1 88 2Tf)e CSarTJcn's Storn. 



The first leaves have scarcely appeared ere 

 they are beset by the thrip or rose-hopper, al- 

 most immediately succeeded by the green fly, 

 leaf-roller, rose-chafer, and rose-slug. Were 

 the sparrow of any earthly use, he would not 

 leave these to hellebore, whale-oil soap, and 

 Paris green. Nearly any one of these pests, if 

 left to itself, soon ruins the foliage or flow- 

 ers. Undoubtedly the easiest way to cultivate 

 roses is to buy them ; the next easiest way is to 

 have a posse of gardeners whose sole purpose 

 shall be to stand over them continually with 

 wisp, bellows, and syringe. Indeed, it is far 

 easier to study the lily and cajole its caprices 

 than to escape the omnipresent thorn of the rose. 

 There are roses without thorns as there is a bee 

 without a sting ; but a thornless rose nearly al- 

 ways means a rose without fragrance. But 

 what loveliness it gives us to make up for its 

 poutings a dimple and a smile on every flower ! 



Who shall decide which rose is the type of 

 beauty or say which is the sweetest ? Can there 

 be anything more beautiful than a Marechal 

 Niel ? Is any rose finer than the combination of 

 buff and peach-blow and salmon in the fragrant 

 folds of a Gloire de Dijon ? Is Louis Van Houtte 

 or Marie Rady the sweeter flower, and are either 

 of these as sweet as La France or Souvenir de la 



