Pebi-uary 4, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDElJEU. 



v.) 



be made to assume in this artificial homo so much of a natural 

 appearance as if prowinfr on the hedpebauks in the country, that 

 they become douljly eujoyable to those who seldom have the 

 opportunity of seeing them growing fresh and green as Nature 

 has reared them. To this, however, something more may be 

 added ; for the rustic appearance of a fernery is an agreeable 

 contrast to the more dressy portion of a garden, and if a sight 

 is taken of them in a line with a bed of flowers they heighten 

 the brilliancy of the flowers, and form a background at once 

 very graceful and attractive. A group of Ferns arranged in a 

 tasteful way is an excellent way of hiding anything unsightly, 

 and the beauty and enjoyment of a summer-house can with 

 little trouble be much enhanced by them whether arranged 

 around the foot of it or planted in pots or boxes and stood around 

 it. In the small enclosures we may call forecourt gardens at- 

 tached to the fronts of a row of villa residences, and where the 

 Bun seldom reaches the plants growing there. Ferns grow luxu- 

 riantly, and if the stronger-growing specimens are planted in 

 the soil the same as any other plant, they do not fail to please. 

 In some of these gardens oval beds are struck out, and planted 

 thus : The edging is either of Box, or the bed is cut out in the 

 turf and a row of Snowdrops planted inches from the edge. 

 The bed is then planted with stools of some common and vii;or- 

 ous-growing Fern, such as Lastrea Filix-mas or Polystichum 

 angulare, or some one or other of the Aspleniums, about 2 feet 

 apart, and in the summer a coarse-growing scarlet Geranium is 

 planted among them, the bloom of which rises up among the 

 fronds of the Fei-ns and gives a very pleasing effect. Such a 

 bed is a gay one with very little trouble or expense, and very 

 suitable to such a position. 



In constructing a fernery the space it is to occupy must be 

 first determined on, because it is necessary to avoid all straight 

 outlines. If it is long rather than broad the space should be 

 broken up here and there with, perhaps, a hillock of misshapen 

 stones of a corresponding size to the extent of space at com- 

 mand, and then terraced down in suitable places to a miniature 

 deU, again to rise to the ordinary line with, perhaps, a recess 

 and a projection here and there as taste may dictate, making it 

 as rustic in appearance as the ruins of an old castle wall with 

 the stones left as they fell. 



Now it must also be remembered that Ferns like shelter, 

 shade, and moisture, and it may not be so diliicult to provide 

 the two former as it will be to find moisture sufficient to carry 

 them through a dry and hot period in the summer ; and this is 

 the most particular as well as the most enjoyable time of any. 

 Moisture is necessary at such a time for the future benefit of 

 the Ferns ; and if the fronds can be kept fresh and green by its 

 agency the more will their appearance lead one to admire them, 

 because it is such a rehef for the eye after gazing upon the 

 bright flowers in the hot sun. Therefore, in building up the 

 fernery, the soil under the stones is not so particular as to the 

 mixture, but it must be porous, so that the water when applied 

 may pass away quickly and avoid soddening the soil. 



Generally speaking the roots of Ferns are of a wiry nature, 

 and will cling to soil of an ordinary texture, but it ought not to 

 be heavy. Some of the more delicate species may with advan- 

 tage have peat and sand added to the soU, and some leaf soil; 

 but none of them, whether vigorous or strong, are benefited by 

 manure either in the solid or the liquid form. 



Now a word or two as to the planting, or assigning the plants 

 the position they ought to occupy. First of all, take care not to 

 plant any of them too deep, but keep the crowns well above the 

 soil as long as they are made firm, and plant the strongest 

 growers first, allotting them their positions over the whole 

 space, or they may be planted in groups here and there, and 

 varied either high or low as it is wished. The dwarf species 

 with finer-made fronds should be planted in prominent places, 

 but not too much exposed, and, again, not immediately under 

 those with coarse fronds so as to completely hide them from 

 view. Some, such as the common Polypody or Polypodium 

 vulgare, sends its stems or rhizomes completely over a project- 

 ing block if it finds suflicient earth or other substance to cUng 

 to ; and therefore, where there is a prominent place to be thus 

 covered this is the Fern to plant, and all those of a running or 

 creeping nature should have suitable places provided for them. 



