THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



11 



a new and splendid material, and a 

 specimen of floral sculpture. The gar- 

 den va*es, fountains, and other decora- 

 tive works which Mr. Ransome has 

 produced, are all characterised by ex- 

 quisite design, and as they keep their 

 colour and sharpness of outline under 

 all circumstances, the patent siliceous 

 stone must be accepted as a noble 

 contribution to ornamental gardening. 

 realising, in all its details, the splen- 

 dours of the Italian style, but without 

 necessitating, as that style has done 

 hitherto, a princely expenditure. Of 

 the appliances of the invention to the 

 decorative parts of buildings, we have 

 less occasion to speak, though houses 

 and gardens can hardly be separated 

 when we treat of artistic embellishments, 

 and as to terrace ornamentation, here 

 is the one thing needful— cheap and 

 everlasting sculpture, which will hold 

 its beauty when the family name is 

 forgotten, and the less perishable parts 

 of the mansion and grounds — real 

 stone products included — are hastening 

 to decay. 



I have chosen the Fern Yase as an 

 illustration of this paper, for the double 

 purpose of adding my tribute to the 

 many which have been given by Pro- 

 fessors Farady. De la Beche, Ansted. 

 Henry Hunt, and Wheatstone, the 

 Times newspaper, the Institute of Civil 

 Engineers, and numerous other high 

 authorities, as to its general excellence, 

 beauty, imperishability, and cheap- 

 ness ; and now let us consider the 

 example before us as a plant case. 



This vase measures across the top 

 from edge to edge 22 h inches, the 

 tazza is 6t inches deep, and fits on a 

 pivot to the pedestal on which it turns 

 freely, but as the action of turning is 

 not an easy one when the vase has the 

 weight of a glass frame and plants 

 upon it, I have fitted two perforated 

 disks of thin marble, one to the pe- 

 destal, and one to the vase, by means 

 of cement, and as the polished surfaces 

 of the disks meet, the act of turning 

 it is easily accomplished. From the 

 ground to the rim of the vase, is 2 

 feet 8 inches ; but an additional slab 

 which I have placed beneath it, raises 

 the entire height, without the glass 

 frame, to 3 feet. 



In fitting this beautiful vase for a 

 Wardian case. I have strictly adhered 

 to those principles of management on 

 which I have laid so much sti'ess in 

 "liustic Adornments," namely, effi- 

 cient drainage, and free ventilation, 

 the treating them, in fact, as green- 

 houses on a small scale, in opposition 

 to Mr. Ward's plan of excluding the 

 outer air, on the self-sustaining theor}', 

 about which so much nonsense has 

 been said and written. To suppose 

 ferns to be capable, any more than other 

 plants, of enduring confinement in the 

 midst of their own exhalations, is to 

 suppose an impossibility — as the re- 

 peated failures and mistakes made in 

 the management of fern cases, prove 

 abundantly. Having in view easy 

 access to the pknts. and the supply 

 of air to both roots and foliage, the 

 fittings are made as follows : First, for 

 the soil a zinc pan is constructed ; it is 



octagonal in shape, with a circular bot- 

 tom, perforated throughout, and this fits 

 so loosely in the vase, that there is a 

 free space for circulation of air all round 

 it, between the stone and the zinc, the 

 pan resting on its turned edges, and 

 not quite filling the space it occupies ; 

 it measures 1 ft. o£ inches across, 

 and 6 inches deep. The octagonal 

 frame-work is also of zinc, and fits 

 closely on the edge of the soil pan. one 

 side being hung on hinges, with a 

 catch, as a door ; it is glazed with 

 three-sixteenths, crown glass, and be- 

 tween it and the lantern, and again 

 around the top of the latter, the squares 

 of glass are separated by a continuous 

 band of perforated zinc, so that the 

 external air has free admission, and 

 the vapour within an easy escape. 

 From the base of the case, to the first 

 ventilator, is a height of 2 feet, and from 

 that point again, to the top of the 

 lantern, 10 inches, giving a total of 34 



