THE FLORAL WOELD AND aARDEN QUIDE. 1-15 



Every fern grower should practise tKe propagation of these ferns from 

 cuttings, in order to have at command the means of increasing the 

 choicest of the varieties, as well as for the mastery of all the mysteries 

 of pteridology, and so we will have a word upon that subject. "When a 

 Scolopendrium has at its base a number of old brown fronds just green 

 at the base, but dead at the tips, it is in the best condition to furnish 

 cuttings. The only nice point in this operation is the way the cuttings 

 are made. If you simply cut off the old frond with a portion of the 

 stipes or stalk, you can never get a plant from it ; but if the stipes is taken 

 away complete tvith a portion of the rind of the caudex attached, a very 

 moderate amount of care will convert it into a plant. First select an old 

 frond still green at the base. Next run the finger down, so as to remove 

 the earth from that part of the caudex from where the stipes proceeds. 

 !Now insert the knife just below the point where the stipes springs from 

 and pass it gently upwards and out again above the base of the stipes, 

 and you will have with the frond a portion of the caudex. Now with a 

 pair of scissors clip off the frond within one inch of its base, so that you 

 have attached to the stipes the cordate portion of the frond which is still 

 green. Lay this prepared cutting on some wet moss, and proceed to make 

 as many more like it as you can get. "When all are ready dibble them 

 tenderly into a well-drained pan, filled up with a mixture of fine peat 

 and sand, water them in, cover with a bell-glass, and place on bottom- 

 heat of not less than 60' and never higher than 70\ They ought all to 

 stand upright like any other kind of cuttings, and the base of the stipes 

 with its attached scrap of caudex should be below the surface of the 

 soil. In the course of time little crowns will appear, for there is really a 

 dormant germ of a crown at the base of every stipes, just as at the base of 

 the leaf stalk of an endogenous tree we have a bud that can be converted 

 into a plant. "When these little crowns appear give a little air or they 

 may rot ; supply water very moderately ; keep shaded, and as soon as one 

 new frond is fairly open pot them all in thumbs with a mixture of one- 

 third sand and two-thirds peat, and place them in a moist heat with shade, 

 and they will soon be good plants. 



There is yet another way of propagating without resorting to spores, 

 and that must also be done in early spring. "When the plants are just 

 about to commence their spring growth take a knife with a sharp point, 

 and if the variety is diminutive use instead a large pin. Carefally prick 

 out the centre of the crown, and then wait the result. After this operation 

 the plants should be kept warm and have water only moderately, for fear 

 the crown should rot ; but they must never go dry. After a time the 

 energies of the plant will be directed to the development of side crowns, 

 and the business of the propagator will be to remove these, pot them 

 carefully, and coax them into independent growth. But they must not be 

 removed till they have acquired sufficient strength, and with slow growing 

 varieties it is often necessary to wait till the next season before they can 

 be divided, and then they will usually supply a number of good offsets. 



Now the reason why it is worth while to say so much about Scolo- 

 pendriums is that our common British species has been more prolific of 

 varieties than any other fern known. Mr. Sim of Foot's Cray catalogues 

 thirty- nine varieties, Messrs. Ivery of Dorking thirty- three, Messrs. Stan- 

 field and Sons of Yale Nurseries, Todmorden, near Kochdale, Lancashire, 

 have eighty-five varieties. As with sports of other plants some of these 



