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ROSES AND ROSE GARDENS.

301

ancient history, and which seems scarcely credible, is that which Suetonius attributes to Nero. The author says, that at a fête which the emperor gave at Baiæ, the expense incurred for roses alone was more than four millions of sesterces-about 20,000l.

Among the ancients, the rose was conspicuous in all sacred ceremonies, and in public and private fêtes. The Greeks and the Romans surrounded the statues of Venus, of Hebe, and of Flora, with garlands of roses. At Baiæ, when fêtes were given upon the water, 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 different 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 recorded by many of the ancient poets. And it is well authenticated that, among medical men of antiquity, endeavours were made to determine what kinds of flowers were suitable to place in crowns without detriment to health; and according to their report the parsley, the ivy, the myrtle, and the rose, possessed peculiar virtues for dissipating the fumes of wine.

In the times of chivalry, the rose was a frequent emblem on the helmets or shields of knights, implying that sweetness should always be the companion of courage, and that beauty was the only prize worthy of valour. It was not, however, always taken for such emblems, but was once the signal for bloodshed in a desolating civil war, which raged in England, for more than thirty years, under the banners of the "white or red rose," the respective insignia of the Houses of York and Lancaster.

There exists a beautiful custom in the valley of Engadine, in Switzerland. If a man, accused of a crime, is able to justify himself, the day on which he is liberated from prison a young and beautiful girl presents him with a white rose, called the Rose of Innocence.

The rose however has also, strange to say, been used as a sign of disgrace and dishonour. A synod, held at Nismes, about 1284, ordered the Jews to wear on their breast a rose, to distinguish them from Christians, in order that they might not receive the same attentions; and, at one time, in

certain German provinces, a crown of red roses was the punishment of immorality.

About the year 1631 a very curious book on the rose was published by a German, named Rosenberg. About two hundred and fifty octavo pages are devoted entirely to the praise of its curative properties, in almost every known disease, making, in fact, the flower an universal panacea. The author also claims for it supernatural qualities, particularly in driving away evil spirits. The work closes by asserting, as a positive fact, supported by several authorities, the regeneration or resurrection of the rose. He gives also the process of the reproduction, which, like the story of the Phoenix, is a fable, engendered by ignorance. It is somewhat surprising that this fable should have been gravely reproduced in a French work on the rose, published in 1800. The author states that, "notwithstanding the many marvellous things which we already know respecting the improving, 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 III. purchased it of a foreign chemist, at a very high price."

The rose is not only the most beautiful and the most fragrant of flowers, but is also one of the most universal; it is found in almost every part of the globe, as if God, who is so affluent in blessing, had scattered it broad-cast over the earth for universal delight. "It is found in North America," says Mrs. Gore, "where, in the glaciers of the most northerly provinces, the Rosa blanda unfolds its bright pink corolla, always solitary on the stem, immediately on the melting of the snow. Within the Polar circle, on the shores of the Hudson, is found the Rosa rapa, covered during spring with pale double flowers. Newfoundland and Labrador possess their two species of rose, each of which bears deep red flowers. The Esquimaux decorate their hair and the reindeer and seal-skins in which they are clothed, with these beautiful blossoms. Bright clusters of the Rosa lucida rise above the reeds and rushes which spring on the marshes of Carolina: the Rosa Woodsii grows on the banks of the Missouri, and in the adjoining marshes

ROSES AND ROSE GARDENS.

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the Rosa Carolina, and the double pale pink Rosa Evratina, which perishes if transplanted to the garden from its native soil on the banks of the Virginian stream. Pennsylvania, Carolina, Mexico, all have their roses.

Asia boasts a greater variety of species than the rest of the earth united; thirty-nine that admit of accurate definition having been already established. Of these, China has a claim to fifteen.

