.tOUENAL OP HOBTICUIiTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ February 1, 1^77. 



In reply to somo qnerieB the Eev. C. H. Bnlmer, rector of 

 Credenhill, has obliged ns with the followinf! answer : — 



" Tho Prophet is nndonbtedly in msgnificent health, and 

 beard his years — certainly over a century — extremely well. 

 Indeed were it not for the occasional inroads into his consti- 

 tution incurred in the faithful discharge of his prophetic office, 

 without doubt he ought to last well through another century. 

 The tree may be said to possess more of a family than local 

 reputation. The superstition is as follows : When any branch 

 ot the old Elm falls, one of the members of the Eckley family 

 is supposed to hear in the crash of the ponderous bough (and 

 on account of the close contiguity of the tree to the mansion 

 it is very easily heard) his ov. n death knell. On two oooasionB 

 1 can hear personal evidence to the prophecy being singularly 

 fulfilled. 



" The Eckley family came into possession of the Credenhill 

 estate, which was purchased from Henry Grey, eighth Earl of 

 Kent, in a very curious manner ; at least so says tradition. 

 Edmund Eckley rode a race on relays of saddle horses to 

 London against the owner of the Foxley estate, the ancestor of 

 the late Sir Uvedale Price, the well-known musician, botanist, 

 and landscape gardener, and arriving first bought the estate. 

 It may carry some little interest with it if 1 mention that my 

 predecessor in this living, and the former ownfr of the estate, 

 the Eev. John Eckley, told me that this Sir Uvedale Price of 

 Foxley (who was not only a near neighbour, but also a very 

 intimate friend) himself superintended the pruning of the 'tree 

 in its first stages of growth, which may partly account for its 

 unusual altitude and dimensions, if hardly for its prophetic 

 eccentricities. Sir Uvedale was also neighbour to and a very 

 intimate friend of a still more distinguished man — Andrew 

 Kuight of Wormesley Grange." 



There are many remaikable Elms in Herefordshire, though 

 Loudon, in bis "Kecorded Elms," only mentions three trees 

 in the whole county. The most remarkable are the Kother- 

 was Elm, the Kingsaore Elm, the Stretton Rectory Elm, the 

 ■Wormbridge Elm, the Holme Lacy Elm. the Much Marcle Elm, 

 the Eidgemoor Elm, The Westhide Elm, the Castle Green 

 Elms, and Cathedral Close Elms, Hereford ; the Hill Court 

 Elms, and the Eoss Churchyard Elms. At the latter place 

 two young Elm trees have sprung up within the church, and 

 have been allowed to remain there. They are suckers from the 

 roots of the tree which grew on that side of the churchyard, 

 cut down many years since. They are said, by the man who 

 shows the church, to grow in the pew in which the 'Man of 

 Eoss " was accustomed to sit, and thus do reverence to his 

 memory. 



DAELINGTON GAEDENEKS' INSTITUTE. 



At the meeting held in the Institute on January 16th an in- 

 teresting and able paper on British Ferns was read by Mr. 

 Harrow. 



After a few introductory observations Mr. Harrow proceeded :— 

 The study of Ferns, even if confined to British Ferns, opens out 

 an almost inexhaustible field of study and observation. It is 

 Avell known that the coal beds of this country, and especially of 

 this county, are composed in a very great measure of the various 

 species which at some remote period flnurished luxuriantly in 

 this islaDd. Sir C. Lyall, speaking cf ore cf those gigantic 

 Tree Ferns found in the coal beds near Newcastle, says that 

 the trunk measured 5 feet in diameter, and must have been 

 between 10 and 50 feet in height. From this example we may 

 see how greatly the Fern has assisted to develope the com- 

 merce of this country, and how much we owe to it. Though we 

 do not now possess the gigantic FernB of New Zealand or the 

 Tropics, it is probable we have as great a lUversity of foliage 

 and as many varieties in the British Isles as can be found in an 

 area of similar extent in any part of the globe. 



Ferns differ from flowering plants both in the mode of con- 

 struction and growth. If we examine the base of a leafstalk of 

 a tree we shall find a bud, which if undisturbed will produce a 

 bunch or cluster of fruit next season. There are no such buds 

 in the axils of Fern leaves, not eves in these of the Brake, 

 though the latter is peculiarly tree-like in growth. The upward 

 growth of the Fern consists of a process of unrolling, expansion, 

 and maturation of tbu leaves and stems. All the Cryptogamia 

 are dettitute of flowers ; that is their most noticeable distinction, 

 unless the fertile fronds of the Osmunda regalis be so termed. 

 But altbouph destitute cf flowers they are far from being de- 

 stitute of beauty. Thu graceful forms of (he fronds and their 

 delicate tracery, combined with loveliness cf colour, make 

 them objects of our admiration. The number of British species 

 is said to be forty-six, but what a number of varieties they 

 presort in forms differing from their types or what we call 

 types. These varir-ties number at least five hundred. Mr. 



