Febmary 22, 1872. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE G.tRDENEH. 



NOTES UPON FEENS.— No. 1. 



UR con-espondent "Ptekis" lias, in a letter to 

 us upon Feru-ciiltiu'e for amateiu's, opened 

 up a very wide subject, tlis remarks in it 

 are good, and the siiliject is a popular one ; 

 but to oaiTy out what lie wishes would take 

 up immense space ; indeed, the subject is 

 so vast that a volume might be written upon 

 it without exhaustrng it. Briefly, however, 

 as the details of the vaiious parts of these 

 plants must of necessity be treated upon in 

 the pages of a Joui'nal like ours, I shall, nevertheless, 

 endeavour to deal with the subject so that the amatetu' 

 may take up the study and prosecute it, even in a strictly 

 scientific manner, should there be occasion for so doing. 



I may state here, to prevent my being suspected of 

 plagiarism, that many of the ideas and descriptions will 

 be tbund to coincide — nay, may even be couched in veiy 

 similar terms to those of Mr. J. Smith in his various 

 wiitings upon Ferns. But as I acquii-ed my knowledge 

 of these elegant plants under the tuition of that eminent 

 pteridologist, and had the pleasm-e of assisting him to 

 some extent in liis last work upon Ferns,-'- and am a 

 staunch believer in his views, it wUl be readily understood 

 why there is a similarity. I consider the characters ob- 

 tained from habit of growth, in conjunction with the 

 Tenation and the dispo.sition of the sori, as more likely to 

 lead to just conclusions for pm-poses of classification than 

 it is possible for anyone to obtain by adopting only one 

 of these organs as a guide. A study of the Uving plant, 

 in my estimation, is of vast importance in deteiTaining 

 both generic and specific distuictions. It is the custom 

 of some of oiu' eminent hving botanists to speak slight- 

 ingly of those who do not confine then- studies to her- 

 barium specimens, calling them mere garden botanists ; 

 but I am aware of several cases in which those systematic 

 botanists who beheve only in dried specimens would have 

 committed giievous errors, and published them to the 

 world too, if they had not been put right by " mere garden 

 botanists." Do not tliink that I depreciate herbarii-im 

 specimens ; on the contraiy, I value them highly, but I 

 consider they should be used conjoLatly -with living plants 

 upon all possible occasions. 



To resume my subject, however, it is necessary to come 

 back to the Ferns, of some of which none of my readers 

 will be entirely ignorant. The immense number of new 

 species which have been introduced to Europe dimng the 

 past thirty years is sufficient evidence of the general 

 favom- in wliich these plants are held. Popular as they 

 have become, our eoiTespondent " Pteris " assui'es us 

 that there yet remams amongst amateurs a gi-eat lack of 

 knowledge of their general structure, their various organs, 

 and the relation of these organs to each other, as well as 

 of the wants and treatment of the plants. It is to supply 

 this want, therefore, that these lines are -written. 



If a knowledge of the name and native habitat of any 

 plant, together with its medicinal or economic properties, 



* FeruR, British and Foreign, by John Smith- Loudon : Hardwicke. 

 No. 569.— Vol. XSII., New Semes. 



fail not to give it additional interest in the sight of the 

 owner, how much, then, must that interest be increased 

 when the pecuUaritj' of each particular organ is well un- 

 derstood? What a gi'eat assistance tliis is also to ama- 

 teur cultivators who have not the command of plant 

 houses of varied temperatm-es, in enabling them to expe- 

 rimentaUse with their pets until the proper situation is 

 found to suit their requii'ements. That this knowledge 

 is not absolutely necessai-y I admit, for I have kno-wn 

 several men who, -without being acquainted -with either 

 the name or native country, have yet been skQfnl culti- 

 vators, yet the fact tliat tlaeir success would have been 

 more sure, and the results more rapidly seciu'ed, had the 

 natural suiToimdings of any strange plant been familiar 

 to them, cannot be denied. Many amateurs shrink fi'om 

 the study of the natural history of their plants, from the 

 supposition that the technical plu-ases are difficult to 

 acquii'e and understand. Tliis, however, is rather an 

 imag-Inary than a real difficulty, as I have frequently 

 found the veiy person who complains most of the hard 

 terms employed by botanists converses most ghbly upon 

 the beauty of Hyacinths, CameUias, Fuchsias, Geraniums, 

 and Dahhas, entirely forgetting that these are foreign 

 word.? which have become naturaUsed by frequent use. 

 Though I do not contend that pure systematic botany is 

 essential to a good education, or hkely to interest or be 

 of great sei-vice to the public generally, yet a knowledge 

 of the properties and organs of plants, which may be 

 designated " domestic botany," tends to give much pure 

 enjoyment, elevates the mind, and enables us ail better to 

 fulfil our duties in life. 



With these preliminary remarks I shall leave the 

 generaUties, and confine my remarks specially to the 

 subject of Ferns, of which our correspondent "Pteris" 

 desires to obtain for himself and fiiends some iufoiina- 

 tion. — ExPEETO Crede. 



CULTURE OF THE IXORA. 



In many respects none of our stove plants sm-passes or 

 even equals the Ixora. 'WTien properly managed it is 

 rarely without a few tnisses of bloom, whatever the time 

 of year. It is of easy culture where the necessary con- 

 veniences exist, and -mil amply repay any attention it 

 may receive. It is rarely we see weU-gi'own specimens 

 of these beautiful plants amongst amateurs, thougli some 

 of our well-known exhibitors show them in perfection ; 

 but taking amateiU's generally, the plant is almost un- 

 known to many of them. And why is it so ? The same 

 old tale : " I bought a plant and have lost it ; I -will not 

 buy another, we cannot gi'owit." These are expressions I 

 have often heard used in speakiog of many of our beau- 

 tifiil and fi'ee-gi'o-wing stove and other plants, and yet 

 failure in their cultiu'e is not the fault of the plants but 

 of the gi'ower. 



The Ixora is of easy culture, pro-vided there is a proper 

 house to grow it in ; if such does not exist it is useless to 

 make the attempt ; but give it a httlo careful attention, 

 together -with a well-heated house, and I know of no other 

 plant that will afford more satisfaction. Perhaps a few 



No. lj:l.— Vol. XL VII., Old Series. 



