THE ROSE GARDEN. 



121 



the most delightful. The colours of many kinds have the same fervid glow ; the 

 same perfumes scent the air, but (alas that the life of our favourites should be 

 so fleeting !) instead of the young and promising beauties of the morning, we gaze 

 on Roses of mature age. 



But these are not all the sweets attendant on the cultivation of flowers. As the 

 Amateur scans the beauties which surround him, when satiated — if indeed satiety 

 can be experienced here — with the sight, the reflections awakened by association 

 in floricultural nomenclature afford him new sources of enjoyment. What an 

 amount of virtue, learning, wit, valour, often congregate on a small plot in the 

 flower-garden ! How proud is the florist of his Catos, his Socrates', his Butlers, his 

 peaceful Alexanders and Caesars ! There, kings and emperors are placed beside 

 the subverters of dynasties and empires ; there, warriors who have indulged in 

 deadly strife exist together in the strictest amity — a Charles beside a Cromwell, a 

 Scipio in company with an Annibal. In " rigid Cincinnatus, nobly poor," he 

 reads a lesson on self-disinterestedness and magnanimity ; in Buonaparte, how- 

 ever much he may be dazzled by the splendid genius of the man, he cannot but 

 recoil from one who drenched the earth with blood as he ponders over the futility 

 of human ambition. Then let him contrast the consequences of the tyranny and 

 licentiousness of an Antony with those arising from the virtues and philanthropy 

 of a Howard : the one, through his vices, lost a kingdom ; the other, though an 

 humble individual, conferred lasting benefits on thousands of his race, and earned 

 in the work an honoured and imperishable name. And in admiring the objects 

 bearing names like these, and indulging in the reflections awakened by association, 

 does he not feel the mind expand, refine, aspire to imitate the good and shun the evil? 



But we have digressed very far, and must return to the practical part of our 

 subject. With regard to the manner in which Roses should be grown, the habit 

 of the variety may be taken as a guide. The vigorous growers would seem best 

 adapted for Standard or Pillar Roses, unless of slovenly growth, when they are 

 suited only for covering banks or for climbers. The kinds of moderate growth 

 look well on Half-Standards, of which the annexed engraving (No. 33.) is a reprc- 

 No. 33. i ,j 



?*?* 



(D/r.I.) 



Half Standard Rose. 



V 



