1877. ] 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
263 
they have been grown, stood upon a damp soil-surface, where the pots will absorb 
sufficient moisture to prevent them becoming dust-dry—just those conditions where the 
tubers and even some of the small rootlets would keep fresh and plump. Kept in this 
way, they start strongly and naturally in the spring, and much earlier than when they 
have been kept quite dry. A vault or cellar from which frost is just excluded would 
be a capital place for them. The one thing they do not like is over-drying. 
- ^s a new carpet-bedding plant, the Gardeners* Magazine recommends 
the common white trailing Bedstraw of our moors and heaths, Galium saoxitile. 
It is said to be a valuable surfacing plant for beds of liliums, or for any purpose, 
indeed, for which a close, green, moss-like growth of herbage may be required. It needs 
a peaty or gritty soil, and apparently starvation is good for it as a garden plant, for when 
thoroughly starved it forms a very close, mat-like growth, and does not flower, so that as 
a green surfacing, it is as nearly perfect as can be imagined. 
- ®^HE forms and combinations of foims in Hot-water Boilers seem end¬ 
less. One which recommends itself to many persons is Wagstaff’s Upright 
Tubular Saddle Boiler, and no doubt the action of this boiler must be efficient, 
since it combines in great measure the good qualities of both the saddle and the tubular 
kinds. This tubular saddle, being composed of a number of tubular sections or arched 
ribs, bolted together, with spaces between, is practically a combination of the two forms 
which are acknowledged to be most efficient. The numerous bolts close to the furnace 
which this mode of construction involves, appears to be the weak point in its construction, 
but as long as it keeps sound, the boiler is, no doubt, efficient. 
- ^HERE are many fine subjects for the landscape gardener amongst the 
Alders. Mr. Young, of the Milford Nursery, has one called Alnus incana variegata, 
a new form that has not yet been sent out, the leaves of which, when true to character, 
are heavily blotched with yellow; but this character does not seem at present to be quite 
fixed, as the plants occasionally hark back to the green state, to break out again into 
golden variegation further on. In Alnus glutinosa aurea we have the variegation well 
fixed, and a very pleasing tree it is, with its pure lemon-yellow leaves; indeed it is one of 
the best of yellow-leaved shrubs. A. glutinosa imperialis, with its deeply-cut leaves and 
elegant pendulous branches, is certainly one of the handsomest varieties of its kind. 
A. g. oxyacanthifolia has pinnatifid leaves, resembling those of the whitethorn, but in con¬ 
sequence of a constriction of the mid-rib, the leaf is curled back from the tip. A. viridia 
is remarkable for the dark-green colour of its wood and foliage. A. cordifolia (cordata) 
with its fine heart-shaped smooth-shining leaves of a similar colour, is a very distinct 
species, of rapid and symmetrical growth; the last named is sometimes called the Italian 
Alder, and is almost an evergreen, retaining its foliage well into the winter and spring. 
For planting in islands on the margins of lakes and streams, and in damp places generally, 
the Alders are useful for mixing with Willows, &c.; but they do not absolutely require 
wet ground, thriving perfectly in deep, rich soil. 
- ?[^NDER the title Horticulture., Mr. Burbidge has compiled a bandy 
volume for one of the series of British Industries published by Mr. E. Stanford 
(Charing Cross). The several chapters are devoted to Commercial Gardening, 
Fruit Culture, Vegetable Culture, Salad Vegetables, Herbs, Decorative Plant Culture, 
Plant Propagation, &c.; and under these several headings the author discusses the 
character of the subjects cultivated, the means necessary thereto, the quan¬ 
tities produced, the expenses incurred, and so forth. In one flower-growing 
establishment, for example, where the glass-houses and pits are very numerous, we 
learn that 7 miles of 4-in. hot-water pipes are required for warming them, and in 
ordinary winters, 600 chaldrons of coke and 250 tons of coal, besides an enormous quan¬ 
tity of breeze, are required for warming them. From this establishment from 80,000 to 
90,000 Pelargoniums are sent to market annually, besides 60,000 to 70,000 Hyacinths. 
Of these 20 dozen are always sent to market the day before Christmas. Another grower 
imports and cultivates annually 160,000 tulip bulbs. This kind of information, with a 
brief explanation of the methods adopted, is supplied under the different headings, so that 
much useful as well as much curious statistical information will be found, which is well 
worth consulting. 
