24 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



that a fruit wall may be built partly 

 of common bricks and partly of the 

 patent bearledbricks— 3500 of common 

 requiring 1000 of the patent, so as to 

 have the latter in alternate courses, 



and on the face of the wall only. 

 Those who wish for further informa- 

 tion may obtain it by making appli- 

 cation to the patentee, Mr. J. Foxley, 

 Stoney Stratford, Bucks. 



GREENHOUSE EEKNS. 



Polypodium venosum (Lowe).— j house and Wardian case fern, and 

 This very distinct and beautiful fern | ought never to be grown in the stove, 



being a native of temperate or 

 at least sub-tropical parts of South 

 America. It is a fine fern of small 

 growth, remarkable for the delicate 

 and distinct reticulation of its 

 veins, and the bold, highly-coloured 

 sori of the fertile fronds. The 

 fronds do not greatly differ in out- 

 line; they are oblong-lanceolate, 

 and attenuated at the base, the 

 barren ones being considerably 

 wider than those that bear the 

 sori, and usually shorter. The 

 fronds average five to eight inches 

 in length. They rise singly from a 

 stout, creeping, scaly, cinnamon- 

 coloured rhizome, which in a large 

 specimen is very conspicuous and 

 ornamental. The dull, pale green 

 of the fronds is beautifully con- 

 trasted by the rich ochreous brown 

 of the large, heaped up, and very 

 characteristic sori, and the pro- 

 fusion of fronds produced in a very 

 limited area are characters that 

 render this a most interesting fern. 

 Pot or border culture does not 

 well suit Polypodium venosum. It 

 requires peculiar treatment, and if 

 properly planted in the first in- 

 stance, will occasion no trouble 

 whatever. In any L'ase the roots 

 must be extra well drained, for 

 stagnant moisture is certain death 

 to tliis plant. The soil which suits 

 it best is a mixture of equal parts 

 gritty leaf-mould, sandy peat, and 

 potsherds broken to the size of 

 peas. In such a mixture, not more 

 than six inches in depth (four 

 inches is sufficient), on a bottom of 

 some material which will allow of 

 *" ready escape for surplus moisture, 

 the plant will do well, and prove 

 itself an almost hardy fern. Obviously 

 the best way to deal with a plant so 



POLTPODIUU VENOST7JT. 



is ordinarily described as " an ever- 

 green stove species," but it is a green- 



