Norembor 28, 1867. ] 



JOURNAL OF UORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



405 



odRed with ft blue Lobelia — a very good variety, a seedling, I 

 believe, raised by Mr. Stewart, but it was just past its prime. 

 And now, what have we hero '! A bed of line Mrs. I'ollock 

 Pelargonium, bordered with Polemonium Ci»ruleum variegatum, 

 poor " old Charity," or " Jacob's Ladder," of our grandmothers. 

 Mr. Btowart thought the bed was nut correct, and I do not 

 think ho admired my taste in the bed of O^born's Brilliant and 

 Golden i'leeco ; but, bo that as it may, I have these two bods 

 down in my mind as being very remarkable. Four vases, two at 

 each end, were lilled with line well-bloomed plants of Madame 

 Vaucher Pelargonium. Southward, iu the distance, is seen an 

 old Gothic conduit, which formerly stood in Carfax, 0.\ford. 

 It was presented to the late Lord Harcourt, and is very happily 

 placed. 



Not having time to visit " ISrown's Walk " and the arboretum, 

 Mr. Stewart and I returiiecl, passing on our way seats by 

 the mansion, embowered with Jasmine, Roses, and Wistarias, 

 the latter extending over a bond in the mansion called the 

 corridor. Twenty-six fine stone vases, filled with Scarlet Pelar- 

 goniums, were placed at equal distances along the whole length 

 of the mansion upon the balustrading of the terraces, and 

 served to light up the substantial carved stonework admirably. 



Descending by stone steps at the cud of the west terrace, wo 

 turned, passed the north terrace above, and proceeded along a 

 gravel walk, with fine specimens of Scarlet Thorns upon the 

 lawn to the left. I was then surprised at the fine piece of 

 artistic setting which the orangery forms when seen at a 

 distance, with fine deciduous trees, evergreens, statuary, and 

 greensward as accessories. 



Passing a temple to Flora, now a round bed of bright Scarlet 

 Pelargoniums, having for a centre that mischievous imp, with 

 bow fully bent for mischief, only luckily translixed in stone, 

 I arrived at a temple with a real presiding nymph, who was 

 attending to the mundane matters of milk and cream in pans 

 and bowls of china ; and now, crossing the road once more 

 into the kitchen garden, I am made aware of a long narrow 

 slip against the wall, used as a nursery for spring bedding 

 plants, which are protected from the road by palings. Really 

 every spare nook and corner seems to be made to accommo- 

 date choice and common varieties of early border plants. How 

 bright and gay the bods and grounds must look in spring ! and 

 when those flowers unfold their bloom, " may I be there to 

 eeo." — Upwards and Onwards. 



rROLIFEROUS FERNS. 



Under this title I have to offer a few remarks, which may he 

 interesting to some of the readers of the Journal. The follow- 

 ing are the British I'olystichums grown here — viz., lonchitis, 

 aculeatum, lohatum, anguUire, angulare angustatum, lonchiti- 

 doides, and angulare proliferum. 



Having carefully examined all the above kinds, I can only 

 find two of them proliferous — viz., angulare angustatum, and 

 angulare proliferum ; the latter being very proliferous. From 

 it I send you a frond as a fair specimen covered with bulbils at 

 the rachis, which when pegged down to the soil root freely, and 

 the stock may be increased to hundreds iu a short time, either 

 in the open air fernery, or in pots. I have hero a very lino 

 specimen of P. angulare proliferum in a pot, which I may 

 safely aay has now upwards of one hundred bulbils on the 

 rachis of the fronds. — G. Willebs, Cambridge. 



Wn are still, I think, far from having arrived at any satis- 

 factory conclusion with regard to "cause and effect," as ex- 

 emplified in proliferous Ferns. It is certainly one step in the 

 right direction, if we can prove that no British Fern is proli- 

 ferous in its wild state. 



Of the exact history of the first proliferous Fern found in 

 Britain — Polystichum angulare proliferum, found by Mr. 

 Choules, of Kew — I know nothing beyond that when first 

 found it was supposed to be the foreign species discretum ; and, 

 I believe, .Mr. Choules's plant went by this name till the year 

 18o2, when Mr. George WoUaston found a plant like the sup- 

 posed foreign P. discretum, but far exceeding it in grace and 

 beauty. Of this plant Sir. Wollaston thus writes, " I found it 

 in 1832, near Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire, in company with 



the Rev. , of which I was glad, as a witness to the fact, 



for until then it had been considered as probably an exotic 

 Fern, and was iu the Kew collection as Polystichum discretum. 

