THE ROSE GARDEN. 9 



that he saw them. I have heard persons, unacquainted with floriculture, main- 

 tain that they have seen pure yellow Moss Roses ! a deception probably prac- 

 tised on them by a charlatan, or some witty friend. Is it impossible that the 

 same thing might happen with the Marquis D'Orbessan ? 



Pierre de Crescent, an Italian, who wrote early in the fourteenth century, 

 mentions the Rose. It has also, for some ages, been a custom of the Roman- 

 Catholic Church for the Pope to consecrate a golden Rose, and send it to the 

 monarch of some State, as a token of his particular esteem. Two of our kings 

 received this mark of distinction — Henry the Vlth and Henry the Vlllth. 

 " They made," says M. Boitard, " the delicate and ephemeral Rose emblematic 

 of the frailty of the body, and the short duration of human life ; and the precious 

 and unalterable metal in which it was modelled alluded to the immortality of the 

 soul." 



It is now customary throughout Italy, as it was in ancient Rome, to use flowers 

 in times of feasting, and in the ceremonies of religion • and the Rose is an especial 

 favourite. 



But let us glance hastily to the land of the East — Persia. The Poets of that 

 country idolize this flower, placing it, in song, in company with the nightingales. 

 That it holds a high rank there may be gathered from the following fable : — " One 

 day," says Saadi, " I saw a tuft of grass which surrounded a Rose-tree. What ! 

 cried I, is this vile plant, born to be trodden under foot, come to dwell in company 

 with Roses ? I stooped to pluck it out, when it modestly said to me, Spare me, 

 I pray thee : I am not a Rose it is true, yet by the perfume which I exhale you 

 may perceive at least that I have dwelt with Roses." {Manuel Complet de 

 V Amateur des Hoses, par M. Boitard. Paris, 1836.) 



In Persia, and throughout the East generally, Roses are grown in considerable 

 quantities, for the manufacture of Rose-water, and the famed Attar of Roses, which 

 has been sold for six times its weight in gold. The Musk Rose is, I believe, the 

 variety cultivated. The Attar, or Otto, of Roses is manufactured chiefly at Gha- 

 zeepore, in Bengal ; but it is also prepared in Persia, in all parts of India, Upper 

 Egypt, and in Tunis. In the Bengal Dispensatory there ( The Bengal Dispensa- 

 tory, by W. B. O'Shaughnessy, M.D., Calcutta, 184*2) is a paper, drawn up by 

 Dr. Jackson, on the Cultivation of Roses, and the Manufacture of Rose-water 

 and Attar of Roses. 



" Around the station of Ghazeepore," says this author, " there are about 300 

 beegahs, or about 150 acres, of ground laid out in small detached fields as Rose 

 gardens, most carefully protected on all sides by high mud-walls and prickly- 

 pear fences, to keep out the cattle. These lands, which belong to Zemindars, are 

 planted with Rose-trees, and are annually let out at so much per beegah * for the 

 ground, and so much additional for the Rose-plants ; — generally five rupees per 

 beegah, and twenty -five rupees for the Rose-trees, of which there are 1000 in each 



* A beegah is half an acre. 



