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During the time of their prevalence, rose-bugs are sometimes found in immense numbers on the flowers of the common white-weed, or ox-eye daisy, (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum,) a worthless plant, which has come to us from Europe, and has been suffered to overrun our pastures, and encroach on our mowing lands. In certain cases it may become expedient rapidly to mow down the infested white-weed in dry pastures, and consume it with the sluggish rose-bugs on the spot.

"Our insect-eating birds undoubtedly devour many of these insects, and deserve to be cherished and protected for their services. Rose-bugs are also eaten greedily by domesticated fowls; and when they become exhausted and fall to the ground, or when they are about to lay their eggs, they are destroyed by moles, insects, and other animals, which lie in wait to seize them. Dr. Green informs us that a species of dragon-fly, or devil's needle, devours them. He also says that an insect, which he calls the enemy of the cut-worm, probably the larva of a Carabus, or predaceous ground-beetle, preys on the grubs of the common dor-bug. In France, the golden groundbeetle (Carabus auratus) devours the female dor or chafer at the moment when she is about to deposit her eggs. I have taken one specimen of this fine ground-beetle in Massachusetts, and we have several other kinds equally predaceous, which probably contribute to check the increase of our native Melolonthians."-Harris.

A. J. Downing recommends the use of open-mouthed bottles, half filled (and occasionally renewed) with a mixture of sweetened water and vinegar, and placed about the plant. He also recommends pouring boiling water on the ground, under the bushes, at the first appearance of the insects, and before their wings are formed. They nearly all rise to the surface of the ground, and emerge about the same time that the Damask Rose first begins

to open. A little observation will enable the cultivator to seize the right time for the scalding operation.

Rose Leaf-Hopper.-Tettigonia Rosa of Harris, who states that it has been mistaken for the Vine-fretter, or Thrips. It is yellowish white, and about three-twenti eths of an inch long; the male has two recurved appendages at the tip of its hind body. Dr. Harris says, "Swarms of these insects may be found in various stages of growth on the leaves of the rose-bush through the greater part of `summer, and even in winter upon housed plants. Their numerous cast skins may be seen adhering to the lower side of the leaves. They pair and lay their eggs about the middle of June, and they probably live through the winter in the perfect state, concealed under fallen leaves and rubbish on the surface of the ground. Fumigation with tobacco, and the application of a solution of whaleoil soap in water with a syringe, is the best means for destroying these leaf-hoppers."

We have enumerated but a very small part of the numerous insects which infest the rose, and in the absence of correct information on this important branch of floriculture, it is much to be hoped that farther investigations will be made by men of leisure. As an instance of the great variety of these insects, a French writer remarks that he "found in less than an hour, on the leaves of two species only of the Rose, six kinds of small caterpillars, all differing from each other in the number of their feet, the color of their head and body, and the lines and points with which they were marked. Their habits were all apparently the same. They lived between two or three folds which they had secured in shape by the films of their silk. Thus enveloped and protected, they eat the leaf until it is wholly or at least partly consumed. They then endeavor to establish themselves on another leaf, in which also they enwrap themselves, and consume it in the same manner. The

plants attacked by these caterpillars are known by their ruffled leaves, partly eaten, and more or less covered with silk." The writer does not give their name, nor the result of any experiments for their destruction; he merely mentions it as an instance of the great abundance of insects on almost every plant. Such being the case, there is abundant room for farther observation and research.

HISTORY OF THE ROSE.

"Round every flower there gleams a glory,
Bequeathed by antique song or story;
To each old legends give a name,
And its peculiar charm proclaim.
O'er smiling lawn, through shady grove,
Our dreaming poets pensive rove,
And strive to read their language rare,
And learn the lesson latent there."

CHAPTER X.

THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE ROSE, AND FABLES RESPECTING ITS ORIGIN.

Very little is known of the early history of the Rose, or who were its first cultivators; and on this point all is conjecture. Mention of it is made in the ancient Coptic manuscripts, while nothing concerning it can be distinguished, with any degree of certainty, on the Egyptian monuments which are left us. Bocastre, the French trayeler, observes that he carefully searched all the monuments in Egypt, and could find neither sculpture nor painting, figure nor hieroglyphic, that would lead us to suppose that the Rose was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians. We are, however, induced to believe that this beautiful flower was known to them, from the fact that several varieties are now found in Egypt. Dr. Delile, Director of the Botanic Garden at Montpelier, and with whom we enjoyed some pleasant intercourse during a visit to that place, was with Napoleon in his expedition to Egypt. In his 153

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valuable published account of that expedition, he mentions that he found there two Roses-Rosa alba, and Rosa centifolia; and there is also reason to believe, that under Domitian the Egyptians cultivated another—Rosa bifera. It is quite probable that the Rose was planted in the celebrated gardens of Babylon, the formation of which is attributed to Semiramis, about 1200 years before the Christian era; and it also appears probable, from the testimony of modern travelers, that several kinds of roses crossed over into Persia.

It is very certain that the Rose was cultivated by the Jews during the reign of Solomon, about two centuries after Semiramis; for mention of this flower is made in the Scripture books attributed to that king. In the Song of Solomon, he says: "I am the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the valleys;" and in the Apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon-"Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds before they be withered."

It also appears, by several passages of the Book of Ecclesiasticus, the author of which lived about 700 years after Solomon, that the Jews possessed beautiful gardens of roses, particularly at Jericho. "I was exalted like a palm-tree in Engaddi, and as a rose-plant in Jericho:" xxiv. 14. "Hearken unto me, ye holy children, and bud forth as a rose growing by the brook of the field:" xxxix. 13. "And as the flower of roses in the spring of the year:" 1. 8. These passages prove that this most fertile and beautiful portion of Palestine abounded in roses, palms, and cedars. They no longer, however, abound; for while "the cedars wave on Lebanon," and the solitary palm stands in its isolated beauty, the Rose has entirely disappeared; and that now called the Rose of Jericho is but a little plant of the family of Cruciferæ. The Greeks cultivated the Rose at an early period, during the time of Homer, who lived about 200 years after the wise Hebrew monarch. In the Iliad and Odyssey he borrows the

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