think, find the labor of selection much diminished by the increased simplicity of the mode we have adopted, while the commercial gardener will in nowise be injured by the change. In directions for culture, we give the results of our own experience, and have not hesitated to avail ourselves of any satisfactory results in the experience of others, which might enhance the utility of the work. We do not claim exemption from criticism in any form, and readily express our willingness to be ever open to conviction, in a field where, among the varied results of experiment and skill, there is much room for difference of opinion. For our labor we shall feel abundantly compensated, if the republication of this work shall in any way tend to produce a more general admiration and increased culture of the most beautiful flower known. S. B. P. CHAPTER XI. Luxurious Use of the Rose....... CHAPTER XII. The Rose in Ceremonies and Festivals, and in the Adornment of .161 PARSONS ON THE ROSE. CHAPTER I. BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. The Rose is a shrub or dwarf tree, with mostly deciduous foliage, and large, beautiful, and fragrant flowers. Its branches are slender, almost always armed with thorns, thinly furnished with leaves, which are alternate upon the stem. Its leaves are pinnate, and vary in color and character, from the rich, dark green, and somewhat rough leaf of La Reine, to the glossy smoothness and rich purple edge of Chromatella. The blossoms are variously arranged at the extremity of the newly formed branches. The calyx is single and tubular, swelling at its lower part, contracted at its opening, and divided at the edge into five lance-pointed divisions, which are whole or pinnatifid. The corolla is inserted at the mouth of the tube of the calyx, and is composed of five heart-shaped petals, which constitute the Rose in its single or natural state. The double blossoms are formed by the change of the stamens and pistils into petals or flower leaves, shorter than those of the corolla proper. The fruit or seed vessel, or hip, is formed by the tube of the calyx, which becomes plump and juicy, globular or oviform, having but one cell, and containing numerous small, one-seeded, dry fruits, which usually pass for seeds; these are oval or globular, and surrounded with a soft down. The wood is very hard and compact, and of fine grain; and if it could be procured of sufficient size, would serve as a substitute for box in many kinds of manufacture. The longevity of the Rose is, perhaps, greater than that of any other shrub. We recollect seeing a rose-tree near an old castle in Stoke Newington, England, the stem of which was of immense size, and indicated great age. "There is a rose-bush flourishing at the residence of A. Murray McIlvaine, near Bristol, (Penn.,) known to be more than a hundred years old. In the year 1742, there was a kitchen built, which encroached on the corner of the garden, and the masons laid the corner-stone with great care, saying it was a pity to destroy so pretty a bush.' Since then, it has never failed to produce a profusion of roses, shedding around the most delicious of all perfumes. Sometimes it has climbed for years over the second-story windows, and then declined by degrees to the ordinary height. The fifth generation is now regaled with its sweets." The number of species known to the ancients was small, compared with the number now recognized by botanists. Pliny, with whom we find the most detail on this point, says that the most esteemed were those of Præneste and Pæstum, which were, perhaps, identical; those of Campania and Malta, of a bright red color, and having but twelve petals; the white roses of Heraclea, in Greece, and those of Alabande, which seem to be identical with R. centifolia. According to the Roman naturalist and to Theophrastus, they grew naturally on Mount Panga, and produced there very small flowers; yet the inhabitants of Philippi went there to obtain them, and the bushes on being transplanted, produced much improved and beautiful roses. Pliny speaks also of some other species, one whose flowers were single, another which he terms Spinola, and |