MARCH 24, 1S9S. 



The Weekly Florists* Review ♦ 



677 





Pteris Tremula Smithae. 



etic," remarked Jaggs. "Flyin' fish is 

 common enough. I got a lot of 'em 

 when I was in Jamaica, and pasted 

 "em in a scrap-book as I sent home. 

 What I'm talkin' about is them go- 

 bies-fish as goes hoppin' along the 

 beach at low tide, catchin' snails, for 

 all the world like a flock o' ducks wad- 

 dlin' along huntin' caterpillars." 



"What did you call those fish?" ask- 

 ed the graduate. 



"Gobies. I first see 'em in the Fiji 

 Islands, that time I came near beiu' 

 killed by that there man-eatin' tree, 

 and there was lots o' them around 

 Point de Galle' in Ceylon. Go splash- 

 in' around in shallow water, and 

 blessed if them bloomin' fish don't 

 jump out and go hoppiu" along the 

 mud to get away. Any chap as talk^ 

 about a fish out o' water like he mfan 

 somethink awkward ain't seen a goby 

 kitin' along lookin' like he belonged 

 in a Christmas pantomime." 



"There's only one drawback to your 

 stories, Jnggs," observed the graduate; 

 "you're always so fearfully matter-of- 

 fact. I suppose any exaggerated fish 

 story would be a real exertion to you." 



"That's always been a failin' o' 

 mine." returned Jaggs, with much hu- 

 mility. "Well, as I was sayin', a Bel- 

 gian chap as was coUectin' palms (not 

 as he knowed anythink about 'em), 

 asked me to go flshin' with him. and 

 I see as he'd got nothink but a shot- 

 gun. I says, 'Where's your fishin' 

 tackle,' and he says, 'Where's your 

 gun?' I says as I wasn't used to fish- 

 in' with a shot-gun. though I have 

 gone duck-huntin' with a fish line, 

 but if it was the custom of the coun- 

 try I was willin' to take a gun. which 

 I did. When we got down to the shore, 

 blessed if there wasn't a whole fleck 

 o' them bloomin' fish, hoppin' around 



after snails. You see their two for- 

 ward fins is like reg'lar legs, and 

 though I wouldn't call 'em graceful, 

 they gets there just the same. I says 

 to the Belgian. 'Surely, we ain't goin' 

 to stand off and shoot them poor 

 beasts — why not catch 'em in a Chris;- 

 ian way?' He say. 'All right, old chap, 

 you just catch 'em, and show me how 

 it's done.' So I picks out my fish, a 

 goggie-eyed fellow as was hoppin' after 

 his dinner, and starts after him. I 

 think as it was dead easy, but Lor' 

 bless you, I wasn't in it one, two, three 

 with that bloomin' fish. He'd just go 

 skimmin' along, and rest on top of a 

 stone, like he was surveyin' the land- 

 scape, till I gets near him, then he'd 

 stand up wavin' his paws" — 



" 'Ow many paws 'as a fish, as a gen- 

 eral thing?" inquired Tommy Atkins, 

 iunocently. 



"I means his fins, o' course," contin- 

 ued Jaggs, severely. "If you seen them 

 fish skippin' along the beach, you'd 

 'a' though as they had as many legs as 

 a centipede. Well, I give up the race, 

 and then me and the Belgian took pot 

 shots at a covey of 'em, and bagged a 

 dozen or so. But I can't say as it 

 seemed sportsmanlike — give me a 

 game fish as rises to a fly. Still, it 

 ain't any worse than goin' fishin' with 

 a shovel, like they do around Sierra 

 Leone." 



"I guess you're thinking about 

 clams," remarked the graduate, with 

 some scorn. 



"Now, Johnny, why don't you take a 

 lesson from them domestic animals," 

 observed Jaggs, reproachfully. "A 

 claru don't talk about things as he isn't 

 acquainted with. As I was sayin,' the 

 rivers in the outlyin' districts about 

 Sierra Leone dries up occasionally — 

 like Johnny, here — and the fishes bur- 



rows down into the mud and stays 

 there. So. when a chap has a fancy 

 for a fish dinner, he just gets his spade, 

 trots down to the river, and digs up 

 a mess o' fish, like he was gettin' up a 

 bushel of potatoes. I sends a batch o' 

 them fish home, along of some new or- 

 chids, and they was that pleased at the 

 Royal Aquarium as nothink was too 

 good for me. Just packed 'em up in 

 lumps o' clay, and the bloomin' fisli 

 thought as they was in the river bed. 

 Still, those fish ain't any greener than 

 the climbin' perch. Ever heard o" 

 them, any o' you chaps?" 



"What do they climb — apple trees?" 

 inquired the fireman, sarcastically. 



"First time I see 'em," continued 

 Jaggs, without noticing the interrup- 

 tion, "I was reachin' for an Angrae- 

 cum as I see on a big tree, when I 

 touch somethink cold and clammy, and 

 my hair stands right up. for I thinks 

 it's a snake. The thing gives a squeak, 

 and scuttles along the branch, and I 

 sees as it's a fish! It goes runnin' 

 along the branch like a squirrel and 

 then goes flop into a little creek be- 

 low. Well. I says to myself, 'Jaggs, 

 old boy, you must 'a' got a sunstroke. 

 and be turnin' a bit dotty, or you'd 

 never be seein' such things.' By and 

 by I sees another of 'em waltzin' up 

 the tree trunk like a chipmunk, and 

 I see as he was eatin' caterpillars and 

 reg'larly enjoyin' hisself. I got used 

 to 'em after that, meetin' 'em all over 

 the woods; when they get tired o' stay- 

 in' in one creek they just strolls 

 through the woods to another. I « 

 caught one of 'em. and it got quite 

 tame — blessed if that bloomin' fish 

 wouldn't follow me around like a dog! 

 Now, Tommy, if you'll hand over them 

 callas, I'll put the finishin' touches on 

 this here work of art." 



"I say, Jaggs," observed Tommy, as 

 the men hunted up their hats prepar- 

 atory to leaving, "Ain't you never 

 thought o' writin' true stories about 

 animals for a Sunday paper? Seems 

 to me as that's just the field for your 

 talents." 



PTERIS TREMULA SMITHAE. 



The pteris family is one of the most 

 prolific among the ferns in the pro- 

 duction of odd forms, and the variety 

 we now illustrate is one of the most 

 interesting that has been produced by 

 the well-known P. tremula. 



The latter species has long been in 

 use as a florist's fern, though rather 

 too strong a grower to be very useful 

 for small ferneries, and besides in a 

 small state is rather brittle, but as a 

 4-ineh or 6-inch pot plant P. tremula 

 is very attractive, and for planting out 

 on a rock-work in a conservatory few 

 species are better. But in P. tremula 

 Smithae we have a more generally use- 

 ful fern than the type, from the fact 

 that its habit is much more compact, 

 while it grows freely and also comes 

 true from spores. 



There have been other crested forms 

 of P. tremula introduced at various 

 times, but none that I am aware of in 

 which the cristate habit has been so 



