1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



231 



For the New England Farmer, 



A CHAPTER ON KOSES. 



BY E. "W, BUSWELL. 



"Then, then, in strange eventful hour, 

 The Earth produced an infant flower, 

 Wliich sprang with blushine tinctures drest, 

 And wanton'd o'er its parent breast. 

 The Rods beheld this brilliant birtli. 

 And hailed the Rose — the boon of Earth." 



This universal favorite has been a theme with 

 the poets of all ages, in all countries, and mytho- 

 logical writers have loved to dwell upon its charms. 

 It was dedicated by the Greeks to Aurora as an 

 emblem of youth, to Venus as an emblem of love 

 and beauty, to Cupid as an emblem of fugacity 

 and danger. By Cupid it was given to Harpocra- 

 tes, the god of silence, as a bribe, to prevent him 

 from betraying the amours of Venus ; and as an 

 emblem of silence, it was sculptured on the ceil- 

 ings of drinking and feasting rooms as a warning 

 to guests that what was said in moments of con- 

 viviality was not to be repeated. Hence the term 

 "s?<6 rosa." 



One fable of its birth is, that Flora having found 

 the dead body of one of her favorite nymphs, 

 whose beauty was equalled only by her virtue, im- 

 plored the assistance of all the gods and goddess- 

 es to aid her in changing it into a flower which all 

 other flowers should acknowledge to be their 

 queen. Apollo lent the vivifying power of his 

 beams, Bacchus bathed it in nectar, Vertumnus 

 gave it perfume, Pomona fruit, and Flora herself a 

 diadem of flowers. 



The Greek poets say that the rose was original- 

 ly white, and was changed to red by the blood of 

 Venus, who lacerated her feet by its thorns when 

 rushing to the aid of Adonis. 



Its fragrance is said to be derived from a cup of 

 nectar thrown over it by Cupid ; and its thorns to 

 be the stings of bees with which the arc of his bow 

 was strung. Now, perhaps, some will be so scep- 

 tical as to disbelieve this agency of the gods in its 

 origin, yet none will deny that 



"The hand that made it is Divine," 



The real history of the rose dates back to the 

 time of the earliest Avriters of antiquity. Herodo- 

 tus speaks of the double rose, Solomon, of the 

 rose of Sharon, and the plantations of roses at 

 Jericho. Theophrastus of the himdred-leaved 

 roses of Mount Pangaeus, and it appears that the 

 Isle of Rhoda (Isle of Roses,) received its name 

 from the culture of roses carried on there. The 

 Romans attained to a high degree of perfection in 

 its cultivation, and in their writings frequent allu- 

 sion is made to its virtues in such terms as to 

 show that they almost held it in sacred estimation. 

 From the time of the Romans, down to the time 

 when botany became a science, its history is but 

 little known, yet enough to show that through 

 those dark ages it was highly prized by all. Thence 

 to the present time, its history is well defined. 



Its great desirableness has led to an almost end- 

 less increase of varieties by hybridization, and very 

 considerable works upon its cultivation are cur- 

 rent. It is chiefly cultivated as a floriferous shrub 

 wherever grown; yet in Europe, Asia and the 

 north of Africa it not only pleases the senses of 

 sight and smell, but it has become an article of 

 commerce in the various preparations from its 

 flowers, used in medicine and domestic economy. 



These are the dried petals, rose-water, vinegar of 

 roses, spirit of roses, honey of roses, conserve of 

 roses, oil of roses, and attar, otto, butter or essence 

 of roses. A description of their mode of prepara- 

 tion Avould occupy too much space for this article. 



Pre-eminently the queen of flowers, it is not ex- 

 celled by any of the many floral candidates for our 

 favor, and is found in greater or less variety in 

 every well-ordered garden, where, if the selection 

 has been carefully made and the plants properly 

 treated, they will give, even in open culture, a 

 "round of pleasure" from early in June to freezing 

 weather. To secure this end, books or descrip- 

 tive catalogues should be consulted for the varie- 

 ties, and as there seems to be a lack of general 

 knowledge on the mode of cultivation, a few prac- 

 tical hints, condensed from "book farming" and 

 "founded on facts," may be of some service to 

 those who have, summer after summer, almost 

 with tears in their eyes, witnessed the blasting of 

 their hopes and roses together. 



First, then, come soil and situation. The rose 

 will grow in almost any common garden soil, but 

 to thrive well, it should have a soil naturally light 

 and free, and Avell enriched ; in an open and airy 

 situation, but little shaded, if at all, and not under 

 the drip of trees. 



In planting, many persons think it only neces- 

 sary to dig a hole and bury the roots ; but to se- 

 cure a good growth, care should be had in prun- 

 ing root and top, to leave no mutilated part, and 

 place the roots in their proper positions, leaving no 

 cavity under them, but fill well with fine mould, 

 and press it down lightly. 



Of Pruning. — As the rose blossoms on new 

 wood, it is desirable to have that of vigorous 

 growth. Hence it is necessary to cut out fireely 

 the Aveak shoots, and cut back well the stronger 

 ones, so as to induce the lower eyes to push. This 

 applies to dwarf or shrub roses, and not to stand- 

 ards or to climbers. Pillar or trellis roses usual- 

 ly require only the oldest wood cut away, and a 

 judicious heading in. The time for pruning is in 

 early spring, when the sap is beginning to move. 

 If it is desirable to retard the bloom of the per- 

 petual or remontant varieties, it may be done by 

 pinching off" the earlier blossom buds. 



Insects. — Of the many insects injurious to the 

 rose, are the aphides, commonly called plant lice, 

 or green flies, frequently found in large numbers 

 on the tender shoots and sapping the veiy life of 

 the plant, and were it not for the aid of the lady- 

 bird, which is said to destroy them in large num- 

 bers, and of the small singing birds, the careless 

 gardener might find his bushes soon ruined. 



"Reaumur has calculated that in five genera- 

 tions one aphis rosce may be the progenitor of 

 3,904,900,000 descendants, and in ordinary sea- 

 sons, ten generations are produced." 



Another and more destructive insect is the rose 

 saw-fly, Selandria Rosce, whose yoimg is the 

 rose slug, a small "green monster," a third of an 

 inch in length with a dark stripe through the mid- 

 dle, found lying flat upon the upper surface of the 

 leaf, and eating away the substance, leaves only 

 the veins and lower surface to die and turn brown, 

 thus robbing the plant of its lungs, and giving it 

 the appearance of having been scorched. Their 

 ravages commence with the lower leaves soon af- 

 ter they are formed, and working upward with 

 rapid increase of numbers, they soon destroy the 



