1878. ] 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
187 
them and lay them up rough for the winter. 
If they can be filled with Daisies , Wallflowers , 
Silene, Pansies , Violas , and such spring-flower¬ 
ing things, they will give the beds a furnished 
appearance, and be pretty in spring. Or the 
beds can be filled with dwarf evergreen and 
variegated shrubs. Anything, almost, is better 
than bare beds; but if they are to be bare, let 
them be kept as neat as possible. All the 
leaves possible should be collected and put 
aside to decay and form leaf-mould. It will 
come in very handy for potting purposes, or 
for top-dressing plants in beds. As soon as 
the leaves are down, the flower-garden should 
be made tidy in all its parts, and any alter¬ 
ations required be carried out. 
Kitchen Garden.—S ome Seakale and Aspa¬ 
ragus might now be forced. The best practice 
is to make up beds under a frame, and towards 
the end of the month the roots can be taken 
up, a few inches of soil put on the bed, the 
roots being placed on it, and the spaces between 
them filled in with soil. Rhubarb may be 
similarly treated. A little Mastarcl and Cress , 
sown in pans or shallow boxes, can be raised in 
the frame, which should be covered on cold 
frosty nights. 
Fruit Garden. — Fruit 'Trees should be 
planted without delay. Pruning may be done 
at any time, when the weather is suitable. 
Standard Apple and Pear trees should be kept 
well open in the centre, taking out strong up¬ 
right leaders and branches that cross each other. 
In cases where the bark is open, it is well to 
give a good dressing of some suitable material 
to destroy the larvae of insects. The leading 
shoots of pyramid trees may be shortened back, 
to impart vigour to the buds. Many little 
things will suggest themselves to be done in 
winter. A general cleanliness is of the highest 
importance. Suburbanus. 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
cS v 2=3M0NGST the American Poplars, Pro- 
P/6.G fessor Sargent recommends strongly ag 
c lb (Loo worth a trial for planting streets or 
avenues tlie following :—Populus Fremontii, of 
Western Nevada, and P. trichocarpa, of the same 
region and California. The foi'mer he describes as 
by far the handsomest Poplar he has ever seen. It 
is very much planted as a street tree in Leeson city 
and other towns in that part of Nevada. In Salt 
Lake City the Mormons generally plant P. angusti- 
folia, which is also a good street tree, but less orna¬ 
mental, Professor Sargent thinks, than either of the 
others. P. tricuspidata is the common Poplar of 
the Yosemite valley, where it makes a very hand¬ 
some tree. All these Poplars, he adds, grow so very 
fast, that more might be done with them than 
people seem to think. 
— 21 very good meeting of the Royal 
Horticultural Society was that of November 
19, the principal features being Chrysanthe 
mums, Hardy Shrubs, Dracaenas, Orchids, Vege¬ 
tables, Pine-apples, and some splendid Apples from 
Leonardslee. Mr. A. Watercr had a First-class 
Certificate for Hex Aquifolium scotica auren, a 
brilliant golden-edged form of the hardy variety 
called scotica; and also showed two very pretty 
Hemlock Spruces, Abies canadensis pendula, and 
Abies canadensis variegata, which were not certi¬ 
ficated, the former of a distinctly pendulous habit, 
and the latter rather dull-looking at this season, but 
in oarly summer having all the tips of the branches 
pure white, looking at a short distance as if hung 
over with little white bells. Calanthe Sedeni, from 
Messrs. Veitch and Son, had a First-class certifi- 
ficate ; the vestita-like flowers are of a superb rose- 
colour. The same award was made to Odontoglossum 
Alexandres Perrinii, from J. Perrin, Esq., of Malvern, 
a very handsome form, in which the sepals and petals 
were bordered with deep rosy-purple; and to Chrys¬ 
anthemum M. Crousse, shown by Messrs. Jackson and 
Son, a Japanese variety, the florets of which are of a 
Spanish-red in the upper half, and cream-coloured 
towards the base, being distinct and novel in 
character. 
— SThe Zepiiirin Gregoire Pear is, writes 
Mr. Saul, of Stourton Park, “ a great acquisi¬ 
tion to our list of late Pears; it is a fine, rich, 
juicy, melting pear, and is in use in December and 
January. The tree grows freely on the pear-stock, 
and makes a beautiful pyramid. It is quite hardy, 
and generally bears well.” (See figure in Florist 
and Pomologist, 1863, t. 222.) 
— 2It tlie meeting of the Committee of the 
National Rose Society, on October 22, the 
Rev. Canon Hole in the chair, the dates for the 
exhibitions for 1879 were fixed, subject to the 
approval of the annual meeting,—the first show to 
bo held at the Crystal Palace ou June 28, the second 
at Manchester on July 14. The accounts showed a 
balance in favour of the society. 
— JKb. Harrison Weir states in the 
Gardeners' Chronicle that the flower-buds of the 
Begonia fuchsioides, besides being valuable 
from a decorative point of view, may also be made use¬ 
ful in the culinary art. It seems that the unexpanded 
blossoms have “ a delightfully acid flavour,’' and 
that when cut up small and sprinkled over a salad, 
both the appearance and the “tone” of the tooth¬ 
some relish is greatly improved. We ( Gardeners' 
Chronicle ) were not previously aware of the 
flowers being used for such a purpose, but record 
the circumstance on the authority of Mr. Harrison 
Weir. 
— “ tjALKS about Plants ” (Griffin and 
Farran) is the title of a little book, written by 
Mrs. Lankester, and designed to excite interest 
in the rising generation concerning the wild flowers 
they may meet with in their country rambles. It 
is written in the conversational style, and is well 
adapted for its special object, which is not exactly 
that of teaching botany, but of creating an interest 
in the study of botany, and so leading on to a desire 
for more ample knowledge. It is divided into 
twelve chapters, one being devoted to a “ talk ” 
about a few of the more prominent wild flowers of 
each month, in the course of which a good deal of 
interesting, popular, and botanical information is 
conveyed. There arc six coloured groups of flowers, 
not over well done, and several woodcut illustrations. 
