THE PLANT WORLD 147 



centuries, it was grown in orchards ; he speaks of twenty-two distinct 

 kinds under the names of Claudians, Pompeians, etc. 



I HAVE found the following rules in cutting and keeping flowers both 

 practical and useful. First, as to cutting. A sharp knife is the right 

 tool for the purpose, as it leaves the sap-vessels of the stems open for 

 the absorption of water, while scissors crush and compress these vessels, 

 so that their absorptive power is more or less destroyed. Like injury 

 may be done by breaking off the stems, especially if they are tough. If 

 the flowers are not put into water immediately, the ends of the stems 

 should be cut off with a sharp knife, as the sap-vessels will probably 

 have become clogged up with coagulated matter. 



Cut flowers often suffer from too dry an atmosphere. It is difl&cult 

 to avoid this in our artificially-heated rooms, but we may at least put 

 the blossoms in the coolest part of the room. Near a window and especi- 

 ally in a bay-window, the temperature is generally several degrees lower 

 than in other parts of the room, as you can see if you will test it with a 

 thermometer. The best authorities saj-, morever, that the flowers should 

 have the benefit of light, and even of sunshine in most cases, though there 

 is a popular prejudice against exposing them to the latter. On the other 

 hand, they suffer, as plants do, from draughts and from sudden altera- 

 tions of temperature. When flowers have been carried a long distance 

 in close boxes or cases, they often appear withered and worthless, but 

 -svdth proper treatment they may be revived and restored to their original 

 beauty. Instead of being at once put into vases and exposed to the hot 

 and dry air of the parlor, they should either be carefully spread out on 

 wet flannel or moss and covered with a dish-cover or an inverted box, 

 or else put in pans containing moss and water, or wet sand, in which 

 they can be set upright, and then shut up in the dark for a few hours. 



G. B. Griffith, in Vick's Family Magazine. 



An interesting article on the ferns of Jamaica appears in the 1901 

 volume of the Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh 

 (XXII, Part 1), by the Rev. Dr. Paul. In the course of a comparison 

 of the relative area of Jamaica and Invernesshire, in Scotland, he refers 

 to the fact, interesting to those ignorant of it, that whereas in the whole 

 of the British islands there are 47 species of ferns, Jamaica contains 

 473. 



