172 THE FLORIST AND 



dactylifera) experiment has shown that the apex of the stem, when its vege- 

 tion begins to slacken in an old tree, grows again into a strong tree when 

 cut off and planted in the earth. Not one single experiment speaks in fa- 

 vour of the opinion promulgated by Knight, that all parts of a tree have a 

 common end to their life, and that the different trees which have been raised 

 from one and the same tree by grafts, decay about the same time as the 

 parent plant. A whole series of cultivated plants (I will only mention the 

 Vine, the Hop, the Italian Poplar, and the Weeping Willow) are propagated 

 by division, without any decreased power of vegetation ever being seen. 

 Nothing was in greater contradiction to the laws of vegetable life, than the 

 frequently expressed opinion, that the Potatoe disease of recent years was to 

 be ascribed to a degeneration of the Potatoe plant, arising from the un- 

 ceasing propagation by tubers." 



THE ROSE -KING OF THE PRAIRIES." 



KENSINGTON JUNE 10, 1853. 



Dear Sir: — On a visit to Baltimore last week I was presented with 

 a flower of the ab jve Rose by Mr. Samuel Feast. He says that 

 this is the third time it has bloomed with him, and is a source of 

 pleasure to him every time it blooms. As its name imports, it is the 

 King of the Prairie roses, being superior to any of the other va- 

 rieties of its tribe ; having the fragrance of the Damask, form cup 

 shaped, colour bright peach, darker in the centre, bud of a long con- 

 ical shape which at the opening of the ilower is beautiful. Mr. F. 

 says that, as it opens it shows a few small petals of a lighter colour. 

 The outer petals, twenty-five in number, are of a fine form, slightly 

 turning back, which gives the rose a globular shape until fully ex- 

 panded. 



It is superior to Prairie Queen in every respect except in growth, 

 as far as I could see, and even in that Mr. F. says it equals it ; there 

 were some shoots at the time I saw it, which appeared to war- 

 rant his assertion ; but every body knows him, consequently we 

 take his word for it; but I ani satisfied that the flower is sweet, and 

 is larger and more pleasing to look upon ; all the others are either 

 destitute of fragrance or are somewhat offensive to the smell. In 

 tine, for a rose which is required to cover a large space in a short 



