July 29, 1869. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICUXTOBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



83 



form of the pinnff of Fieldise. It is dwaif in habit, and very 

 stiff. Athyrium F.f. plumoaum (Axminster var.), ia one of the 

 most lovely, if not positively the most so, of all the Lady Ferna. 

 It dlSers from the ordinary variety of plumoenm in being still 

 more feathery and light, and when seen in large plants, as I 

 saw it at Mr. Ivery's, is Barpaasingly lovely. 



Besides these there were, of newer kinds, Bellairsia;, Clarkiaj, 

 eroso-cristatnm, acopioeforme, cnrtam, and grandiceps pumilum. 



The Male Fern has produced varieties not quite aa numerous 

 but as fine, though not, perhaps, eo delicately beautiful as the 

 Lady Fern. Among them I noticed Lastrea FUix-mas Ingramii, 

 s very beautiful form, the fronds sometimes being 3 and 4 feet 

 in length, while the narrow deeply-cut pinnules gave it a very 

 distinct appearance. Lastrea F.mas cristata angustata, a very 

 beautiful form of the old cristata, itself one of the very finest 

 Ferna we have. The fronds are narrow, the crest at the end of 

 the fronds being very close and crispy, while the pinnse are 

 also shut and closely tufted. Lastrea F.mas crispa, one of 

 those varieties that makes us wonder if it can really belong to 

 the same famiiy as the stately Male Fern of our hedges, the 

 fronds being only about 9 inches high, the pinna; being closely 

 placed together and deeply imbricated, so that it has altogether 

 a most crisp appearance. Then there are Lastrea Filix-mas 

 cristata Iveryana, cristata crispa, foliosa, &c. 



But I question whether for real beauty any of our native 

 Ferns can vie with the varieties of Polystichnm, especially 

 those of the proliferum section. What more beautiful than a 

 well-grown plant of proliferum WoUastoni, of which I have a 

 plant now before me with fronds 2 and 3 feet in length? while 

 their being, if not altogether, at any rate very nearly evergreen, 

 is a great recommendation. 



Of the varieties of Polystichum angulare there are Baylise ; 

 the fronds of this variety are of a very deep green, the pinnules 

 very sharp and pointed and closely set on. so as to form a very 

 attractive variety. Cristatum. — In this the point of each frond 

 terminates in a thick crispy tuft, and corresponds altogether very 

 much to the cristata form of Lastrea F. mas. Oxyphyllum. — 

 Thefronds are very f caly, and in Jackson's variety even more so. 

 It is a very beautiful variety, the stalks being slender and grace- 

 ful. Plumosum. — -A beautiful feathery form of Polystichum, 

 analogous to the plumose variety of Lady Fern, and, like it, 

 exceedingly graceful and beautiful. Proliferum Holeauuro. — A 

 most lovely Fern, the pinnules separated somewhat widely, very 

 pointed. Eotundatum. — A very remarkable variety ; the fronds 

 being of a very dark green colour, and the outline of the pinnae 

 is so far rounded as to give it a very distinct appearance. 

 Lineare. — Dark green fronds, very spare; indeed it is very ana- 

 logous in the Polystiohums to Girdlestoneii in the Athyrinms. 

 But perhaps the most beautiful of all the new Polystichuma 

 is the very fine Polystichnm angulare Pateyi, discovered in 

 Dorsetshire by Mr. Patey, after whom it is called. The colour 

 of the green is h^;ht. The plant is very dense, owing to the 

 overlapping of the pinnae ; the pinnules being deeply incised. 

 It is a very rare variety, there being at present only five plants 

 of it in existence, and these were obtained by cutting up the 

 old stool. Mr. Ivery has not succeeded in inducing it to bear 

 spores. If it do not do so. some time must elapse before it can 

 be generally grown, but it is certainly one of the grandest 

 Ferns we have. 



Besides these there are many other beantifnl forms, such as 

 laciniatum, laciniato-truncatum, Kitsoniie, tenue, Wakeley- 

 anum, and Stansfieldii. 



