C|e Canadian Porticttltarist 



VOL. I] JULY, 187a [No. 7, 



EOSES. 



In the very midst of the wealth of bloom with which we are sur- 

 I'ounded, the scent of the roses wafted to us on every passing breeze, 

 it seems exceedingly appropriate to enjoy a little talk with x)ut readers 

 about roses. There is no need to tell of their beauty. Acknowledged 

 to be the queen of the flowers, the rose holds a position of pre-eminence 

 . that requires no words of praise from us to establish; ours shall be the 

 humbler task to tell her admirers how l^est to care for their favorite, 

 so that she may be able to put on her royal apparel, and come forth in 

 all her loveliness. 



There is required for the growing of roses in their perfection a 

 something that is not to be found in books. "Poets are born, not 

 made" it is said, and there is somewhat of the same truth in this matter 

 of growing roses. The perfection of the art is the outcome of a 

 devotion that ever burns but never consumes. Deep down in the 

 ■secret chambers of the heart it is continually glowing, and when to 

 other eyes tlie rose is no longer a thing of beauty, in the days of the 

 "sere and yellow leaf," it waits tenderly and lovingly upon the object 

 of its devotion. To such care she most generously responds, arraying 

 herself in gorgeous beauty, putting on her most lovely tints and beam- 

 ing with most bewitching smiles. 



We have some obstacles to overcome in the cultivation of tlie rose 

 which are quite unkno.wn to her devotees in England. Our mid-summer 

 suns are so scorchingly hot that our roses soon lose the richness of 

 their fresh tints. To enjoy the full beauty of the rose, to see it in the 

 freshness of its coloring, while the delicacy of tlie tints is yet unim- 

 paired, one should stroll througli the rose grounds at sunrise, before 

 the dew-drops are exhaled, and see the flowers unfolding to the' 

 morning light. Could we shade our roses from about ten o'clock of 

 the morning until four in tlie afternoon, the lustre of their beauty 



