1882 .] 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
159 
proved to be handsome, and possessed of good crop¬ 
ping qualities :— Clarke’s No. 2, a long white kidney 
of the Magnum Bonum type; Sir Walter Raleigh, 
white round; Fenn’s No. 6, pink kidney; Richter’s 
fmperator, white kidney; Stewart’s Seedling, white 
kidney; New Early Premier, white round; Lord 
Rosebery, red round; Kerr’s Seedling No. 1, red- 
llaked kidney ; Carter’s Eight Weeks, white round ; 
Brand’s No. 4, 39, and 31, white rounds; Brownell’s 
No. 8, white round; Recorder, white, long kidney. 
When cooked the following varieties proved of ex¬ 
cellent quality, and were awarded lst-class Certifi¬ 
cates, viz., Richter’s Tmperator, a long white kidney, 
received from the Lawson Nursery and Seed Co., 
Edinburgh; Clarke’s No. 2, a long white kidney of 
the Magnum Bonum type; and Rand’s No. 39 j, a 
long kidney of the Snowflake type, received from 
Messrs. Bliss, Boston. Sutton’sPrizetaker, certificated 
last year, proved again to be of splendid quality. 
— iflR. A. 0. Walker sends to the Gar¬ 
deners Chronicle flowers of the Gazaniopsis 
stenophylla, a comparatively unknown hardy 
perennial of much beauty. It is a Composite, with 
long, linear, grassy, deep green leaves, snowy-white 
on the under-surface, and long leafless flower-stalks 
bearing heads of flowers 3 inches across, brilliant in 
colour ai>d curious in detail. The numerous in- 
volucral bracts are all run together at the base into a 
cup, the tree ends being leafy, about an inch long, 
linear and ciliate at the edges; these enclose a circle 
of ray florets, bronzy green in the centre externally, 
of the richest golden-yellow internally; the disc 
florets are similar in colour. The flowers have the 
habit of closing in the after part of the day. 
— Che new Canna Noutoni is considered 
by Messrs. Hooper & Co. as at least the equal 
of the noble C. Ehemanni. The new sort is, 
however, in the same way as the older one, but diffe¬ 
rent, the flowers growing more erect, and the colour 
being finer—a splendid crimson scarlet. The cut 
flowers bear out this high character, and if the habit 
be equally good, these will form a flue pair of orna¬ 
mental Cannas, infinitely superior to those of the 
ordinary races. 
— Che Tea Rose Gigantesque is one 
of the finest and freest of Tea Roses for in¬ 
door culture, in situations where it can run 
freely, such as the back wall of a conservatory. At 
the present day it seems to be little known, but it is 
a French variety raised by M. Odier, and sent out in 
1845. When allowed sufficient scope its flowers are 
abundant, and exceeding well adapted for cutting 
purposes. The blossoms are of a deep rose-pink, 
becoming paler towards the edge, the petals being- 
broad, and making up a bold, fine-looking flower. We 
have several times noticed it growing at Trentham, 
where it is thought very highly of by Mr. Stevens, 
on account of the bountiful supply of cut blooms 
which it furnishes. The plant is growing against the 
back wall of an old lean-to house, where we imagine 
it gets little feeding, but is allowed to run freely 
without much, if any, training, and under these 
conditions it produces abundantly blossoms which 
are extremely beautiful. We have not found the 
name in the English catalogues, but Mr. Ellwanger 
includes it in his descriptive list. 
— Che Renovation of Exhausted Mush¬ 
room Beds may be effected, in some degree, 
remarks the Journal of Horticulture, by a 
free application of liquid manure, at a temperature 
of 100°, enough being applied to penetrate the 
entire mass of the bed. The drainings from a manure 
heap are good for this purpose, diluted until the 
liquid is of the colour of pale ale, 1 oz. or 2 oz. of 
common salt being added to each gallon. When 
tank liquid manure cannot be had perfectly clear, 
soot water of the colour indicated, with salt as 
directed, may be advantageously applied ; or 1 oz. of 
sulphate of ammonia dissolved in four gallons of 
water will be found equally beneficial. Salt has 
been recommended, and lest there be any timid 
readers who may fear to use it at the strength named, 
they may take courage from the fact that Mr. Barter 
regularly uses it at the rate of J lb. to a gallon of 
water, but applied, be it remembered, over the straw 
covering. So beneficial is salt to mushroom bed' that 
it is used regularly whenever bearing beds require 
watering, and it has been found that as the quantity 
is increased so the crops are improved, and the mush¬ 
rooms rendered more white and fleshy. 
— %L grand specimen of Cattleya War- 
nerii was exhibited in June last at the Royal 
Horticultural Society’s meeting, by C. L. 
Southgate, Esq., of Streatham. The plant was in an 
8-inch pot, and bore three fine spikes of blossoms, 
one bearing six, another five, and the third four 
flowers, all expanded. The sepals and petals were of 
a beautiful rose colour, the lip a rich crimson, finely 
fringed at the margin, and marked with orange on 
the disk. It was altogether a very striking object, 
and was greatly admired for the profusion of blossom 
produced in so small a pot. The free-blooming cha¬ 
racter evinced by this plaut was perhaps owing to 
the smallness of the pot in which it was grown, so 
that it may be well for others to experiment in this 
direction. 
— @The Amaryllis Mrs. Garfield, which 
has been exhibited during the past season by 
Mr. B. S. Williams of Upper Holloway, is a 
descendant of the flue old Amaryllis reticulata, 
which is well marked by the broad silver band which 
runs down the centre of each of the evergreen leaves, 
and by its lovely rose-pink flowers, which are traced 
with a delicate network of darker pink. In the 
novelty under notice we have the beauty and delicacy 
of A. reticulata combined with a free flowering ien- 
dency. This new hybrid, moreover, has evergreen 
foliage, and the flowers, which are produced late in 
the season, are large, abundant, and richly coloured 
after the style of the parent. The leaves, which are 
1 5 foot long by 3 inches wide, preserve the character¬ 
istic white band. 
— ®he beautiful Phallnopsis speciosa, 
says the Gardeners' Chronicle, has recently 
flowered for the first time in England, in the 
collection of Lieut.-Colonel E. S. Berkeley. Abroad, 
the proper time for it to flower is from March to May; 
the flowering in the present instance being no doubt 
retarded by the check the plant received on its trans¬ 
port to England, it being one of those Phalaenopsids 
which travel very badly. The ordinary colour of the 
flower is white, richly blotched and barred with rosy- 
purple. In the plant recently flowered the deep 
rosy-purple colour predominates. 
— H Correspondent of one of the weekly 
papers, has the following on Forcing Sea- 
kale :—“ I have tried different ways of forcing 
Seakale, and I find none so successful as the fol- 
