30 



TO COEEESPONDENTS. 



Camptosorus rhizophyllus.— Jf. J:— This, pretty little fem is quite hardy, 

 hut we have never seen it do any good out of doors. Mrs. Ilibberd growB it 

 admirably, and multiplies it largely by runners, in the lantern fern case that -was 

 represented in the Floral World for January, 1858. That fern case is beside us as 

 we write this, and peeping in we see the fern you inquire about in beautiful health, 

 in a half cocoa-nut shell suspended near the top of the lantern. It is in the same 

 soil as is used for nearly all our ferns, namely, peat from Epping Forest, chopped 

 up Avith about a fifth part of silver sand. It would, no doubt, grow in silky loam 

 or leaf-mould as well as in peat. Anywhere under glass and kept cool we should 

 expect it to attain high<^'r perfection than out of doors ; nevertheless it will stand 

 our severest frosts when established. 



R. W. W. — Wo have tried several times to read your long letter, with a view 

 to make a reply, but reaUy it is too long^ and as we suppose our days to he num- 

 bered we give it up. 



Bekeerries.— J", j;— The B. HooJcerii of English gardens closely resembles B. 

 Wallichiana, and both of them are natives of Nepaul. B. mycrophylla is a fine 

 species ; we know not where it is to be obtained. Your specimen of B. mycrophylla 

 is most acceptable, and your queries on these subjects occasion us agreeable reflec- 

 tions and inquiries, therefore we trust we need not apologize for being rather slow 

 to answer them. The fact is they are sometimes posers. 



Grafting Rhododendron's. — P. B. — The routine practice in multiplying 

 named varieties of rhododendrons is as follows. In the course of February and 

 March small seedling Pontia stocks are potted in 48 or 54 sized pots, and 

 taken into a warm close propagating house. There they are at once grafted by 

 a very simple process. The operator sits at a bench, and is armed with a faultless 

 small knife. He cuts off the head of the stock, leaving a stump of about two inches 

 length in the pot. This he splits down about an inch, as if intending to make the 

 stock represent the letter Y. He then cuts the end of the graft to the form of a 

 long wedge, the graft itself being a twig with one tuft of leaves only. Opening the 

 slit in the stock, he inserts the graft, and at once ties it round with soft bast, of 

 which he has a quantity ready for use in lengths, wetted, and consisting of the best 

 that can be got. As fast as they are tied they are taken to a bed over a tank, where 

 the bottom-heat averages 60' to 70', the atmosphere being extremely humid. They 

 begin to grow immediately, and have tender care till the end of May, when they 

 are set out of doors, and from that time forth they are saleable rhododendrons. 

 Some people make much more fuss over it, using clay or wax over the ties, and 

 adopting a less simple mode of cutting the graft ; but there is no need for anything 

 complicated or troublesome, for we have done thousands in the simple way described. 

 It is important to do the work quickly and neatly, and the bottom-heat promotes 

 immediate junction of the graft and stock. 



Golden Fern. — ShrojjsMre will find under the head of Gymnogramipas, in 

 the volume for 1867, a short treatise on the cultivation of golden and silvery ferns. 

 At the moment of writing this we have not the index to refer to, and cannot say at 

 what page of last year's volume the article is to be found. The fern is likely to 

 die in the winter unless kept warm, but " Shropshire" may succeed in keeping it in 

 her little conservatory, especially if care be taken never to wet the fronds, and to 

 give but little water to the roots. A warm room lighted with gas would be a very 

 bad place for it. The gloxinias are probably alive ; let them remain in the mould, 

 quite dry, in a rather warm place, till March or April, and then stait them into 

 growth on a hotbed, and as soon as they begin to grow, take them out and pot them 

 afresh in new soil of a peaty nature, and grow them in a good heat with a moist 

 atmosphere. 



J. U., Kilhmi. — Yv'e know nothing of it ; the man has not been heard of for 

 years. 



Semper Atigustus.^-We have many letters signed " Constant Reader," " Old 

 Subscriber," etc., etc., and a few with signatures that we cannot make out. You 

 have simply missed the reply to your query because we gave the reply to " K " 

 instead of " H ;" but then you wrote your H in such a queer manner that the blind 

 postman at the post-office could not have made anything but a K of it. 



