some of which it is probable that some fine and original climbers may be raised. A most desirable object to obtain is a dark crimson Rosa ruga: this may possibly be accomplished by planting that favorite rose with the Ayrshire Queen, and fertilizing its flowers very carefully with those of that dark rose. It is remarkable, that although these roses are both hybrids, from species apparently very remote in their affinities, yet both of them bear seed, even without being fertilized. The Blush Ayrshire, a most abundant seed-bearer, may also be planted with the Ayrshire Queen, the Gloire de Rosomènes, the Double Yellow Brier, Single Crimson Moss, Celina Moss, the China Rose Fabvier, and its flowers fertilized with the pollen of these roses: if any combination can be effected, pleasing results may reasonably be hoped for. To make assurance doubly sure,' the anthers of the Ayrshire Rose should be removed from some of the flowers with which the experiment is tried." · Rivers.

BANESIA ROSE

Rosa Banksia.-This very beautiful and very singular family more resembles in bloom a double Spiræa prunifolia, dwarf almond, or Chinese plum, than a rose. Its shoots are long, flexible, and graceful, and its foliage of a deep, polished green. In the flowering season, each shoot

is like a pendulous garland of white, yellow, or rose-colored blossoms, small in size, and countless in number. It is not hardy here, or even in England; but it is one of the few once-blooming roses that are worth training on a greenhouse rafter. We have found it to succeed in a house without fire, with the protection of straw placed around it in winter. It will then bloom in the spring.

This rose is a native of China, and was named in compliment to Lady Banks. In Italy and the south of France it grows to perfection, climbing with an astonishing vigor, and covering every object within its reach. According to the French writer Deslongchamps, there was in 1842 a Banksia Rose at Toulon, of which the stem was, at its base, two feet and four inches in circumference; while the largest of the six branches measured a foot in girth. Its foliage covered a space of wall seventy-five feet wide, and about eighteen feet high; and it sometimes produced shoots fifteen feet long in a single year. It flowered in April and May; from fifty to sixty thousand of its double white blossoms opening at once, with an effect which the writer describes as magical. This remarkable tree was then about thirty-four years old. Deslongchamps also describes another Banksia Rose at Caserta, in the kingdom of Naples, which climbed to the top of a poplar

sixty feet high, killed it with its embraces, and mantled its lifeless form with its rich green drapery, and its flowery garlands and festoons of white.

Banksian roses must not be shortened much; for, if they are, they will not bloom. The branches may be thinned out, however, to any degree necessary. The strong, thick shoots of overgrown proportions, and often but half ripened, which they sometimes make towards the end of summer, should be cut out, as they draw too much life from the blooming part of the plant. The same rule will also apply to many other species. These gross and immature shoots occur in many roses, both in the open ground and under glass; and, as they rarely produce good flowers, they should not be suffered to rob the rest of the plant of its nourishment.

The DOUBLE WHITE BANKSIA is the best known, and one of the most beautiful. JAUNÂTRE PLEINE is of a primrose yellow. JAUNE SERIN is of a bright yellow. FORTUNE'S BANKSIA has double white flowers, much larger than usual with the species, and is greatly admired. The YELLOW BANKSIA is of a bright yellow, small, and very double. ROSEA is of a bright rose, double.

The Banksia is frequently used in greenhouses and con

servatories as a stock for other climbing roses; and, in

many cases, answers well.

The Prairie Rose

Rosa Rubifolia.

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This native rose has been much improved by Mr. Feast and others, and now has many varieties, some of which are evidently hybrids. The single variety is in itself very attractive; blooming in clusters, which last a long time, and exhibit a pleasing diversity of shade, since the flowers grow paler as they grow old. For our own part, we prefer the parent to most of its more pretending offspring.

All of this family are held in great scorn by transatlantic cultivators. Perhaps the climate of England is unfavorable to them; perhaps national prejudice may color the judgment; or perhaps the fact that a less rigorous climate permits the successful cultivation of many fine climbing roses which cannot well be grown here may explain the slight esteem with which these coarse children of the prairies are regarded. Coarse, without doubt, they are, except those into which another element has been infused by hybridization, accidental or otherwise: and yet our climate forbids us to dispense with them.

The QUEEN OF THE PRAIRIES is among those best known and most desirable. Individually, its flowers are as void of beauty as a rose can be. Sometimes they are precisely like a small cabbage,—not the rose so called, but the vegetable, in elegance. Yet we regard this rose as a most valuable possession. It will cover a wall, a pillar, a bank, or a dead trunk, with a profusion of bloom, gorgeous as a feature of the garden landscape, though unworthy to be gathered or critically examined. It is perfectly hardy, and of the easiest culture. Those who can make no other rose grow rarely fail with this. The BALTIMORE BELLE is a notable exception to every thing we have said in disparagement of the Prairie roses. It is evidently a hybrid of some tender, ever-blooming variety, apparently one of the Noisettes; and derives, from its paternal parent, qualities of delicacy and beauty which are not conspicuous in the maternal stock. At the same time, it has lost some of the robust and hardy character of the unmixed Prairie. In a severe New-England winter, its younger shoots are often killed back. It shows a tendency to bloom in the autumn; and a trifle more of the Noisette blood infused into it would, no doubt, make it a true autumnal rose. Some florists use it for spring forcing in the greenhouse; for which the

and they are as deficient in fragrance as