330 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[November , 



quite smooth. The fronds are nearly ovate in 

 outlme, and decompound, the pinnse I4 foot long, 

 the pinnules five to six inches long, lanceolate- 

 acuminate, and the ultimate pinnules, those of 

 the third order, 4 to i inch long ; these ultimate 

 pinnules are obliquely oblong, deeply cut into 

 blunt oblong-toothed lobes, of which those at the 

 base of the anterior side are the largest. The 

 sori are small, placed near the base of these 

 ultimate lobes in the sinus of one of the anterior 

 marginal teeth. The fronds are herbaceous in 

 texture. It will thus be seen that this fern, 

 while growing to a large size, is one of the most 

 finely cut of all the large-growing sorts, of her- 

 baceous texture, and when throwing out its 

 boldly arching fronds, from an elevated position 

 on rockwork, or from a large pot set up on a 

 pedestal, it will have a very fine effect. It was 

 unanimously awarded a first-class certificate by 

 the Floral Committee when exhibited at South 

 Kensington, on the 7th inst., and gained a simi- 

 lar award at the Spring show of the Royal Botanic 

 Society on Wednesday last." — B. S. WMiams. 



Gladiolus papilio— Butterfly-flowered Gla- 

 diolus. — This beautiful species was introduced 



from Cape Colony some few years ago in the 

 Kew Gardens, where it flowered, and was figured ; 

 and the following are a few extracts taken from 

 the Botanical Magazine: — "The Cape Colony 

 abounds in species of Gladiolus, amongst which 

 that now figured appears the most beautiful, 

 though not the most gorgeous, that has hitherto 

 been made known. Xothing can well exceed 

 the delicacy of the pale purple of the upper 

 petals or the vividness of the deep purple" and 

 golden yellow markings of the lower ones." 

 We received this from one of our correspondents 

 at the Cape. — B. S. Williams. 



Iris Robinsoniana — The Wedding Flower 

 of Lord Howe's Island. — A gigantic species, 

 attaining a height of six feet or more, with pro- 

 portionately large sword-shaped leaves, and 

 large pure white flowers marked with golden 

 yellow on the outer petals. The flowers are 

 about four inches in diameter, and very evanes- 

 cent, but as they are numerous and quickly suc- 

 ceed each other, the plant retains its beauty for 

 a lo'ng time, and is one of the most beautiful 

 species ever imported. It is a native of Lord 

 Howe's Island. — B. S. Williams. 



Fruit and Vegetable Gardening. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



What is called Botany, has a diff"erent mean- 

 ing from what it had in old times. When the 

 writer of this was a young horticultural student, 

 he and some four or five others added botany, 

 chemistry, some ancient and modern languages, 

 and a few other outside matters to the ordinary 

 garden instruction amidst the derision of the 

 many score of other students, who assured us 

 that they " could grow an apple tree, or raise a 

 crop of potatoes just as well" as we could "for 

 all that bother." It must be confessed that at 

 that time our study of Botany did seem rather 

 dry, and it involved great labor. We had to 

 give eleven good hours of hard work a day, .and 

 as soon as this was over, and a hasty snatch of 

 tea taken, we were ofi" — five or six miles before 

 sundown for wild plants, returning by midnight 



for hard work the next day. Or it might be the 

 eve before some holiday, when we would walk 

 nearly all night, cut down a few branches for a 

 bed for a few hours snatch of sleep, doing forty 

 or fifty miles in some forty hours in search of 

 botanical specimens. Our fellow-students had 

 their laugh at us over their long clay pipes, and 

 mugs of "half-and-half;" and even to us it did 

 sometimes seem that they could " grow an apple 

 ti'ee or raise a crop of potatoes" as well as we. 

 For at that time our " botany" consisted in lit- 

 tle more than in collecting and drying plants, 

 and in studying systems of classification by 

 which we could arrange what we gathered. But 

 even with that hard style of botany they could 

 not raise even a crop of potatoes as well as we ; 

 and now that botany means a great deal more 

 than it did then, there is no comparison in the 

 actual cash gain to the one who knows some 



