for vege-
tation in all its forms of created beauty, whether tree, shrub
or flower. The child who has thus been educated and taught
to look upon all these objects of his attachment as visible proofs
of Divine beneficence will go forth into the world armed with a
shield more effective than a thousand admonitions, and when
temptation assails him, will find no slight defense in a recollec-
tion of his early home, of the trees under which he has so often
played, or read, or thought, and the flowers whose glowing colors
have so often charmed his eye. We are very certain this is no
mere sentiment or fancy of the brain, for we feel assured that nei-
ther vice nor immorality, nor hardness of heart, nor disregard of
the feelings and welfare of others, can readily exist where the mind
is thoroughly imbued with a love for trees and flowers, and with a
full appreciation of the many sources of delight bountifully be-
stowed upon man in the various objects of exquisite beauty in
the vegetable world.

We have wandered somewhat from our subject, but we would
gladly write still more, if we could only convince our readers
of the great importance of this love for trees and plants —
and for roses among them — and of its highly conservative influ-

280 GARDEN CLASSIFICATION.

ence. Let every man, therefore, that feels convinced of the truth
of our remarks, plant a tree or a rose, and let his children care
for it as for an old and intimate friend ; and they may rest
assured that either mentally or morally they will be none the
worse, but all the better for the pleasant associations connected
with its form, for the joyous hope springing with its leaf, and for
the serious reflection accompanying its fall ; when bud and bloom
and decay fill the mind with pure and pleasant thoughts of the
past and hopeful anticipations of the future.

THE END.

COMMEECIAL GARDEN

AND

NUUSERY,

OF

PARSONS & CO.,

FLUSHING, NEAR NEW ¥OKK.

The Proprietors of this establishment invite attention to
their large stock of

TREES AND PLANTS,

comprising all the desirable vrieties of APPLES, PEARS,
CHERRIES, PLUMS, PEACHES, APRICOTS, NECTA-
RINES, aUINCES, FIGS, ALMONDS, RASPBERRIES,
STRAWBERRIES, GOOSEBERRIES, CURRANTS, ES
CULENT ROOTS, &c.

Their personal attention to the propagating department en-
ables them to ensure the correctness of every variety they send
out. They invite particular attention to their large collection
of thrifty CHERRIES, and also to their fine stock of FOR-
EIGN GRAPES, in pots, produced from bearing vines.

Their stock of ORNAMENTAL TREES, SHRUBS, VINES,
(fee, is annually enriched by new varieties from Europe, and
their ROSES comprise all the finest kinds, in large quantities.

Catalogues furnished gratis, on application to the Proprietors by mail
and orders forwarded in the same manner will receive prompt attention.

p. I JUN 1969