316 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTIUOliTUBE AND COXXAGE GAliDSNEB. 



[ April le, 1874. 



Boses were also strewed on the tables at their convivial 

 sntertainments, and on the floors of the rooms in which they 

 feasted. Pacatius says: — " DeUcati ilU et fluentee parum se 

 lautos putabant, nisi luxuria vertisset annum, nisi lujberna 

 poculis Roxce iunatasseut." (" The soft and luxurious thought 

 themselves not sufEciently refined unless their extravagance 

 changed the course of the seasons, unless winter Eoses floated 

 in their caps.") Suetonius relates of Nero, that he spent up- 

 wards of £30,000 at one supper in the purchase of Roses. 

 This custom is supposed to have been introduced during the 

 time of Horace ; an opinion which has been formed from one 

 of his odes (Ub. i. od. xxxviii.), thus translated by Francis : — 



" I tell thee, boy, that I detest 



The grandeur of a Persian feast ; 



Nor for lue the Linden's rind 



Shall the flowery chaplet bind : 

 Then search not where the curious Rose 

 Beyond his season loiterinij Krows." 



Cleopatra is said to have expended a talent in the purchase 

 of Eoses for one banquet, on which occasion the floor of the 

 apartment was covered with Eoses to the depth of a cubit, or 

 IJ foot. — (Athenaus, Deipnosoph. lib. iv., cap. ii.) 



The chief use of the Eose at feasts was to form crowns and 

 garlands, which were placed upon the heads and round the 

 necks of the guests. The garlands were generally provided by 

 the master of the house. Those who attended on the guests 

 were also crowned, and even the drinking-bowls were wreathed 

 with flowers. Owing to this use of the Eose, we learn from 

 Anacreon that a crown composed of them was regarded as an 

 invitation to festivity ; they were also considered as preventives 

 of drunkenness ; though certainly, in some instances, the 

 flowery wreath seems to have been a well-understood mark of 

 inebriation. 



" Capiam mlM coronam in caput, assimulabo me esse ebrinm." 



Plautus, Amphitryon, act iii., sc. 4. 

 " I will place a chaplet on my head, and pretend to be drnnli." 



Rich unguents and oils were also prepared from the Bose 

 {see Homer, II. xxiii., 18G), which were used on the same oc- 

 casions as the Eose flower itself. 



Many are the customs and superstitions connected with the 

 Bose in our rural districts. On midsummer eve many a maiden 

 gathers a Moss Rose. 



" She bids it for her lover's Bake 

 Await the new-year's frolic wake — 

 When faded, in its alter'd hue 

 She reads — ' Then Robin is untme.' 

 But if it keeps its crimson paint 

 Eer sick'ning hopes no longer faint." 



Newton, in his " Herball to the Bible," 1587, pp. 223-4, 

 says: — " I will heere adde a common country custome that is 

 •vised to be done with the Eose. When pleasaunt and merry 

 companions doe friendly meete together to make goode cheere, 

 as Boone as their feast or banket is ended, they give faithfuU 

 promise mutually one to another, that whatsoever hath been 

 merrily spoken by any in that assembly should be wrapped up 

 in silence, and not to be carried out of the doores. For the 

 assTirance and performance whereof, the tearme which they 

 use is, that all things there saide must be taken as spoken 

 under the Eose. Whereupon they use in their parlours and 

 dining roomes to hang Eoses over their tables, to put the 

 companie in memorie of seeresie, and not rashly or indiscreetly 

 to clatter and blab out what they heare. Likewise, if they 

 chaunce to shew any tricks of wanton, unshamefast, immodest, 

 or irreverent behaviour either by word or deed, they protesting 

 that all was spoken under the Eose, do give a strait charge 

 and pass a covenant of silence and secrecy with the hearers, 

 that the same shall not be blowne abroad, nor tailed in the 

 streetes among any others." 



There are many other less remarkable uses of the Eose, 

 which it would be necessary to mention in order to render the 

 above by any means a complete account of this flower ; their 

 importance, however, does not warrant their insertion here. 

 To the philosophic botanist the above account of the Rose will 

 not, it is believed, be attractive ; to the horticulturist it may 

 present many pleasing features ; to the classic reader it will 

 recall customs most intimately blended with the beauties of 

 Grecian and Eoman poetry. The feeling, too, which dictated 

 some of the most striking and touching uses of the Eose 

 especially, and of flowers in general, is universal and natural 

 to nearly all nations. The decoration of the tombs of the dead 

 with flowers was an inexpressibly beautiful custom ; and, 

 though strenuously denounced by the early Christians as sa- 

 vouring of idolatry, the hearts of men soon wandered back to 



so simple, so elegant, so natural a mode of testifying affection. 