In the gardens of Kandahar, Samarcand, and Ispahan, the Rosa arborea is cultivated in great profusion by the Persians. The Rosa Damascena, or Damask rose, transplanted to Europe from Damascus by the Crusaders, adorns in infinite beautiful varieties the sandy deserts of Syria. At the extremity of Asia, towards Constantinople, the Rosa sulphurea displays its very double flowers of a brilliant yellow.

Siberia and Lapland even have their roses. In England we have six indigenous species. For France nineteen species are claimed by the flora of De Candolle; in the southern provinces is found the Rosa eglanteria, whose golden petals are sometimes varied into a rich orange; the Rosa spinosissima grows in the sandy plains of the southern provinces, having white flowers tipped with yellow, which have furnished many beautiful varieties; and in the forests of Auvergne, and the departments of the Vosges, we find the Rosa cinnamomea, which derives its name from the colour of its branches, the flowers being small, red, and solitary. The Rosa Gallica is one which has afforded varieties of every hue, more especially the kind known as Provence roses, white, pink, or crimson. In the eastern Pyrenees, grows the Rosa moschata, a beautiful variety known in our gardens as the nutmeg-rose. The Rosa alba is found in the hedges and thickets of several of the departments. The Swiss and Alpine chains in general are rich in native roses. Italy and Spain and Germany have each several distinct species, and in the eastern and southern countries of Europe rose-trees abound, of which a considerable number remain unexamined and unclassified. All the various species being continually hybridised by the appliances of modern science, botanists now number between two and three thousand varieties, and every year increases the catalogue.

The aim is to improve in colour, form, fragrance, robustness, and constancy of blooming. The so-called hybrid-perpetual roses, achieved by floriculturists about fifteen or sixteen years ago, are now the favourite class, as they flower both in summer and autumn, and are in general hardy and fragrant. The Géant des Batailles, Baronne Prevost, Duchess of Sutherland, La Reine, Madame Soffay, Mrs. Elliot, Souvenir de la Melendeson, are fine types of this now extensive class. The tea-scented roses, likewise autumnal bloomers, are deservedly great favourites, especially Devoniensis, which is perhaps the most perfect type of this class.

According to Mr. Paul, there are thirty-eight different families or groups of roses, each comprising numerous distinct varieties; for exact information as to these, the reader cannot do better than consult his book, "The Rose Garden."

Among the private cultivators of roses in the neighbourhood of London may be mentioned Mr. Henry G. Bohn, the publisher of this work, in whose fine garden at Twickenham upwards of one thousand varieties of this beautiful flower are brought to great perfection. Speaking of Mr. Bohn's garden we are reminded of the social enjoyment which it is made to furnish in the season of its roses, when the numerous friends of this gentleman assemble at a floral fête, greatly superior in good taste, at least, to those ancient feasts of flowers of which we have spoken; and, taking such an entertainment as a type, we would recommend beautiful flower-gardens to all the fortunate possessors of them as the most noble reception-rooms for even hundreds of guests, who, amid the splendour and amenity of the summer-garden, and in the open air, appear to great advantage, and physically and mentally are brought into harmony with the scene. Such fêtes are infinitely refreshing and exhilarating, and might be advantageously introduced among persons of moderate fortune, who, in well-kept and pleasant gardens, might entertain their friends without any extraordinary expense, much more agreeably than within their houses where the rooms are often small, and, especially in the summer season, unfit for the accommodation of numerous guests.

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O Rose, thou flower of flowers, thou fragrant wonder,
Who shall describe thee in thy ruddy prime,—
Thy perfect fulness in the summer time;
When the pale leaves blushingly part asunder,
And show the warm red heart lies glowing under?
Thou shouldst bloom surely in some sunny clime,
Untouch'd by blights and chilly winter's rime,
Where lightnings never flash, nor peals the thunder.
And yet in happier spheres they cannot need thee
So much as we do with our weight of woe;
Perhaps they would not tend, perhaps not heed thee,
And thou wouldst lonely and neglected grow;
And He who is all-wise, He hath decreed thee
To gladden earth and cheer all hearts below.

CHRISTINA G. ROSETTI.

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