Now, although a fernery is a very desirable thing to have, it 

 is not everyone who can indulge in the luxury, but they may 

 grow some plants in pots, which will form very conspicuous 

 ornaments for the window, entrance-hall, or, in fact, for room- 

 decoration. There is the Lastrea Filix-mas and Athyrium Filix- 

 fcemina, Scolopendrium vulgare aud S. undulatum or crispum 

 very pretty, Lastrea angustata, cristata, and Osmuuda regalis, 

 besides many dwarfer species that thrive well in pots. It is the 

 same with these as with those in the fernery — the pots must be 

 well drained ; and if kept in the rooms for any length of time 

 they ought to be sprinkled overhead every morning, and the 

 roots should never be allowed to become dry. They would be 

 more delicate cultivated in this way than if they were in a more 

 natural position outdoors. In the winter time when the fronds 

 are dying down the pots should be plunged in coal ashes under 



a wall on the south side, and if severe frost set in the crowns 

 may be just covered with some light material. In the spring, 

 when the young fronds make their appearance, clear the crown 

 of all rubbish, and keep a constant look-out for slugs, or they 

 wiU eat several of them off in a night, and thereby dtstroy all 

 prospect of a good decorative plant. After they are further ad- 

 vanced they may be taken out of the ashes and treated as above 

 directed. — Thomas Becobd. 



THE BEAUTIFUL AND USEFUL INSECTS OF 

 OUR GARDENS.— No. 29. 

 AssnuEDLT, as Sir .John Lubbock remarked in his recent 

 lecture on " British Wild Flowers considered in relation to 

 Insects," the fact is noteworthy that Mr. Darwin was the first 

 to draw attention to the special work many insects perform in 

 transferring pollen either from one flower to another, or else 

 from the stamens to the pistil of the same flower. It was 

 amongst the Orchids that this naturalist noticed peculiarities 

 which led him to establish his theory on the subject, I believe, 

 as enunciated in a book published about 1862. Others have 

 since trodden in his footsteps and amplified considerably, and 

 of recent observers none are more deserving of honourable 

 mention than Dr. H. Miiller, Mr. Bennett, and Sir John him- 

 self. But I regard Mr. Darwin's position as singular in view 

 of the circumstance that his eminent, though less famous, 

 grandfather thought fit to attempt to poetise the " Loves of 

 the Plants " in a composition cleverly, if too hardly, satirised 

 in another poem on the " Loves of the Triangles." As a more 

 recent poet puts it, plants 



"languidly adjust 



Their vapid Tegetable loves 



"With anthers and Tvith dust." 



And even a child can scarcely credit a fable which would assume 

 that there was any affection in the matter. But taking up the 

 imagery for a moment, the first Darwin described the amours, 

 and no more ; it was reserved for a second Darwin to give us a 

 glimpse of tho " go-betweens." There are, however, many 

 flowers that scorn these, as Sir John points out, and need no 

 help to fertilisation from the insect races. From the Hymen op- 

 terous and Dipterous orders it is, as we should expect, that 

 plants receive this aid in return for the honey and pollen which 

 serve to supply the needs of their visitors. The interchange 

 does not always proceed without unpleasantness ; and I can 

 fancy that the juvenile portion of Sir John Lubbock's audience, 

 as they heard him describe tho odd mode in which the common 

 Arum is fertilised by the imprisonment of insects, chiefly flies, 

 in the tube until the ripe anthers had showered their pollen on 

 them, the shrivelling of the hairs giving them liberty after- 

 wards, may have said to themselves, " What foolish creatures 

 the flies must be to visit any more Arums after that !" On 

 the whole, however, it is to be concluded that we are more in- 

 debted to bees than to flies for services thus rendered, because, 

 as a rule, bees are longer-lived ; and as in some species they 

 are storers of honey as well as eaters, they necessarily visit 

 more flowers than do flies. Some set-off in favour of tho 

 flies may be pleaded from the fact that many of the flower- 

 loving flies are also predacious, a few in the imago, but a num- 

 ber of them while in the larval state. And in passing we may 

 note that sometimes, as in the genus Tabanus,we have flies 

 regarding which we may have difficulty in deciding as to their 

 merits or demerits. The males, true flower-lovers, are occa- 

 sional visitants to gardens, where they attract attention by 

 their lustrous eyes. A friend has described the expression of 

 one species as combining " intelligence with pathos," but I 

 fail to see that myself. These organs are of various colours : 

 in one species of a golden green, lined and spotted with purple ; 

 in another crimson predominates, crossed by green bands ; 

 aud in a third a bronzy hue of much brilliancy prevails. The 

 Tabani have wings well provided with nervures, and the buzz- 

 ing noise they produce is to some folks one of the pleasures (?) 

 of summer. Not so the bite, certainly, for they will occasion- 

 ally attack the human subject, and the approach of one of 

 these flies — a much more veritable " horse- stinger " than the 

 harmless dragon-fly — is often the cause of a panic in a herd of 

 cattle. Thelarvis of these insects, popularly known as Breese- 

 flies or Clegs, live either on the surface of the earth or under- 

 ground, and help to remove decaying matter, or, as is sus- 

 pected to be the case in several species, they prey on other 

 larvie, molluscs, or worms. 



Mention has not been made in this series of the Soldier- flies, 

 insects both of beauty and utility, appropriately named from 

 the martial qualities manifestSd by most of the perfect in- 



