STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 121 



AMONG THE ROSES. 

 By Abel F. Stevens, Wellesley, Mass. 



The rose is the perfection of all floral realities. In the charm 

 of individuality, the warmth of perfect coloring and the delight 

 of a matchless perfume, all flowers must yield to the rose. 



It has mingled in history's most notable events, has been used 

 in times of joy and sorrow. It has been treated by poets and 

 painters in all ages of the world's history without losing its 

 character or changing its destiny. Poetry and art are lavish of 

 roses, heaping them into beds, weaving them into crowns, twin- 

 ing them into garlands, and forging them into chains of beauty. 

 We delight to place it on the bosom of beauty and we love to 

 bring the rose itself into comparison with the most beautiful 

 works of man and nature. Moore most truly says : 



"Long, long be my heart with such memories filled 

 Like the vase in which roses have once been distilled. 



You may break, you may scatter the vase, if you will, 

 But the scent of the roses will linger there still." 



Though every flower has inspired its ode, the whoje world is 

 doubtless ready to acknowledge the rose supreme, for it is the 

 emblem of beauty and true worth, while the rosebud is the 

 emblem of innocence and purity, for from time immemorial and 

 in places of greatest renown the rose has been acknowledged the 

 queen of flowers. 



In olden times, as today, the fair bride adorned herself with 

 chaplets and garlands of roses. As we delight to place them on 

 the bosom of beauty, so we claim the sacred privilege of cover- 

 ing the casket of departed friends with fragrant roses, nature's 

 highest type in the floral realm of purity and perfection. 



The universal love of roses bespeaks for our people a high 

 order of true culture and pure sentiment in our civilization. No 

 rural home is complete without its broad pillars of climbing 

 ramblers, or capacious beds of blooming roses, and of all the 

 floral gems the rose is indispensable for mantle adornment or 

 table decoration, — the ideal flower for the altar, the parlor, and 

 the study. 



