140 PAESONS ON THE ROSE. 



CHAPTER IX. 



DISEASES AND INSECTS ATTACKING THE ROSE. 



Brave Rose, alas, whose art tbou? In tby 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 

 Tlieir beauteous glories. Only shreds of thee, 

 And those all bitten, in thy chair I see. 



Herbert. 



The diseases to which the Rose is liable are generally 

 owing either to the presence of various Cryptogamic 

 plants, or to the attacks of certain insects whose larvae 

 are supported at the expense of the plant. Among Cryp- 

 togamic parasites which have been observed upon rose- 

 bushes, and which infest chiefly the Provence and other 

 rough-leaved roses, the following are the most trouble- 

 some : 



Rust. — The rust, when examined by a magnifier, is 

 found to consist of minute yellow spots, each of which is 

 a fungus, Lecythea Hosoe. It is common and injurious to 

 roses, as it frequently covers all the leaves. The most ef- 

 fectual mode of preventing its spreading is to cut off with 

 care and burn all the infected branches, which will some- 

 times render necessary the destruction of the whole plant. 



Mildew. — The minute fungus which produces mildew is 

 called by botanists Sphoerotheca pannosa. It appears like 

 a gray mould on the smaller stems and blistered leaves. 

 It is a very troublesome enemy to the Rose, and will 

 sometimes put at defiance every application for its destruc- 



