1875. ] 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
47 
- ®hose who are interested in Drying Plants for the Herbarium , will be 
glad to know, if they do not know already, that Newman s Botanical Drying 
Paper , which is manufactured expressly for this purpose, possesses all the qualities 
required in such paper, preserving form and colour in the best possible manner, and having 
the peculiar advantage of seldom requiring a change of sheets whilst the plants are being 
dried, thus effecting a great saving of time and trouble. We have used it ourselves with much 
advantage. 
- 0/HE Royal Aquarium and Winter Garden Company is formed to estab¬ 
lish in the neighbourhood of Westminster Abbey an Aquarium and Winter 
Garden, on a very magnificent scale. Plans have been approved, and contracts 
entei*ed into, so that we may soon expect to have in the midst of London a fairyland of 
tropical foliage and flowers, fountains and statuary, sea caves and creatures of the deep. In 
the structure of the roof, which is to be circular, it is intended to adopt Rendle’s system of 
glazing, by which the use of putty is entirely dispensed with, and a broken pane of glass 
may be replaced by merely slipping it into a groove. The huge conservatory will afford 
space for flower and fruit shows, fetes, &c. 
- @The Messrs. Sutton and Sons have issued a Miniature Amateur’s Guide , 
being a much reduced reproduction of their Spring Catalogue for 1875, by the 
aid of photography. It is quite a curiosity in its way, and as the catalogue itself 
is one of the most complete and tasteful of those published in this country, this pocket 
edition (4^ in. by 3^ in.) is well worth procuring, by those who can read very small print. 
- the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Scientific Com¬ 
mittee on the 20th ult., Mr. Alfred Smee exhibited Chestnuts of the growth of 
1873, which had been preserved, quite plump and fresh, simply by placing them 
1 n dry sand in a flower-pot which stood in a dry garden-shed. On cutting them open the 
ornbryo was found to be in a good condition. This supplies a valuable hint to those concerned 
in sending Chestnuts to India. 
- According to the Revue Horticole , a plan of Destroying the Phylloxera 
has been devised by M. Denis, of Lyons. In the winter, when there are no 
herbaceous growths, the base of the Vine stem is laid bare to a depth of 10 in. to 
12 in., and boiling water, mixed with a small proportion of tobacco-juice, poured into the 
hole round the stock. Farm-yard manure, or by preference sheep-dung, is then added, and 
the soil returned to its place. 
- £The Bulletin of the Central Horticultural Society of France reports, on 
the authority of M. Boisduval, that the Potatos in Algeria have been very severely 
injured by the larva of a Tineinous moth belonging to the genus Bryotropha, and 
called B. solanella. The insec t deposits its eggs on the young shoots of the Potato, and the 
caterpillars, scarcely thicker than a hair, penetrate into the tuber, which they tunnel in all 
directions. No remedy is at present known for the ravages of this new pest. 
- %, Testimonial to Mr. E. R. Cutler , Secretary to the Gardeners’ Royal 
Benevolent Institution, was presented to that gentleman on the 14th ult., at 
Simpson’s Tavern, Strand. The sum subscribed was £250, and the testimonial 
took the form of a silver tea and coffee service, with salver, table forks and spoons, a massive 
gold watch-chain, and a diamond half-hoop ring and gold watcli-chain for Mrs. Cutler. 
- Some splendid specimens of Irish Yews are growing in the pleasure- 
grounds at Ingestrie Hall, near Stafford; they are at least 20 ft. high, and as 
much through, and form quite a feature amongst the other fine specimens of 
arboreal vegetation with which this antique residence is embellished. 
- JtN the account of the Vine Sport at p. 4, the name of Golden Champion 
should be substituted for that of Golden Hamburgh. 
