Copyright, 1898, bv 

 rUORISTS' PUBLISHING CO.. 520-S35 Caxton Bulldinft, GtllCAGO. 



Vol. n. 



CHICAGO AND NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER i, 1898. 



No. 40. 



CIBOTIUM PRINCEPS. 



A young plant such as we Illustrate 

 gives but a faint Idea of the grandeur 

 of a full grown specimen of one of the 

 large growing tree ferns, but plants in 

 this stage are much more common 

 than fully developed examples, and 



form a stem one or two feet in height, 

 but Cibotium princeps develops with 

 reasonable rapidity, and specimens 

 with trunks 6 to 8 feet in height are 

 not uncommon in cultivation, while in 

 its native habitat the dark brown 

 stems reach up twenty or more feet, 

 and carry a crown of fronds that are 



Qbotium Princeps. 



are therefore more easily recognized. 

 The species in question is one of the 

 most effective tree ferns for large con- 

 servatories, being a strong and rapid 

 grower and not more difficult to man- 

 age than the well-known Alsophila 

 excelsa. 



The formation of the trunks of tree 

 ferns in general is not a quick process, 

 some of them requiring many years to 



often ten feet in length. It will be 

 readily understood that such dimen- 

 sions as these are a little beyond the 

 capacity of the average greenhouse, 

 but it being a number of years before 

 such fronds of these are produced, this 

 species is still available among the 

 useful tree ferns. 



The fronds of C. princeps are tri- 

 pinnate (or three times divided). 



gracefully arching in habit, and both 

 the stems of the fronds and the crown 

 of the plant are covered with light 

 brown chaffy scales. 



A temperature of 55 to 60 degrees is 

 sufficient for the welfare of this plant, 

 a higher temperature than this being 

 more likely to encourage the attack of 

 insects than to be advantageous to the 

 plant during the winter. 



As to soil, it may be said that tree 

 ferns in general like a rather open, 

 peaty compost, but where peat cannot 

 be conveniently obtained, the second 

 choice would be sandy loam enriched 

 with dry cow manure. An abundant 

 supply of water is needed at all times, 

 and during the summer moderate 

 shade is beneficial. 



Apparently there is some difference 

 of opinion as to the native country of 

 C. princeps, different authorities giv- 

 ing Mexico and Jamaica as the place 

 of its origin, and in common with 

 many other ferns the name of this 

 species has been changed from time to 

 time, probably the latest name under 

 which it has been published being 

 Cyathea insignis. W. H. TAPLIN. 



LEAF MOLD. 



A subscriber to The Review says in 

 a letter: "I have large quantities of 

 oak leaves on my place and wish to 

 make them available as a manure (sta- 

 ble manure being exceedingly scarce) 

 to use in my business. What chemi- 

 cals would you advise and quantities 

 and qualities would you use with the 

 leaves to make them equal to stable 

 manure?" 



In many localities of many states the 

 annual deposit of the leaves through 

 centuries forms the surface soil which 

 we find in virgin forests. How far and 

 wide this is a truth I am not prepared 

 to say, but it is likely that the rich sur- 

 face in the majority of places (-3 feet 

 of the rich state of Iowa) was formed 

 by the leaves of the forest through 

 countless ages. In my simplicity I 



