The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1875-10-22
Roses.

lively people, but we would call them
quiet, and even sad, because their gave
ty is SO different from ours, and their
manners more grave and dignificd. But
they are fond of amusements, and one
of their yearly festivals is the " Feast OF
the Roses" which takes place during
the Rose season, which is June, July,
and indeed the greater part of the sum-
mer. / will try to tell you something
about it.
The climate being very warm, the peo-
pie live much out of doors, and during
this feast tents are pitched every one
wears his or her prettiest dresses. and,
as all Eastern people are fond of bright
colors, the scene is very gay one.
During the festival everything be-
tokens mirth and enjoyment The Gym
balls and lutte are heard from morning
till night, the story -tellers recount their
most beautiful tales, and the dancing
girls dance for hours at a time. Then,
when the night comes, and the moon
light covers everything like silver
cloud, the people stretch themselves on
their soft carpets and listen to the songs
of the nightingales and soft serenades on
the women's lutes.
In some parts of Turkey whole fields
of roses are cultivated, from which the
Turks make the famous "attar of
roses, which is so fragrant that vessel
or anything touched with drop of it
seems never TO lose the smell and the
Hindoos scatter rose leaves in the water
they drink to give it pleasant appt ar
ance.
There are more than two hundred
kinds of roses, and they are of all sizes,
from the tiny " Pfcayune rose, SO called
because it is no larger than q ive-cent-
piece-which, in the South, is called a
picayune-to the immense cabbage-rose;
of all shades of color, bright yellow,
pink, red, and almost black. The Rose
of Damascus, or damask rose, is the one
first brought TO this county, and is a
very deep red, with strong perfume.
Then there are the Egyptian sea roses,
tea roses, rock roses, which grow in
dry, rocky places, where no other
flower can live and the Alpine rose,
growing by the eternal snowdrifts of
the Alps.
Roses are hardy plants, and will live a
long time, if properly cared for. There
is rose tree in Germany, which is
known TO be eight hundred years old,
and it is still blossoming.
We all know and love the pretty moss
rose, with its messy, green veil, that
gives it such shy, modest air and the
tea rose, which, i'll the South and West,
grows on trees. The writer had, in her
garden in Arkansas, one which grew to
be over seven feet high, and would
bear as many as five hundred blossoms at
once.
But there is one rose more curious
than all the others-the Rose of Jericho.
1t has another name which botanists call
it, that is, Anastatica, Greek word,
meaning resurrection and the Arabs
call it the symbol of Immortality, because
it comes to life after it has seemed to be
dead. 1t lives in the hot sands of the
Desert of Sahara, and when the dry sea-
son comes it withers, folds it leaves, and
draws up its roots, like little feet, into a
light ball, and the winds of the desert
carry it until it reaches moist soil, and
then, we are told, it drops, takes root,
and its leaves become green, and its
blossoms open, a delicate pink.
There is flower in Mexico, known as
the Resurrection Flower, which is very
much the same. 1t may be carried about
in your pocket for year and more, and
yet, when put into saucer of water, in
a few hours will blossom out as bright
and fresh as if it had just come out of
the garden.
When the Romans conquered Britain,
more than eighteen hundred years ago,
they introduced many curious customs
into that country-amoDg others, that of
carving the figure of a rose on the cell
ings of their banqueting halls, or sus-
pending a natural rose over the dining
table, with the Latin motto, "ISub
rOsd," written above it, to indicate that
whatever was said there among friends,
or under the rOse-for that was the mean
ing of the words-should not be re-
peated, the white rose being the symbol
of silence.
The rose Ia the national emblem of
England, as the thistle is of Scotland,
and the shamrock, or clover, of Ireland.
Every one who has studied history knows
of the Wars of the Roses in England,
when the two rival families of York and
Lancaster fought for the English crown,
the house of York having for its badge
the white rose, and the house of Ian
caster the Jed.
Many of my young readers have heard
of the language of flowers, in which
other: for instance: A white rose is the
emblem of silence; q withered rose of
any color means, Let us forget" and
yellow rose, Despair" and so on.
A rose handed to person means one
thing when handed upright, another
when its position is reversed. With its
thorns it has a certain meaning; without
them, still another. Among these East
ern people-the Persians, Turks, and
Hindoos-this language of flowers is sc
perfectly understood that, by means OF
a bunch of their favorite roses, long
conversations may be carried on without
word being spoken. This suits these
people, who do not like to talk very
much, but who are, nevertheless, a very
romantic, dreamy, and poetic race.-H
Nicholas.