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THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



mums, etc. ; in the shady, places 

 ferns ; and generally the plants are 

 put into " pockets," or hollows left 

 for the purpose in the original con- 

 struction., or since added by " tiddi- 

 vating" the bastion with burrs and 

 cement. 



It is generally understood that the 

 more delicate species of Polypodies 

 will not thrive in the open air near 

 London. I have grown nearly all in 

 this garden during the past seven 

 years, but never till now had a com- 

 plete collection. P. vulgar e grows as 

 freely here as in Wanstead forest, 

 ■where it is one of the commonest 

 weeds, and is generally found on the 

 stems of pollard alders, making its 

 roots in leaf-mould and bark. Here 

 it is planted in patches on the summit 

 of the bastion, and on a few ledges I 

 lower down, and the tufts are now in 

 the full splendour of their ripe spores. 

 When planting those tufts, I made for 

 them a foot depth of peat, then laid the 

 patches on the peat, and covered them 

 three or four inches deep with cocoa- J 

 nut fibre. The new fronds pushed 

 through, the watering caused the 

 fibre to settle down and cake about 

 the rhizomes, and now the rhizomes 

 lay on it, which is their proper position, 

 but one which should not be allowed 

 them in the first instance in such a 

 case as I am now describing, because 

 the hot sun, acting on them before 

 they made new roots, would have 

 crippled them terribly. The object 

 of covering them with the fibre was 

 to keep them moist, and, that object 

 being accomplished, it was a natural 

 result of the tendency of the material 

 to settle down by degrees into a peaty 

 layer, that in the course of time the 

 rhizomes which were covered would 

 at last appear on the surface, and, 

 this being already accomplished, the 

 plants have been properly comforted 

 and are now in a natural position. 

 All the other polypodies are in shady 

 sheltered positions, and the secret 

 of their present luxurious condition, 

 after one of the driest summers 

 known, is that they were regularly 

 wetted twice a day from the day 

 of planting until the rain came in 

 earnest three weeks ago. They will 

 probably not be watered again, ex- 



cept by rain, until next summer. 

 They have made their growth, and 

 will take care of themselves. But 

 there may be, and doubtless is, ano- 

 ther reason for their well-doing. For 

 every one of them a pocket was care- 

 fully prepared, and they were each 

 planted in a soil suitable to their 

 nature, and, in some cases, they were 

 shaded for a week or two with a tile 

 or a flower- pot, held in its place with 

 a few pegs, and they were also assisted 

 by placing about their tender crowns 

 tufts of loose moss. All these pre- 

 cautions were necessary, for, during 

 the height of the past summer, the 

 burning sun scorched every spot it 

 reached, if only for an hour, and for 

 a long period east winds prevailed, 

 and there is nothing so exhaustive to 

 plants susceptible of drought as an 

 east wind ; and, moreover, the new 

 rockery had a certain dryness peculiar 

 to itself, so that, though well soaked 

 by a shower from the engine, it would 

 be quite dry an hour or two after- 

 wards. 



I would make this paper very brief, 

 but I think it better to incur the risk 

 of being prolix rather than pass over 

 such little details as I have so far 

 named, because it is by attention to 

 these little details that success is at- 

 tained, and those who despise small 

 things in gardening must be content 

 with chickweed and dandelions. They 

 cannot have many subjects worthy 

 of admiration. I shall now take a 

 few species in hand on the same plan 

 as in former papers, and deal with 

 them according to the best of my 

 knowledge of their habits and capa- 

 bilities. 



Polypodium phegopteris. — This is 

 the " mountain polypody," or " beech 

 fern." Rhizome slender, dark coloured, 

 creeping, producing black fibrous 

 roots. Stipes long, oftentimes longer 

 than the frond, erect, pale green, 

 slightly scaly near its junction with 

 the rhizome. Fronds ovate-triangular, 

 tapering to a lon^ish point, pale green, 

 pinnate below, pinnatifid above. Pin- 

 nee deeply pinnatifid, becoming entire 

 near the apex, linear acuminate, 

 usually opposite, sometimes alternate, 

 the lower pairs lanceolate, sessile, at- 

 tached by the midrib, the remainder 



