1876, ] 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
143 
an astringent refreshing scent, as in old monthly China and many others; Damask perpetual 
scent, as in Rose du Roi, &c.; Scotch Rose scent, as in the early double Scotch; Violet scent, 
as in White Banksia; Old Cabbage scent, as in the well-known double Provence; Otto per¬ 
petual scent, as in Charles Lefebvre, Madame Knon’, &c.; true perpetual scent, as in 
Chabrilland, Pierre Netting, &c.; Old Tea scent, as in the old yellow Tea or Magnolia Rose, 
and others almost unpleasantly strong for some tastes; Sweet Tea scent, as in Goubault, 
Mardchal Niel, &c.; Hybrid Tea scent, as in La France; Nectarine, or fruit scent, as in 
Socrates, Jaune Desprez, Aline Sisley, &c.; and the Verdier scent, represented more or less 
by all the Victor Verdier hybrids, such as Eugenie Verdier, Castellane, Countess of Oxford, 
Marie Finger, &c. The petals of the highly-scented varieties have on their inner surface minute 
perfume glands or vesicles, containing the highly volatile essence, under the microscope dis¬ 
tinctly visible. Those on the petals of Sweet Briar and Moss are almost visible to the naked 
eye. Mr. Curtis concludes that the following are the most deliciously and powerfully 
scented varieties:—La France, Goubault, Devoniensis, Mar6chal Niel, Bessie Johnson, 
Madame Knorr, Pierre Netting, and Charles Lefebvre. 
- Dodwell sends the following replies to queries concerning 
Carnations: —(1.) R. G. B .—By all means keep manure-water from Mars, S.B. 
Any variety apt to develop a clouded or inferior white should, as a rule, be kept 
from highly stimulating diet. If, as you assume. Mercury, S.B., by the same raiser, sent out 
as secondary, should prove the better variety, it will by no means be singular. Admiral 
Curzon and British Hero, S.B.’s, were sent out at the same time, and by the same raiser, and 
for some time and by some influential florists, the latter was thought the better flower; but 
time corrected this, as it does in the long-run most illusions. (2.) B. 2, Derby. —The 
plant sent is full of canker, an irremediable disease at this period of the season. Where it 
is not developed until the shoots have attained a length and strength of growth sufficient to 
form pipings, sometimes by resorting to that mode of propagation, and removing every part 
exhibiting signs of the evil, healthy young plants may be obtained ; but as a rule, it is like 
gout in the human family,—once in the system, though it may appear to miss a generation, or 
even two, it is certain to recur. There is no cure for it; but by sound practice in cultiva¬ 
tion, always keeping the plants clean, subject to the influence of pure air and plenty of it, 
and unprejudiced by crude or highly stimulating diet, its evil may be reduced to a minimum. 
- ®HE Fritillaria rscurva^ with flowers worthy of being described as 
scarlet, is a striking novelty, which has been flowering at Kew. It grows from 
1 ft. to 2 ft. high; the leaves are very narrow, and of a greyish-green tint; and 
the flowers, which number from three to eight, are narrowly campanulate, and from an inch 
to an inch and a half in length. No other known species approaches this in colour. On 
first expansion it appears most brilliant, being afterwards apparently toned down with an 
increase of yellow, which would seem the ground-colour. The tessellation is somewhat 
obscure, though evident on close examination. On the inside the perianth is distinctly 
yellow, and is covered with numerous, usually linear scarlet spots. It is a native of California, 
and will doubtless prove one of the most interesting of recently introduced bulbs. 
- Some of the most beautiful New Gloxinias we have ever seen, well 
grown, and magnificently flowered, were sent to the Brussels Show by M. Duval, 
of Versailles. Among the more striking flowers in this charming collection were:— 
Lisere (VArgent, bright crimson, with white edge; Patrie, fine large flowers, with purple 
tube and throat, passing to pale violet towards the white edge; Color nova, rich plum- 
crimson, paler at the edge; William Robinson, pink, delicately and closely spotted, with a 
curved band of deep rose-pink within the margin of the lobes; Mont Blanc and Boule de 
Neige, two good whites, the former being*the finest flower; Madame Hoy, lilac, very distinct 
in colour; and Carmin, rich crimson-scarlet, paler at the edge. In another group from M. 
Van Houtte, were Ami Thibaut, with white ground and close wavy reticulated lines and 
dottings of purple; and Madame de Stael, with punctate pink flowers. These were all of the 
erect-flowered type. 
- '^The following method of Increasing the Size and Earliness of Peaches 
is recommended by M. Desire Chevalier, a Peach-grower of Montreuil. In the 
middle of the fruit-bearing branch, and in the month of March, he makes a sloping 
cut from below upwards, reaching to the middle of the shoot, the incision being quite similar 