 This is a custom which has been well said to be " of the heart, 

 and to speak to it, and has therefore maintained its ground in 

 every age and region, unaffected by the constant changes in 

 customs merely arbitrary and conventional." 



NOTES ON VILLA, and SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



Nothing can be more brilliant than a large bed of Gladiolus 

 psittacinus; in fact Gladiolus floribundus, blaudus, cardinalis, 

 Victoria, and the whole of the genus are beautiful. No time 

 should be lost in procuring and sowing the seed, which would 

 have been best sown last month. A few more plants requiring 

 similar treatment are Tigridia pavonia and conchiflora, and 

 Auomatbeca cruenta. The former two make showy groups 

 throughout the season ; and the Anomatheca,if four or five bulbs 

 are plauted in a pot, and plunged in a bed when in bloom, is a 

 gem for the flower garden in May. The Tigridias may be treated 

 like Gladioli, but the Auomatbeca wiU be pricked-out 2 inches 

 apart in seed pans in hght rich soil, and sheltered in a frame 

 until well established. 



Treatment of Plants Intended for Bedding-out. — At this season 

 of the year there is a danger which the amateur should guard 

 against, because it is one which gardeners themselves are apt to 

 make, and if fallen into will be productive of much loss and dis- 

 appoiutmeut ; I mean the premature committing to the flower 

 beds the more tender plants which have been carefully preserved 

 during the winter, and on which the beauty of the summer 

 season is so dependant. During the months of April and May 

 the skies are often so propitious that we cannot but believe the 

 winter is quite departed. With warm nights and bright days 

 we banish every thought of frosts and bleak winds. All hands 

 are set to work to tiirn out our Pelargoniums et hoc genus omne, 

 and we flatter ourselves that we shall have a long and prosperous 

 summer. But we soon find that we have committed a mistake ; 

 north and east winds return, and night frosts reassert their iron 

 rule, and a few hours blast the labours of a whole winter. But 

 the important question arises. What is to be done with those 

 plants in pots which are intended for ornamenting the beds in 

 summer, but grow too rapidly for their present confined quarters ? 

 This matter must now receive the immediate and careful atten- 

 tion of the amateur, since many productions may become per- 

 manently stunted by being left too long in small pots. Now, it 

 should be remembered that vegetable growth may be retarded 

 without inflicting any injury on plants subjected to the treat- 

 ment. The pots should be removed from a sunny spot to the 

 shade of a north wall, where growth will continue stationary for 

 many weeks. They should be defended from much rain, and 

 receive protection enough to avert frost, and no more. By these 

 means the growth of roots will be checked, and there will be a 

 marked difference between plants so treated and those subjected 

 to warmth in a glazed frame. This retardation of growth will 

 be of service many ways, and will result in the production of 

 fine plants at a future period, but I mention it now only as a 

 means of preventing those plants being pot-bound and injured 

 on which so much of the beauty of the season is to depend. 



If your stock of plants is small, and you have plenty of frame 

 room, you may repot as it becomes necessary, and thus turn out 

 the whole in a highly-developed state in the middle of May. 

 Many things will do well in this way, but generally greenhouse 

 treatment is not favourable to plants which are afteiTvards to be 

 turned into beds or borders. The tenderness they acquire by 

 being kept under glass, or even being covered-up at night, ex- 

 poses them to checks when planted in the open air. This would 

 not be the case if they were not turned out till the summer had 

 become established, but too much time would thus be consumed 

 in preparatory management. Another good plan is to cover over 

 at night with a flower pot any plants which you are disposed or 

 compelled to commit to their destined place. In all these 

 questions an enlightened judgment must guide you, the object 

 being to have your parterres gay with flowers for as long a time 

 as possible. 



The proper time for striking the cuttings of Chrysanthemums 

 depends upon the object which the propagator has in view. 

 Nurserymen who want a good stock of a particular kind may 

 propagate almost at auy season, aud generally begin very early 

 in spring ; but for ordinary purposes from the middle of March 

 to the middle of April is quite soon enough, and the amateur 

 can now do so without any artificial heat, which is of great con- 

 sequence to those who have very limited gardeus. It matters 

 very little whether the cuttings are taken off with roots or 

 without them, as in the latter case they will form them in a 

 few days and soon begin to grow rapidly. The frame should be 

 kept very close, moist, and shaded until the cuttings have formed 

 roots for their support. When this takes place a little air may 

 be admitted, gradually, as the plants will bear it, but afterwards 

 thp plants may be fully exposed. 



The shifting of the plants in the earlier part of the summer 



should be particularly attended to ; if this is neglected no good 



' after-management will save them from losing their leaves and 



