GENERAL CULTURE OF THE H0:6E. 



79 



tries. It lias been cultivated principally for the beauty of 

 its flowers, but in many parts of Europe and Asia, and in 

 the north of Africa, its culture has been pursued for com- 

 mercial purj^oses. Of its abundance in Palestine, some 

 conception may be formed from the statement of travel- 

 ers, that they have not only seen them wild and in great 

 profusion in the vicinity of Jerusalem, but have found 

 .them in hedges, intermingled with pomegranate trees. 

 Doubday states that, when the Eastern Cliristians made 

 one of their j^rocessions in the Church of the Holy Sepul- 

 chre at Jerusalem, which continued some two hours, many 

 persons were present with sacks full of rose petals, which 

 they threw by handfuls on the people, and in such im- 

 mense quantities, that many were covered with them, and 

 they were scattered all over the pavement. In Syria and 

 Persia it has been cultivated from a very early period, and 

 the ancient name of the former, Suristan^ is said to signify 

 the land of roses. Damascus, Cashmere, Barbary, and 

 Fayoum in Egypt, all cultivated the Rose extensively for 

 its distilled oil or essence. Very little is extant respecting 

 the culture of the Rose in the middle ages, but that it was 

 cultivated and valued is known by its having been worn 

 by knights at the tournament, as an emblem of their de- 

 votion to grace and beauty. According to Loudon, 

 '^Ludovico Verthema, who traveled in the East in 1503, 

 observed that Ta3ssa was particularly celebrated for roses, 

 and that he saw a great quantity of these flowers at Cali- 

 cut." The Rose is to this day also extensively cultivated 

 in India, and for commercial purposes perhaps in greater 

 abundance than is now known in any other country. 

 Bishop Ileber states that " Ghazepoor is celebrated 

 throusrhout India for the wholesomeness of its air and the 

 beauty and extent of its rose gardens. The Rose-fields, 

 which occupy many hundred acres in the neighborhood, 

 are described as, at the proper season, extremely beauti- 

 ful. They are cultivated for distillation and for making 



