56 



• GARDENING. 



Nov. /, 



tion of air, or really to renew it as often 

 as possible. I used the word "instinct" 

 above because however good a rule and 

 authority you may follow in giving ven- 

 tilation it must be largely seasoned and 

 governed by your own judgment. For 

 instance, you may learn from a writer on 

 roses that when the thermometer in the 

 house goes above 70° you should give air; 

 now, that is good advice providing it is 

 a still day and not too cold, but if there 

 is a keen cold wind blowing it would \ e 

 better to let the house run up to 80° 

 rather than raise the ventilators. Again, 

 in October or November the house may 

 be only 60° and the thermometer outside 

 50° and no sunshine; on such a day as 

 that fire heat should raise the tempera- 

 ture of the house to 70° and a little ven- 

 tilation should be given. 



The above remarks are meant only for 

 a rose house, but for other plants the 

 same rule will apply, only differing in de- 



The Window Garden. 



FERNS FOR THE WINDOW GARDEN. 



A few ferns are always a most welcome 

 addition to the window garden, and add 

 a grace to its arrangement that cannot 

 otherwise be furnished, but the dry 

 atmosphere of a dwelling is a very trying 

 conditi m to most of the members of this 

 family of plants, and consequently the 

 list of species adapted to this use is not a 

 long one. If confined to one species of 

 fern for house culture, probably the most 

 satisfactory choice would be one of the 

 sword ferns or nephrolepis, of which there 

 are altogether about a dozen species 

 known to botanists. 



Out of this number there are three or 

 four that are very satisfactory in the 

 house, providing they are given reasona- 

 ble care. Among these N. exaltata is one 



the house is as follows: Take a pot or 

 jardiniere about two inches larger than 

 the pot containing th? fern, then slip the 

 latter into the larger pot and fill up the 

 space between the two pots with sphag- 

 num moss. By keeping the moss damp 

 continually the fern pot will very seldom 

 need watering, and the roots will be pro- 

 tected from the drying effect of the sur- 

 rounding atmosphere. Under this method 

 specimens have been known to grow and 

 improve for a series of years in a store 

 window. 



The aspidiums or shield ferns include 

 some good species for the window garden 

 their fronds enduring the dry air very 

 well. Of these A. aculeatum and A. annu- 

 lare are specially recommended, being 

 moderately free in growth and forming a 

 tuft of dark green fronds that are one to 

 two feet long, the stems and the crown 

 of the plant being more or less clothed 

 with brownish chaffv scales. These shield 



THE PARKS OF PATERS0N. N. J 



gree of temperature. The most perfect 

 system of ventilation is one that enables 

 you to give the smallest possible quantity 

 when desired, which is in the winter 

 months, and the largest quantity when 

 needed, which of course is in spring and 

 summer. Nearly all growers agree that 

 ventilation at the ridge is the best, viz., 

 in a 20-foot wide house the ventilating 

 sash should be at least 2 feet deep from 

 ridge and continuous the whole length. It 

 should be hinged at the bottom of sash 

 and open at the ridge. Side or bottom 

 ventilation is for many plants most desir- 

 able in the summer months, particularly 

 for carnations and chrysanthemums, but 

 for roses it would not only be useless but 

 an absolute injury; the draft caused by 

 the current of air from bottom ventilator 

 to top would soon cause mildew, but I 

 must now stop or you will have a long 

 chapter on ventilation. W. Scott. 



There is no special book that I am 

 aware of on ventilation connected either 

 with carnation culture or any other. I 

 know of no practical work on the carna- 

 tion. L. L. Lamborn's book on the car- 

 nation is more of a prose poem on the 

 dianthus family than a guide to the cul- 

 ture of the carnation. The most prac- 

 tical literature on the carnation is from 

 the pens of the specialists who have con- 

 tributed weekly articles to the florists' 

 trade paper, for the past few years. W. S. 



of the best, producing long and graceful 

 fronds ranging from one to three leet in 

 length, divided into narrow leaflets or 

 pinna;, and dark green in color. This fern 

 also grows well in the outdoor garden 

 during the summer, when planted out in 

 a shady place, and appreciates a well 

 manuied soil 



The Boston fern, of which much has 

 been heard during the past two years, 

 seems to be a form of the above species, 

 but has longer and broader fronds and a 

 more drooping habit, and often is lighter 

 colored than the type, though the matter 

 of color largely depends on the amount of 

 shade the plant receives. It is, however, 

 a very beautiful fern and succeeds admira- 

 bly in the house, and under the cumber- 

 some title of Nephrolepis exaltata Bos- 

 toniensis has been exhibited at various 

 flower shows in elegant specimens fully 

 six feet in diameter. 



Where less space can be afforded for a 

 sword fern I would suggest the use of N. 

 cordata compacta, a much smaller plant 

 than those already mentioned, and also 

 flourishing under house treatment. As its 

 name indicates this fern makes a very 

 compact growth, the fronds being one to 

 two feet high and nearly upright, and 

 even in a 4 inch pot is a very attractive 

 plant. 



A plan that has been used with consid- 

 erable success in growing sword ferns in 



ferns are not hot house plants, and if the 

 temperature of the room in which they 

 are grown should go down to 45° or 50° 

 on some cold night they would suffer no 

 injur}'. 



The maidenhairs in general are not 

 entirely satisfactory for our purpose, in 

 fact most of the species seem to go into a 

 decline soon after they are transferred to 

 the window garden, the fronds turning 

 yellow or shriveling up, but occasionally 

 some enthusiastic cultivator is rewarded 

 by attaining a fair specimen of Adiantum 

 cuneatum, the most commonly grown 

 species, and the best for experimental 

 purposes. 



The pteris family furnishes several good 

 house ferns, one of the best being a varie- 

 gated form known as P. cretica albo- 

 lineata, the fronds of which are divided 

 into several smooth edged segments, each 

 of these being ornamented with a band 

 of whitish variegation through the 

 cen ter. 



Another good species is the well known 

 ribbon fern, P. semi lata, a very free 

 grower with long, slender green leaflets 

 of very graceful habit, and the crested 

 form of this species, P. serrulata cristata 

 also grows nicely under the same condi- 

 tion ■. 



P. cretica tnagnifica is another form in 

 which the tips of the fronds are crested 

 and is also a good house fern, and the 