Scolopendriums are as numerons as any ; but with the ex- 

 ception of a few forms, such as criapum, marginatum, and its 

 varieties, I do not care particularly about them. Of the Poly- 

 podiums, ramosnm, pulcherrimnm, acrocladon, cristatum, 

 bifido-lobatnm ; of Aspleniums, Harovii and incisum ; and of 

 Blechnnm, concinnum, heterophyllum, and imbricatum, are 

 distinct and curiously beautiful ; and it is impossible to pass 

 through this nnrsery, see pit after pit filled with these beauti- 

 ful plants in all stages of growth, from the tiniest little seed- 

 lings to the largp and magnificent plants we see at our metro- 

 politan shows whenever Messrs. Ivery exhibit, without being 

 struck with their immense variety, aiid with wonder that not 

 more of these lovely plants are grown. We know that the 

 demand for them ia great. Mr. Ivery told me of his having 

 sent them by the t^n weight; but they are so readily grown, 

 that, while each place has its fernery, it is a pity that some of 

 these rarer and most beautiful forma do not find a place in it. 

 Sitting as I am this moment, in the cool shade on this broiling 

 hot day, and looking on many of those which I have alluded to 

 above, they do indeed seem to me most lovely and deserving 



of the enthusiastic praise which a real lover of Ferns bestows 

 on them, — D., Veal. 



WINE PKESS. 



On reading the instructions on " Wine Manufacture " by 

 • Upwards and Onwaeds," vol. xvi, page 409, he saya, " If there 



were, in addition, 



a large pestle and 



mortar." About 



ten years back I 



made a pair of zinc 



rollers 4 J inches in 



diameter, 6 inches 



long, and fluted 



the whole length, 



{fig. 1) ; these I 



mounted in a wood 



Fig, 1. — Zinc rollers, foil size, 6 inches long ; frame ( fig. 2) • to 



a portion of the teeth only shown. j.^^ one in the 



other, and turned by a crank handle. They are moveable — 



open or close for Rhubarb, Gooseberries, or Currants. There ia 



^O, 



O^ 



'i f-c'^-ki'^^^--^ 



FUj :J.— a, 1-inch iron screw, 

 16 inches loni,', worked by a 

 hand wheel ; 6, zinc plate. 

 4^ square ; c, zinc box fall of 

 holes ; d, wood box or easing ; 

 e, zinc plate full of holes : /, 

 pipe to convey the juice away, 

 and provided with a tin top ; g, 

 I iron rods ; h, cross bar with 

 screw thread for the pin a ; /, 

 wood block 13 inches square, 

 6 inches thick. The wood 

 legs are 2 ioches in diameter, 

 turned, and 14 inches long. 



Fig. 2. — a. Wood frame, 2 feet high, 

 24 inches deep, IJ inch thick; 6. zinc 

 Toilers, 4^ inches in diameter, 6 inches 

 long ; c, iron pedestals, moveable. The 

 rollers are worked with a crank handle, 

 8i inch centre. 



a hopper to fit on the top for the 

 Gooseberries and Currants. I also 

 made a small screw press (fig. 3). 

 With the rollers we crush in one 

 hour all the fruit we used to do in 

 three-quarters of a day. The press 

 takes about the same time as by 

 hand, or only a little less time, bnt 

 we obtain considerably more wine 

 from the same weight of frnit. 

 There are several wine-makers in 

 this town ; I lend the rollers and 

 press to them, and for the use some 

 send me a quart bottle of their 

 wine at the time of bottling. If 

 these sketches should be of any ser- 

 vice to " Upwaiids and Onwakds," or 

 should he like further information 

 how to make apparatus like them 

 — I made my own patterns and 

 castings, and fitted them up — I 

 should be most happy to give it. — 

 W. Stdttle, Tlionihurg. 



THE SMAI.L TELTOW TURNIP. 

 Those of your readers who have travelled on the Continent, 

 and have been while there a little gustatory, may have observed 

 vary frequently the pleasant smell arising from, and the flavour 

 of, various soups. Both, fur the must part, are given by the 

 above kind of Turnip, which ia, when served up like our com- 

 mon Turnips, very pungent, and to us EngUsh not palatable. 



