SUMMER MEETING AT CHILLICOTHE. 11 



My subject, the rose, I find first mentioned in the Song of Solomon, the sec- 

 ond chapter and first verse, where he calls the church the '' Hose of Sharon," the 

 '• Lily of the Valley." Next in mythology I find that at first there were no colored 

 roses, all being pure white, until in u fearful battle the blood ran like water, and 

 on that field where nothing but white ones bloomed there sprung up red ones. 

 But so much for mythology. 



But coming on down to the IGth century, we find in English history what is 

 called the ''War of Koses" betvveen the Duke of Y'ork and the Duke of Lancaster. 

 They even went into battle with their roses pinned on their coats, they belnig their 

 ensign. Sometimes the White Rose party was victorious, and then the red; and 

 woe to the party that was defeated, for no quarters were shown them. Even a boy, 

 the handsome son of the Duke of York, was stabbed to death for wearing the 

 white rose which should have been an emblem of peace. At last the White Rose 

 party gained the victory and proclaimed Edward of York king, and from that time 

 until now the rose, and especially the white ones, are emblem? of peace, joy and 

 gladness. 



They have been woven into love tokens and into garlands of honor ; they 

 have been oflered as a solace in the hours of grief, and reverent hands have placed 

 them above the dead. They have beautified the home, they have graced the mar- 

 riage feast, the altar and the grave. 



We now have not only the red and white roses, but the cream, apricot, yel- 

 low, pink, and even the green rose; and they are divided Into many classes— such 

 as the Hardy Ever-blooming, Monthly Rose, the Hardy Monthly, Hybrid Tea, 

 Polyanthea, Noisette and Ever-blooming, Climbers, Hardy Climbers, Hybrid Per- 

 petual, Tree Rose, and last the Moss. 



In cultivating the rose, the first thing to be considered is the soil. Any good 

 mellow ground will grow them, but we prefer a rather stiff loam. Always avoid 

 low, wet ground. Well-rotted manure, chip dirt and barnyard scrapings deeply 

 spaded in make healthy vigorous plants. 



After the soil has been carefully prepared, the after-culture is light. Stir the 

 soil once a week, if possible ; do not let the weeds grow; prune all the dead 

 branches; keep the roots moist, and away from drying winds. Green-fly is easily 

 subdued by dusting the moist leaves with powdered tobacco. The rose-slug is 

 quickly killed by dusiing the insects, the whole plant, in fact, with road dust on a 

 sunny day. Mildew, which affects the leaves in early spring and fall, can be gotten 

 rid of by dusting with powdered sulphur. Last summer, when my roses were so 

 large that the stems could not hold them without a support, so many people would 

 exclaim, "how do you make your flowers bloom so beautifully?" It is told In a 

 few words : I weed them, work them, and water them for very love of them ; and 

 last, but no means least, I treat them most generously to copious draughts of liquid 

 fertilizer. I hope the day is not far distant when every lady in the land will under- 

 stand the cultivation of this lovely flower— this queen of flowers. Because one 

 woman wrought such ruin in the first garden, it devolves on her daughters as a 

 matter of retribution to make their gardens all over the world as fair and bright as 

 possible. 'J heodore Parker says : "Every rose is an autograph from the hand of 

 Almighty God on this world of ours.'' He has inscribed his thoughts in these mar- 

 velous flowers, which sense and science have been so many thousands of years seek- 

 ing to understand. Our own Longfellow speaks of flowers as emblems of our own 

 great resurrection— emblems of the better land. 



A^'ON. 



