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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



fccted by the florets of the ray — as the bordering 

 part of the blossm is called — should be always 

 planted. Compound flowers are also propagated 

 by cuttings, and by division of their roots. The 

 pyrcthrum is most generally increased by cuttings. 

 Keep the piece in water a week. Then get a pot 

 and fill it one-quarter with sherds, for drainage, 

 and in a soil of sand, leaf-mould, loam and peat set 

 the young plant. Shade it a week or two, and give 

 it warm water daily. When it begins to grow 

 place it in a sunny situation, but after the flowers 

 have opened, remove it to the shade — they will thus 

 retain their beauty and purity for a gi-cat length of 

 time. The delicate green foliage and snow-white 

 flower of the pyrethrum make it a very beautiful 

 parlor plant. It is very suital)le for ornamenting 

 the dress, or the hair, and is an appropriate funeral 

 flow'er. 



Rose. — "VVe come now to the queen of flowers, 

 as the rose has been acknowledged in all ages, 

 throughout all lands. It derives its name from 

 rhos, an ancient Celtic word meaning red, in allu- 

 sion to its most frequent color. There are no roses 

 in Soutn America ; but they are found in North 

 America, and all over the Eastern continent. Asia 

 is the garden of roses. The vale of Sharon, of 

 whose roses Solomon sang, was by position and 

 soil fitted to produce them in great perfection. 

 And Virgil and Ovid have celebrated in their 

 vei'ses the roses of ancient Pitistum, (now Salerno, 

 in Italy,) which were said to arrest the voyagers 

 of the Mediterranean by their delicious odors. In 

 fact, not a poet, nor a poetaster, whose words have 

 reached the public ear, has ever felt that his work 

 was complete until in rhyme or nnythm he had 

 attempted to portray the charms of this matchless 

 flower. The old mythology asserts that the red 

 rose is indebted to Venus for her blushes. That 

 the blood which flowed from her thorn-wounded 

 feet, when I'unning through the woods in hf r de- 

 spair after the death of Adonis, lent the flower its 

 color; and that the white rose sprang from the 

 tears which she shed at that time. But Anacrcon 

 tells us that it was dyed with nectar by the gods 

 when it was first formed ; — he speaks of it also as 

 the flower of Bacchus. The Turks believe that the 

 rose sprang from the sweat of Mahomet, and they 

 deem it a sacrilege to allow one of its petals to Ml 

 to the gi-ound. And in Persia a festival is held in 

 honor of the rose, which continues the whole time 

 that it is in bloom. Not only thcre^ but in Egypt, 

 and Barbary, as well as in the nations of Southern 

 Europe, the rose fills an important place at all fes- 

 tivals and entertainments, both' in the way of de- 

 corations and in the gratification of the palate, — it 

 is said that the Turks have several difl'erent ways 

 of preparing it for sweet-meats. 



The famous attar, or otto, of rose, which used to 

 be dearer than gold, is made in Turkey ; as also 

 in Persia, and India. But many consider that 

 DOW made in France superior in delic.u'y or per- 

 fume — the Turkish attar being a coarser, stronger 

 odor. Ortly the damask rose, which takes its 



name from Damascus, where it formerly grew in 

 great abundance, is used in making the attar. 

 Among the East-Indians, the Chinese, Japanese, 

 and the Persians, rose-water is used as cologne- 

 water is by us — or, rather, more freely. 'One cere- 

 mony of salutation when a friend calls is the 

 sprinkling of his garments with rose-water, by the 

 host. Elegant China bottles, with stoppers of a 

 peculiar form, provided for the purpose, are counted 

 among the indispensable articles of housekeeping • 

 by families in good society. But we must return 

 to our own country and our own regard for this 

 beautiful and fragrant flower. 



The brier-rose — wild-rose — dog-rose — it has all 

 these appellations — takes its name ft'om an old no- 

 tion that its root and hips — seed vessels — would 

 cure the bite of a mad dog. It is a true sister of 

 all the exquisite roses of which there are over two 

 thousand varieties, that beautify the gardens, the 

 conservatories, and the parlors of all the civilij;ed 

 world ; and makes the best stock for gi'afting the 

 most superior kinds. It is useless to attempt to 

 enumerate all that are considered suitalde for 

 house culture. Most of them that stand high in 

 favor are varieties of the China, or Tea-scented 

 rose, of which the old-fashioned monthly rose is a 

 good representative. You may have them of all 

 colors, from deep red to snow-white. The original 

 tea-rose was brought to notice in 1812, and its de- 

 scendants have the same wants, and are charac- 

 terized by the same habits as their ancestor. They 

 need frequent cleansing, or they will be infested 

 l)y the red spider, thrips, mealy bug — in fact, all 

 insects, to use the words of a distinguished florist, 

 "from an earwig to a lady-bug." But the lady-bug 

 is really a benefit to the rose, for it feeds upon the 

 aphis and its eggs, and so helps to rid the plant of 

 that pest. Rose-bushes should have well-drained 

 pots, Init they need not be very large ones. They 

 should also have plenty of pure air and sunshine ; 

 though some are patient enough to look thriving, 

 and benevolent enough to show their flowers v;here 

 there is scarcely a ray of sunshine the Avhole year. 

 Cuttings should be first rooted in sand, under a 

 tumbler, and then transferred to a pot drained with 

 sherds ; having a soil of rich loam, sand, peat, and 

 leaf-mould, together with a little fine charcoal, 

 coarsely mixed. Keep the young plant shaded a 

 fortnight after this change, and water it sparingly 

 — but never allow it to become dry. Then it will 

 be strong enough for the sunshine. As the new 

 branches are thi-own out give it a little more water. 

 AVhen buds appear it must liave all the sunlight 

 possible until the roses open. But they will re- 

 tain their beauty longer, when in full bloom, if 

 jn-otected from the noontide rays of the sun ; all 

 the rest of the day they should enjoy it, and 

 have plenty of water. When the flowers have 

 faded, cut their branches back half-way that they 

 may throw out more blossoms. AVhen the bush 

 has ceased blooming cut back all the branches to 

 witliin a few inches of the old wood, and abate the 

 watering, and keep it in the shade — that it may 



