82 PARSONS ON THE ROSE, 



inliabitants of the East, including the 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 civilized world. Loudon speaks of hedges of mixed 

 Provence Roses, in the garden of Rosenstein, in Germany, 

 and also of their profusion in the public garden of Frank- 

 fort. They are found in the gardens of Valencia, in 

 Spain, and Sir John Carr, speaking of the seat of a Span- 

 ish 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 divid- 

 ing hedges, and the floAver 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 busli, and the delight exhibited at its bloom, 

 while all around in natural luxuriance were the most beau- 

 tiful and gorgeous plants and flowers which the tropics 

 can produce. The brilliant cactus, the beautiful oleander, 

 the singular orchids, and the delicate and fragrant flowers 

 of the cofiee 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 host- 

 ess 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 liouse, used at the South 

 as a place of evening resort, and there, in one corner, I 

 found a thrifty plant of tJie Tea Rose, which to her infin- 

 ite delight, was just showing above its glossy and delicate 



