Evening star., 1925-05-12

| they have been looking for something
| that does not exist.
What did God make mosquitoes
| for?" Is a common question.
Or why are there such endless sue
| cessions of creatures that feed upon
each other? The Althea bush is COW
cred with black lice, but soon lady
| bugs" looking for all the world as
: If they had been enameled red. with
| black spots, come to devour the
aphids.
The rose, then, exists in itself for
| itself
1t has no solemn purpose of being.
| For itself, and in itself, it is enough.
If man manages to get beauty and
encouragement from it, those are ex-
ira qualities the rose throws in, be-
| ing so rich in itself. The rose grow
| them, but such Is not the purpose OF
| the rose.
Roses bloom for themselves, not for
us. If we are able to love their
| beauty, so much the better for us!
They have been known since the
time of Sappho, the encyclopedia in
| forms one. That poetess no doubt
wore one in her hair when she IN
| dited with her stylus one OF her fine
ly etched poems which few have read
The Romans, in fact most Of the
nous Cleopatra, who, by the way had
three children. one known by the
pretty name of Selene, spent many
| good Egyptian thalers tor what
ever they called -them) upon roses.
She liked to- strew rose leaves all
around, 8 pretty but wasteful habit
Nero, too. notorious Roman emperor
the moron who fiddled while his city
burnt, signed huge imperial checks in
payment for roses.
feel extravagant paying $40 for
rose bushes at one clip, but Nero
| thought nothing at all of ordering
| 100000 worth for one royal blow
out. That Is one difference between
me and Nero.
Perhaps in no activity is the Ole
maxim ''If Il thing is worth doing at
all, 1t is worth doing Well more ap
| plicable than in rose culture.
| The amateur rosarian had better
] have two first-class, 2-year- old plants
than a dozen or two dozen 1-yeai
plants.
He had better spray, cultivate ant
feed those two good plants properly
| than neglect his dozen or two doZer
| SIHdiICI PiiHlS.
| He had better give time and at
tention to his two plants than hall
| care for his more numerous bushes.
| If he goes in for roses, he shoulC
| do the thing right, or let them alone
| If he does not, he will find the bugs
| will run the plants to suit themselves
If he goes at roses in a half-hearteC
way he will get only halfway results
in the form of blooms Of poor color
and texture, and not very many oi
| them.
| On the other hand, il he will get
| a few good bushes, and treat then
properly. and spend enough time or
them, he will be rewarded with mag
| nificent flows, each one Of which
| will win his neart.
| These lines are written as the re
suit OF one years sad experience, at
tempting to grow roses like zinnias
| 1t simply cannot be done.
The rose is a jealous flower. 1t de
mands attention. and plenty Of it. Il
one is not willing to watch 1t cease
lessly for the first inroads Of lice
fungus and black spot he had better
| grow petunias or nasturtiums.
| If he is not willing to feed stht
| plants with bone meal and other fer
tilizers, he had better let roses alone
| With roses, perhaps more than with
any other flower, the old saying is
| true, that you cannot get out of 6
| thing any more than you put into it