Sim of Foot's Cray in Kent ennmerates in his catalogue 

 365 British species and varieties. The varieties of Hart's- 

 tongue are about one hundred. Some are tasselled and fringed, 

 others resemble stag horns, frills, fans, &c. There is scarcely a 

 specits of British Ferns that does not show some varieties 

 crested or frilled ; this I consider a substitute for flowers, and 

 certainly the variations add much to tbeir interest and beauty. 

 Few can look upon Lastrea Filix-mas crislata or Athyriura 

 Filix-foimina well grown without admiring them. The leaves 

 of other plants are unvarying in their outline to a great extent, 

 but those of the Fern are as fantastical, changeful, and varying 

 as the aurora borealis. No one can thoroughly enjoy or under- 

 stand Ferns unless he has hunted for them in hedgerows, 

 woods, and amnnpst rocks, rivulets, and waterfalls. I have 

 found Scolopendrium crispum in the wood opposite Gainford, 

 and some peculiar sports in the same place and also at Rich- 

 mond. But the finest Polystichum aculeatum. Lady Ferns, 

 and Laetreas may be met with in the woods near Coxwold and 

 Ampleforth. The Polystichum seems to be quite distinct from 

 those growing in this part ; the fronds are much finer, and the 

 colour much brighter. It is interesting to notice the different 

 varieties of the same species growing in different localities. 

 For instance, the Scolopendrium vulgare found at Richmond 

 is distinct from that which grows west of Barnard Castle ; the 

 ft rmer being quite undulated, while toe latter is rigid and 

 siraiKht. Blechnum spicmt (B. boreale), abounds nesr Barnard 

 Castle, hut it is not found at Richmond. In the crevices of the 

 old bridge at Richmond Cystooteris fragilis is found, and Asple- 

 nium Tricbomanes in the Abbey Bridge near Rokcliy. At the 

 village of Barton, not a vi ry likely locality, I have found Poly- 

 podium vulgare, Asplenium Ruta-muraria, and a Trichomanes 

 growing on the old walls. 



With regard to the cultivation of British Ferns. I think many 

 cultivators err in their treatment cf them during the winter 

 months by allowing tbeir crowns and roots to become dry as dust, 

 alleging as their reason for so doing that moisture may stimulate 

 tbem into growth at a time when they should be at rest. I 

 differ frcm that opinion, and think that if kept in a temperature 

 of -10°, moderately moist, so that the crowns and roots never be- 

 come quite dry, with as much air as possible {except during 

 frost), they will form good crowns and handsome plants, and be 

 a source of pleasure and satisfaction to the cultivator. As to the 

 deciduous kinds, not having had so much experience, I hesitate 

 to offer a decided opinion as to their cultivation. I hope, how- 

 ever, the discussion of to-night will elicit some good hints on it. 

 It does look something like ingratitude to turn out in the cold 

 those plants which by their beauty have given so much pleasure 

 in summer. It is likely that, accustomed to the prt tection of 

 glass, they may be slightly tendered, and may not make such 

 goi d roots or crowns in the open air. Mine arc kept in the 

 house, and I shall be glad at the proper season to show them to 

 any wishful to examine them. Mr. Harrow, in conclusion, said 

 the great principle of Fern-growing was to imitate as closely as 

 possible the conditions under which they are found in their 

 natural situations. 



DOING AS HE WOULD BE DONE BY. 



We have great pleasure in publishing the following com- 

 munication : — 



The conduct of an old customer of ours — who succeeded hia 

 father, after many years of business together — has been so 

 exceptionally largo-minded , and so thoroughly, I conceive, such 

 as an Englishman in business ought always to be, that I trust 

 yon will consider the account of the transaction worthy a place 

 in your columns. 



You are no doubt aware that of late years, through the wild 

 competition in the seed trade, it has been the absurd custom 

 for the firms to sell Peas, Beans, and all kinds of seeds, long 

 before they can possibly know what the harvest will produce, 

 at the most speculative and often ridiculously low prices in the 

 summer and autumn, so that — as in this year of a generally 

 deficient harvest — Peas, Beans, and seeds have been sold in 

 the summer, and have to he delivered at prices considerably 

 below what they have to be pnrchased at. Whether the seed- 

 merchant loses by it or not, of course the goods must be de- 

 livered at the agreed price ; while in an abundant year — if the 

 seed, (fee, has been purchased at more than the season value — 

 tho poor seed-merchant must reduce his pries to that of the 

 season. His bargain is but a poor one in either event. Legiti- 

 mate trade is thus seriously damaged and degraded. 



And now for the case of our old customer. He had bought 

 of our traveller, very cheaply and fairly at an agreed price, 

 certain Peas last autumn. The harvest has been deficient, and 

 the Peas he bought aru worth double what he agreed to give. 

 In Fettling hie quarterly account he thus writes, January 10th, 

 1877 :— " As your imperfect knowledge of the value of the Pea8 



