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JotJENAL Of HOETICtlLtDBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ Jane 1, 1876. 



gathered when ripe and sown in the spring in a sandy compost 

 in well-drained pots and placed in a cold pit. The seedlings 

 while ia a young state require careful tending, aa they are 

 liable to damp off. The Ferrarias may be grown in pots for 

 plunging when required, and when past their best tliey can 

 be removed to mature the growth of the plants. There are 

 several kiuds, but the accompanying figure is sufficiently illus- 

 trative of the family. Ferrarias ought to be found iu many 

 more gardens than they are at the present. — N. 



TEEE PERNS. 



Tree Febks are not so numerously grown as they should be. 

 In many largo establishments where indoor plants are culti- 

 vated in great variety a good Tree Fern is not to be found. 

 Few standard foliage plants are more elegant. A largo house 

 is not necessary for their accommodation ; a plant with a 

 3-feet stem in a small house just looks as well as a 10-feet-high 

 one in a lofty house. They are not all tall-growing species. 

 Beautiful little standard specimens of the Lomarias require 

 little more head room than a common Adiautum. Of course 

 in small houses tall forms cannot be grown, but this need not 

 exclude the whole race. With a clean stem of a foot or two 

 and a nicely furnished head there is no prettier tree grown 

 than Lomaria gibba. This species, like aU the others, takes 

 a considerable time to attain to any great elevation ; in fact 

 Lomaria gibba never does reach a great height, from 2 to 3 feet 

 being a first-rate elevation for it. It looks exceedingly well 

 raised among dwarfer Ferns or fine-foliage plants. It succeeds 

 perfectly in a warm corner of the greenhouse, but to grow it 

 superbly the stove is the place for it. 



For the elegant embellishment of large houses Dioksonia 

 antarctica is capitally adapted. It is the very finest of all 

 Tree Ferns. Good specimens of it have a clean straight stem 

 10 feet high surmounted with about 3 more feet of fronds. 

 An object of this kind has a grand effect in a large conserva- 

 tory. This Fern does not require more than a greenhouse or 

 conservatory temperature and treatment altogether. It is a 

 native of New Zealand. Numbers of the stems are imported 

 into this country with not a vestige of green about them, but 

 when potted and placed in a close humid atmosphere they 

 Boon begin to emit and unfurl their massive fine green fronds, 

 ■which spread out and arch in a most graceful manner. When 

 the trunks have started into growth they should not be retained 

 in a close warm atmosphere longer than a good beginning is 

 made. If grown for a considerable time under such conditions, 

 and ultimately transferred to a cool airy house, the fronds 

 generally droop and decay. They do not make such rapid 

 progreBs in a cool house, but after vitality is fairly set a-going 

 it is much better in the end to let development take place in 

 a comparatively cool situation. This Fern is qualified to 

 associate in the greenhouse with tall hardy Dracainas, Palms, 

 &c., and no better or mere handsome tall plant could be 

 selected to grow as a solitary specimen. Plants may be placed 

 here and there in Camellia beds, and when their heads are 

 seen above the Camellias they have a very fine appearance. 



Some of the Cyatheas make beautiful Tree Ferns. The 

 trunks of C. dealbata range from 2 feet to G feet in heijjht. It 

 makes an excellent companion for the Dicksonia antarctica, 

 but it has no advantage over that fine Fern. Altogether the 

 development of the Cyathea is on a smaller scale. The 

 fronds stand out rather stiflly, and do not extend so far as the 

 Dicksonias. 



Alsophila australis is a splendid tall Fern and quite distinct 

 from any yet mentioned here. In some instances it has a 

 stem exceeding (j feet in length. The fronds are very strong 

 and do not droop much, but rise up more in an upright direc- 

 tion. It is well worth growing for variety among other Tree 

 Ferns. To grow it to its full extent it requires plenty of head 

 room. 



The general cultivation of Tree Perns is not very difficult. 

 They cannot be grown to any great size in a pot ; tubs are 

 the best to put them in. Some of these are made round and 

 others square. The round tubs are the most convenient. 

