American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-07-24
Roses.


| THE Persians, compared with their
neighbors, the Turks and Egyptians, are
lively people, but we would call them
quiet and even sad, because their gayety
is so different from ours and their manners
arc more grave and dignified. But they
are fond of amusements,~ land 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 summer.
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 sprettiest dresses, and, as all
Eastern people are fond of bright colors,
the scene Is very gay one
During this festival everything betokens
mirth and enjoyment The cymbals and
lutes are heard from morning till night,
the story tellers recount their most beauti-
full tales, and the dapcing-girls dance for
hours at a time. Then, when the night
comes, and the moonlight covers every
thing like a 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 a drop of it seems never to
lose the smell; and the Hindoos scatter
rose-leaves in the water they drink to give
it pleasant appearance.
There are more than 200 kinds of roses,
and they are of all sizes, from the tiny
/" Picayune rose" SO called because it is
no larger than fve-cent piece-which, in
the South, is called picayune-to the
immense cabbage rose; of all shades of
color, bright yellow, pink, red. and almost
black. The rose of Damascus, or damasks
rose, is the one first brought to this ceun
try. and is very deep red, with strong
perfume. Then there are the Egyptian
ssa-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 sncw-drifts of the
Alps. r's
Roses are hardy plants ana will live az,
long time if properly cared for. There is :,
a fose-tree IN Germany which us known
to be 800 years Old, and it is stih blossom
ing. =
We all know and love the pretty moss :
rose, with its messy, green veil, that gives
i such a shy, modest air,s and the tea-rose,
Yhfhf in the South and West grows on
lar3 <fess. The writer had, in hergarden
in Arkansas: one WHICH grew ase over :
as 800 blossoms aa6oIteE 3 % ). Z
But there is one rose more curious than :
all the others-the Rose of Jericho, 1t
has another name which botmists call il,
that is, 1ndstdticd, a Greek word, meaning
and the Arabs call it the
symbol of Immortality, because it comes to
life again long after it has seemed to be
dead. 1t lives in the hot sands of the Des-
ert of Sahara, and when the dry season
comes it withers, folds its leaves, and draws
up its roots, like little feet, into a light
ball, and the winds of the desert carry it
until it reaches a moist soil, and then, we
are told, it drops, takes root and its leaves
become green, and its blossoms open, u =
delicate pink. sa
There is flower in Mexico, known as
the Resurrection Flower which is very
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 gar
den.
When the Romans conquered Britain,
more than 1,S00 years ago, they intro
duced many curious customs into that
others, that of carving
the figure of rose on the ceiling of their
halls, or suspending natural
rose over the dining table, with the Latin
motto, Sub r0sa,'' written above it, to
indicate that whatever was said there
among friends, or ander the r0se-for that
was the meaning of the wOrds-shOuld
not be repeated, the white rose being the
symbol of silence.
The roseis the national emblem of En-
gland, as the thistle is of Scotland, and
the shamrock, or clover, of Ireland.
Everyone 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 Lancaster
Lhe red. sf-. $3.50.
Many of my young readers have heard
Of the language of flowers, in which peo-
pie can hold conversations with each
other; for instance A white rose is the
emblem of silence; withered rose of any
color means :" Let us forget and a yell
low 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 GER
ain meaning; without them, still another.
Among these Eastern people-the Per-
slams, Turks and Hindoos-this language
If flowers is SO perfectly understood that,
BY means of bunch of their fayorite
.oses, long conversations may be carried
IN without "a word being spoken. This
suits these people, who do not like to talk
7ery much, but who are, nevertheless,
7erv romantic, dreamy and poetic race