THE AUTUMNAL KOSE GARDEN. 175 



that this is also the rose of the Persian poets, in 

 the fragrant groves of which they love to describe 

 their " bulbul," or nightingale, as enchanting 

 them with its tuneful notes. The probability that 

 this is the famed rose of Persia is strengthened 

 by the fact, that it is much more fragrant in the 

 evening, or in the cool weather of autumn, than 

 at any other time or season, and probably in the 

 hot climate of Persia, only so in the coolness of 

 night, when nightingales delight to sing. A 

 recent traveller also remarks that the roses of 

 Persia are remarkably small and fragrant. There 

 are doubtless many seminal varieties of the 

 species ; their flowers differing in colour, but pos- 

 sessing the leading features of the original. Oli- 

 vier, who travelled in the first six years of the 

 French republic, mentions a rose tree at Ispahan, 

 called the " Chinese Eose Tree," fifteen feet 

 high, formed by the union of several stems, each 

 four or five inches in diameter. Seeds from this 

 tree were sent to Paris, and produced the com- 

 mon Musk Rose. It seems therefore possible 

 and probable, that this has been the parent of 

 nearly all their garden roses ; for, like most orien- 

 tals, their habits are not, and have not been, en- 

 terprising enough to stimulate them to import 

 roses from distant countries. Large and very old 

 plants of the Musk Rose may sometimes be seen 

 in the gardens of old English country houses. 

 The Blush Musk, or Fraser's Musk, or Rosa 



