JRevleivs. 77 



REVIEWS. 



Art I. The Rose ; its History^ Poetry^ Culture and Classi- 

 fication. By S. B. Parsons. 1 Vol. 8vo, pp. 280. New 

 York, 1847. 



So many associations are connected with the rose, that it 

 would be quite impossible to write a book which should not pos- 

 sess some interest. The few last years, however, have been 

 prolific in treatises upon the rose, and that of Mr. Parsons 

 comes at a time, when we had supposed the whole field had 

 been thoroughly gleaned, aud not enough remained to inspire 

 even as ardent a devotee, as our author is, of this courtly 

 flower, with courage to undertake the publication of an octavo 

 volume, " labor of love" though he tells us it was, of the size 

 of the one before us. 



To the French almost exclusi'/ely belongs the credit of 

 bringing the rose to the perfection it has now attained. More 

 than nine tenths of the immense number of varieties which 

 the last twenty years have produced have been the growth 

 of French cultivators, and, latterly, they have principal- 

 ly been raised by Vibert, Laffay, Souchet, Verdier, and a 

 few other florists. French authors have also done much to 

 difl"ase a taste for the cultivation of this lovely flower. Wit- 

 ness the splendid work of Redoute, in three quarto volumes, 

 with beautiful plates of most of the choicest varieties which 

 were cultivated at the period when it was published. Des- 

 longchamps, to whom Mr. Parsons acknowledges his indebt- 

 edness, not only for many interesting facts, but for the plan 

 of the work, has also thrown around the rose an additional 

 charm from the research which distinguishes his volume. 



Until within a few years, the rose has been much neglected 

 by American cultivators. From the loss attending the intro- 

 duction of new kinds, — tjie high price which they always com- 

 mand, — and the danger of the destruction of many of the vari- 

 eties by our severe winters at the east, the finer roses have 

 been but little sought after ; add to this, that no rose could 

 be cultivated without the loss of its entire foliage by the slug, 

 and we have good reasons for the neglect of this flower, until 

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