1876 . ] 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
167 
- ^-HE title of a book before us reads temptingly thus ,—Good Gardening. 
It is written by Samuel Wood (Crosby Lockwood, and Co.), has reached a second 
edition, and comes before us in gay apparel. The kitchen and fruit gardens 
seem to be most bajjpily treated on, and contain much good practical advice; but the flower- 
garden department is less accurate. Thus the Narcissus, it is said, “belongs to the lilyworts, 
classically, so that any of the liliaceae and amaryllidaceae may be chosen to fertilise them 
with, or vice versa ,to obtain diversity of colour. Again, under “ Plants good for nothing,” 
we read, “Gannas are not worth growing, except to shoot with.” Again, “ Acorus calamus, 
a pretty iris-flowered bulb,” is altogether wrong, as it is not a bulb, nor iris-flowered. 
Misprints in the names of plants are frequent, as Westeria for Wistaria, Hybiscus for Hibiscus, 
Pyracanthus for Pyracantha, &c. The second book, on the practical operations of gardening, 
is better handled, and many useful practical hints may be gleaned therefrom. 
- fUR. Eandal H. Alcock has published a very interesting and useful 
work, entitled Botanical Names for English Readers (Reeve and Co.), which may 
be heartily commended to those who may be interested in the subject. It seeks 
lo ease the diflBculty wdiich many persons experience in learning the scientific names of 
plants by explaining their meaning, on the principle that it is easier to remember names when 
they convey some meaning, than when they are not at all understood. It contains a very 
interesting history of botany, in reference to botanical nomenclature up to the time of 
Linnaeus, while the second part gives the derivations and meanings of substantive and 
adjective names in most common use. This is done in so intelligible a way, that the book 
must prove a great boon for the class of persons for whose use it is provided. 
- ^ NEW edition of Mr. W. Paul’s Villa Gardening (Warne and Co.) has 
recently been published. The book itself is so well-known for its adaptation to 
the wants of the amateur cultivator, being suggestive rather than exhaustive, a 
sold of intellectual training in the ground-work of horticulture, that w'o need do little more 
than point to the fact of its having reached this new (the third) edition, and to say that it is 
now enlivened by numerous and varied illustrations, which, hovrever, are of unequal merit. 
It is a book out of whichj despite its limited size, a considerable amount of sound gardening 
information may be gathered up, and yet one which is not bulky enough to deter any one 
from consulting its pages. 
- ^HE Fern Paradise (Hodder and Stoughton) is the title of a neat little 
volume, by Mr. F. G. Heath, the object of which, as set forth in the preface, is to 
assist in developing the popular taste in Ferns. The author seeks in a 
series of chapters containing glowing descriptions of the native haunts of ferns, to arouse the 
interest of his readers—all this being pitched in rather a high key, and all or nearly all 
pointing to Devonshire as par excellence the land of ferns. The same florid style prevails in 
the second division of the book, wherein the ferns themselves are described, and their cul¬ 
ture explained. This part of the book, which is descriptive of the natural conditions under 
which the several species are found, is fairly trustworthy ; which is more than can be said of 
the description of the Maidenhair, in which the true structure is by no means indicated. The 
illustrations are too small to be pi'actically useful. Those who are seeking the paradise of 
Ferns may, however, be helped on their way by using Mr. Heath’s volume, and when they 
reach that hajDpy land, may thankfully remember the flo’svery paths along which they had 
been led. 
- true name and botanical status of the handsome deciduous-leaved 
Oak, known in some gardens, and specially in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edin¬ 
burgh, under the name of Quercus pannonica, has lately been the subject of 
inquiry by Dr. Masters. No such name occurs in any recognised work; and he arrives at the 
conclusion that the Q. pannonica of English gardens, originally derived from Mr. Booth, of 
Hamburg, is Q. conferta, the Hungarian Oak. It is a very ornamental hardy tree. 
- ^HE Common Asparagus grown in pots makes a pretty plant for Table 
Decoration, The roots should be potted in 5-in. or G-in, pots, in a compost of 
