1883.] 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
175 
which occur to us. The department of Notes and 
Memoranda includes a large number of plants of the 
current period, and these alone give an interest to the 
volume beyond what it would otherwise possess. 
The hook is handsomely got up, and is just the sort 
of thing for the drawing-room table in a well-estab¬ 
lished household where the love of plants and flowers 
is sustained. The publishers are the Messrs. Cassell 
& Co., whose taste and public spirit in the production 
of standard publications is now everywhere known 
and recognised. 
— ©he recent publication of a third edition 
of Williams’ Select Stove and Greenhouse 
Flowering Plants is a proof that the taste 
for the cultivation of indoor ornamental plants is 
spreading amongst us, a fact which bears evidence 
to the material prosperity of the country. On the 
utility of the book just named in its special depart¬ 
ment of horticulture it is needless to offer any re¬ 
mark, the circumstance of its rapid sale affording 
sufficient evidence of its value. We may, however, 
note that Mr. Williams is not a mere compiler of 
hooks, but a practical cultivator of great knowledge 
and experience ; and that his endeavour is to impart 
a due share of this knowledge to those who become 
readers and students of his various publications. 
— ©he leaves of Acer Reichenbachii, as 
grown by Mr. A. Waterer in his nurseries at 
Knap Hill, Woking, are exceedingly beautiful 
when taking on their autumnal hues. They change 
to a deep crimson-red, varying from that to yellow 
and brown. The leaves, being large, present a broad 
mass of colour, which forms a pleasing feature in the 
landscape, and one that should be taken advantage 
of by planters. This maple is allied to A. platanoides; 
it is however distinct and very handsome. 
— $n the trial of Sweet Peas at Chiswick, 
besides certificating several new and desirable 
kinds (see p. 171) the Floral Committee came 
to the conclusion that Eckford’s Bronze Prince was 
superior to Invincible Black. They also decided that 
those named together in the following list were 
either identical, or too nearly alike to be worth 
keeping separate :—Princess (Eckford), Butterfly 
(Benary), and Butterfly (Carter & Co.)—Duchess of 
Albany (Eckford) and Captain Clark (Benary).— 
Purple Striped (Carter) and Black Purple (Benary). 
—Bed and White (Benary) and Painted Lady 
(Carter).—Scarlet Striped (Carter) and Bed Striped 
(Benary).—Emperor (Eckford) and Grandeur (Eck¬ 
ford).—Dark Bed (Benary), Scarlet (Carter), and 
Invincible Scarlet (Benary and Carter).—Black 
Purple (Benary), Purple (Carter), and Light Blue 
aad Purple (Benary). 
— Hmongst the Large Vines to be re¬ 
corded, we are reminded by a note in the 
Irish Farmer's Gazette , of the magnificent 
Black Hamburgh Vine, which some years ago 
was the glory of the fine range of vineries in the 
Viceregal Gardens, Phoenix Park, Dublin. This 
Vine entirely filled one of the houses, and produced 
annually some quarter of a ton or more of splendid 
grapes, and when seen when the fruit was ripe with 
its extended horizontally trained rods almost mathe¬ 
matically strung on either side with their luscious 
and sable pendants, it was, in sooth, a sight to 
admire, being not merely an example of a large vine, 
but a grand example of high and successful grape 
culture. Some three or four years since this noble 
vine came to grief from a peculiar affection of the 
bark and wood, and ultimately died, but we learn 
that its place is filled, and its glories surpassed, by a 
worthy successor, a more than equally imposing 
Black Alicante, which already fills a third of the 
space occupied by its predecessor. 
— ©ne of tbe largest examples of the 
Anthurium Andreanum, of wbicb we have as 
yet heard, is recorded from the garden of J. Mar¬ 
shall, Esq., Belmont, Taunton, where it has been most 
successfully cultivated by the gardener, Mr. Lucas. 
In this instance the flower stem was two and a half 
feet high, and bore a spathe six inches in width and 
eight and a half inches in length, and of a brilliant 
scarlet colour. There were eight other such flowers 
on the same plant. Those who remember the puny 
samples of A. Scherzerianmn, first figured in the 
Botanical Magazine, will not be surprised to learn 
that the present subject goes on improving under 
good cultivation. 
— In reference to Senecio macrophyllus, 
tbe Gardeners' Chronicle says, of all the 
members of tbe enormous family of Com¬ 
posites in flower in the herbaceous collection at 
Kew this is certainly one of the most handsome. 
The plant bears glaucous green leaves 2—3 feet in 
length, and nearly foot across, and a stout flower- 
stem about 7 feet in height, bearing a pyramidal 
panicle of golden-yellow flower-heads. It is some¬ 
times called Ligularia thyrsiflora, but there is no 
doubt that it is identical with Ligularia macrophylla 
=Senecio macrophyllus. 
— ©he usual method of Propagating the 
Walnut is from seed, and it is stated that 
the varieties usually come true this way, but 
not always, hence the necessity of resorting to 
grafting. The Walnut does not, however, graft so 
readily as many other trees, but it has been found 
that in the case of one-year-old seedlings grafted in 
the ordinary way, hut close down to the root, and 
then potted and placed in a close frame in a pro¬ 
pagating house, the union is speedily effected. 
— JFew ferns are more lovely than the 
Todea superba, but it is usually seen only as 
a dwarf cushion-like mass, but there is, we 
understand, in the garden of H. E. Pease, Esq., of 
Darlington, a specimen of this fern with a clean 
stem about four feet high, supporting a crown of 
fifty leaves, and measuring four feet in diameter, the 
leaves being two feet three inches long. Tnis must 
be a very charming specimen. 
— ©f choice Ivies we may recommend 
Hedera amurensis, whose enormous leaves 
and rapid growth render the plant of great 
service in clothing unsightly objects, and for cover¬ 
ing arbours, &c., quickly. Hedera palmata aurea, 
and H. aurea spectabilis, are also good kinds amongst 
the rapid strong-growing sorts with variegated 
foliage, their growth being somewhat less vigorous 
than that of II. algeriensis or H. amurensis. Amongst 
Ivies of a dark or purplish hue of foliage there is 
nothing more effective than H. atropurpurea, a 
comparatively new plant, with exceedingly dark 
leafage and moderate growth, which make it ad¬ 
mirably suitable for low walls; and H. rhomboidea is 
a dark green very close growing kind, the form of 
whose leaf is very pleasing and distinct. 
