March 16, 1907 



HORTICULTURE 



333 



Abnormal Boston Ferns from Spores 



Herewith are photographs of Bos- 

 ton ferns raised from spores from 

 N. Piersonii. I have two plants 

 that have been selected from a batch 

 of seedlings, being the only ones af- 

 fected. They are in their first year 

 and first fronds; the two last grow- 

 ing ones are two and a half feet 

 long by eight inches broad and are 

 not fully developed. The two plants 

 are of very strong and broad con- 

 stitution and quite different from 

 the other new varieties. 



The photographs do not show the 

 details of the fronds well. No. 1 

 has the leaflets flat while No. 2 has 

 tliem more curled. Until the pres- 

 ent time they have shown no signs 

 of a tendency to revert to type ; they 

 are making their runners and bud 

 growth; what the young plants will be cannot yet tell. 



If anybody else has already raised some from spores 

 it would be interesting to compare notes ; as a fact gen- 

 erally plants raised by spores from N. Piersonii turn out 

 to be common Boston f<?rns, and I would not be sur- 

 prised if these were the first abnormal Boston ferns 

 raised from spores. Without proof to the contrary I 

 presume that all the American decomposite hi- and tri- 

 pinnate forms of Nephrolepis exaltata which descend 

 from Piersonii have been raised as that variety was, 

 from bud sports. The runners that bear buds grow 

 from the base of the fronds and it may be logical to 

 say that runners growing from the base of abnormal 

 well-characterized fronds will produce better character- 



ized plants than those growing from the base of normal 

 or partly affected fronds and from the first ones sports 

 are liable to occur. 



There is a doubt as to whether Nephrolepis elegantis- 

 bima Wliitmanii and the others will bear sports; they 

 may be barren, but should they accidentally do so by 

 seeding and with careful selection among the progeny, 

 there will doubtless be found some plants that will be 

 more vigorous and certainly will be a further departure 

 in the direction of new strains of diverse and constant 

 forms of the Boston fern. 



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Culture of the Amaryllis 



(CONCLUDED.) 



From six to seven weeks is tlie usual time required to 

 bring the amaryllis into flower, when in a dormant state. 

 These yearling plants can hardly be expected to be had 

 m flower in good form as early as Christmas, but any 

 time from the first of February onward they will flower 

 as readily and as satisfactorilv as the narcissus or hya- 

 cinth (providing they did not loaf in their growing 

 time). Such treatment as is given to other bulbous 

 flowering plants where successfully grown, is all the 

 amaryllis requires. Many amar3'llises flower before 

 their leaves appear, which is somewhat detractive. Now, 

 here is something worth rememliering. When the plants 

 are brought out of their resting places, to start in to 

 growth, if a five-inch pot with a hole an inch in diam- 

 eter is placed over the top of the bulb until the new 

 leaves reach to the hole, and then removed, the leaves 

 mil continue to grow and by the time the plant is in 

 flower the leaves will be nearly fully developed. [When 

 we grew hyacinths this pot covering was never 

 omitted.] 



Clear off all old leaves and see that each pot is thor- 



oughly watered before starting into growth. Any bulbs 

 that are apparently too small to flower should be kept 

 dormant until planting time when they may be treated 

 vhe same as tJie youug plants or they maybe plunged 

 out in pots, lifted last of August, rested and prepared 

 to flower at Christmas. Amaryllises are as easily re- 

 tarded in cold storage as any other bulb. 



The general way of propagating, hitherto, has been 

 !)y sowing the seed as soon as ripe and. carryng them 

 along in pots until they flower, sometimes three years, 

 and often longer; or by offsets from mature bulbs, and 

 in some instances the old bulbs are subjected to the same 

 treatment as are hyacinths for the increasing of any 

 ]iarticular variety. These plans are undoubtedly safe 

 ones but they are slow and expensive. As to details of 

 treatment — those acquainted with ordinary greenhouse 

 culture will have it at their finger ends. 



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