The History of the Rose. 11 



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 CA'mateur des Roses, par 

 M. Boitard; Paris, 1836. 



Sir R. K. Porter, writing of the garden of one of the royal palaces of Persia, says 

 " On my first entering this bower of fairy-land I was struck with the appearances of 

 two Rose-trees, fourteen feet high, laden with thousands of flowers in every degree 

 of expansion, and of a bloom and delicacy of scent that imbued the whole atmosphere 

 with exquisite perfume. Indeed, I believe that in no country in the world does the 

 Rose grow in such perfection as in Persia. In no country is it so cultivated and 

 prized by the natives. Their gardens and courts are crowded by its plants, their 

 rooms ornamented with vases filled with its gathered bunches, and every bath 

 strewed with the full-blown flowers plucked with the ever replenished stems." Persia 

 in Miniature, vol. iii. 



In Persia, in Turkey, and throughout the East generally, Roses are grown in con- 

 siderable 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 

 Ghazeepore, in Bengal, and in Turkey ; but it is also prepared in Persia, in all parts 

 of India, Upper Egypt, and in Tunis. In the Bengal Dispensatory (The Bengal 

 Dispensatory, by W. B. O'Shaughnessy, M.D., Calcutta, 1842) 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 beegah. The 

 additional expense for cultivation would be about rupees 8.8; so that for rupees 

 38 . 8, you have for the season one beegah of 1000 Rose-trees. 



"If the season is good, this beegah of 1000 Rose-trees should yield one lac of 

 Roses. Purchases of Roses are always made at so much per lac. The price of 

 course varies according to the year, and will average from 40 to 70 rupees. 



" The Rose-trees come into flower at the beginning of March, and continue so 

 through April. 



* A beegah is half an acre. 