 It, doubtless, had bulbillic upon it when I found it, but I did 



not perceive them nntil I had it a month or two. It was nnder 

 pot culture for perhaps five or six years, when I turned it out 

 into the garden, where you may remember to have seen it, and 

 where it has remained ever since." Mr. Wollaston then adds, 

 " Proliferous growth is extremely common iu exotic Ferns, but 

 I believe I have the honour of discovering our British Ferns 

 to be so. The cause is a hidden mystery to me, but I may 

 assert, I believe without fear of contradiction, that dampness 

 of atmosphere contributes greatly to its development, in a 

 similar way that it does to the roots of plants." In another 

 letter >[r. Wollaston, who resides near London, adds, " P. angu- 

 lare proliferum Wollastoni, has rarely more than one or two 

 pairs of bulbiUa.' on the stipes." In my plant of Wollastoni, 

 grown in the damp atmosphere of Devonshire, there are bnlbs 

 half way up the frond. 



Now, witli regard to this proliferous plant, I must so far 

 differ from Mr. Wollaston, as to suggest that if the Fern, when 

 jouiid, had been proliferous, so keen a hunter as Mr. Wollaston 

 has over proved himself to be would have perceived it. I 

 venture, therefore, to conclude that no bulbs were there. 



Far excelling Wollastoni in beauty is the variety prolifemm 

 Holeanum. This lovely form was found some five or sis 

 years since by the gardener of Mrs. Hole, of Bovey Tracey, 

 Devonshire. It was growing iu the immediate neighbourhood 

 of Bovey, and attracted instant observation by the extreme 

 beauty of the foliage. 



Of this Fern, Mrs. Hole thus writes : " My gardener found 

 the variety Holeanum ; he did not sec bulbs on it. I sent it to 

 a great Fern fancier at Exeter, and in his possession the bulbs 

 were first discovered. I have some lovely plants now, with 

 the young plants showing their little delicate fronds for at 

 least a foot and a half up the frond." 



About two years since a Polystichum angulare was fonnd near 

 Okehampton, Devonshire, by Miss Seymour, which was sent to 

 me for my opinion. It was then too young to determine what 

 variety the Fern might prove to be. I could only answer for its 

 not being normal. This year a more mature frond was sent, 

 the plant having in the meantime been cultivated in a drawing- 

 room. On further examination, the Fern, which was weak, 

 and much drawn out in the pinuir, proved to he identical with 

 the variety Holeanum, as far as the tripinnatc, feathery cha- 

 racter of the frond went, and I also fancied I distinctly traced 

 incipient bulbs up the rachis. Should this beautiful specimen 

 turn out to bo proliferous, it must be called proliferum Holea- 

 num No. '2, but if the bulbs are not forthcoming, I propose to 

 name it tripinnatum Seymouria;. The plant is now put out 

 of doors, where the dampness of the Devonshire climate may 

 help to develope its proliferous character, if, as I suspect, the 

 character is lying dormant in the Fern. Miss Seymour's plant 

 was found on a dry bank near the town of Okehampton. 



In the variety biserrato-proliferum, fonnd by myself, the 

 bulbs did not show till the plant had been in cultivation for 

 some months. 



Last year, I found in a dry Holly hedge at Bovey, a lovely 

 Fern, to which Mr. Wollaston gave the name of pulchrum 

 Bellairsi;p ; but I have a suspicion that this plant will become 

 proliferous in cultivation, and may be a No. 3 Holeanum. 



" W. O'B." states that two plants of Polystichum angulare 

 in his possession have become proliferous in cultivation, though 

 he disclaims for them the honour of being considered distinct 

 varieties — an honour which I believe is surely theirs. 



" W. O'B." also mentions that P. angulare, vars. lineare, 

 cristatum, iuterruptum, and oxyphyllum, have become pro- 

 liferous with him. P. angulare proliferum lineare is a true 

 proliferous form, originally found in North Devonshire by the 

 Rev. C. Padley. 



The testimony of " J. E. M.," seems to coincide with that 

 of " W. O'B.," and also of Mr. Wollaston, that dampness of 

 atmosphere helps to the full development of the proliferoos 

 character. 



I would point to yet another cause. I believe the develop- 

 ment of the proliferous character in Ferns to be an effort o£ 

 Nature to throw off exuberant health. Flowering plants have 

 the future flowers on which to expend any superfluous life ; 

 some plants throw it into the roots, but the more natural way 

 is to send it upwards in the sap, which nourishes the plant. 

 In each instance of proliferous Ferns that has come before me, 

 the Fern which has shown this characteristic has been suddenly 

 transplanted from a dry and starred soil, into rich garden 

 mould, peat or other. The Fera cannot grow fast enough to 

 exhaust this additional nourishment, and Nature furnishes the 

 safety valve of bulbs. The dampness of the atmosphere is, ol 