 They should be neatly made with the best oak wood, so as to 

 withstand the moisture for a number of years. A tub 2J feet 

 in diameter and the same in depth is capable of holding a 

 large plant for a long time. The bottom should be well per- 

 forated. Tree Ferns are not easily killed with water at the 

 roots, but at the same time they distinctly abhor stagnant 

 moisture there. Good drainage is of great importance : too 

 much attention cannot be given to this to begin with. 



Dicksonias, Cyatheas, and Alsophilas succeed admirably in 

 a mixture of peat, a little loam, and plenty of silver sand. 

 The peat and loam should be used in a rough fresh state, and 

 in planting it should be rammed very firmly about the roots 

 and stem. A vacancy of 2J inches should be left on the sur- 

 face to facilitate watering. After shifting, watering at the root 

 has to be done carefully, or the soil may become rancid before 

 the young roots penetrate it. When the roots become matted 

 they must never be allowed to become thoroughly dry, or the 

 fronds, both old and young, will wither up quickly, and no 

 after-attention will refresh them. When once a plant is caught 

 in this state it takes months to recover ; besides, when water- 

 ing is neglected for any length of time the whole ball becomes 

 so thoroughly dry that it is very difficult to get it completely 

 moistened again with ordinary watering. In a case of this 

 kind the best plan is to place the entire root overhead in water 

 for a number of hours. When young fronds are being formed 

 at any time they are greatly benefited by being syringed once 

 or twice a-day. Full-grown plants also require to be syringed 

 occasionally to prevent the red spider and thrips doing mis- 

 chief. 



Lomaria gibba seldom grows out of pot bounds. Good 

 plants of it may be had in 10-inch and 12-inch pots. Little or 

 no loam should be employed in potting it, but good drainage 

 is absolutely necessary to its well-being. — J. Mdib. 



AMONG THE FRUIT TREES.— No. 1. 



At length the change has come, the keen north-eastern 

 blasts which have been dominant for so many weeks have de- 

 parted with all their scathing power and deadly violence, and 

 now we have a soft south-western breeze with genial showers, 

 bringing hope to us once more, for I for one must own to 

 having entertained something akin to a feeling of dismay — 

 almost of despair — as to our fruit prospects this year, with the 

 palpable damage to foliage and blossom constantly before my 

 ej'es. I think we have no unmixed evil in gardening ; certainly 

 the present and all timilar trials afford some good valuable 

 lessons — hints from Nature how best to grapple with some 

 of the difficulties arising from such unseasonable weather, and 

 thus these very evils are made to render their remedies clearer 

 to our minds. We learn from watching the development of 

 blight how best to check and cure its ravages, and it is my 

 purpose to call attention to a few things which have struck me 

 while they are still fresh and clear to me. 



Peaches and Nectarines are especially interesting just now. 

 The only trees quite healthy are on a west wall, the entire 

 growth being strong and clothed with foliage perfectly free from 

 blight. All those upon a south aspect have suffered in some 

 degree; blistered and curled leaves and clustering aphides are 

 very prevalent, being most abundant at every wind-swept angle 

 and corner. At one of these points three trees are just now a 

 curious and interesting sight — the end, and therefore the most 

 exposed tree, has quite three-fourths of its leaves curled, and in 

 every curl we have found some dozens of aphides. The next tree 

 has about two-thirds of diseased foliage, and the third has not 

 more than a third part affected. Infinite pains have been taken 

 with these trees. Some few blistered leaves have been picked 

 off, and every leaf and stem brushed with a camel's-hair brush 

 or sponged with clean water some half dozen times. The 

 syringe has been played freely after each sponging, to remove 

 any stray insects and to give the foliage a rinsing. Syringing 

 alone would prove quite ineffectual as a remedy in so bad a 

 case as this, the leaves being so much affected as to check the 

 entire growth. I have felt some anxiety about these trees, 

 knowing that a weakly spring growth points to unripe wood in 

 the autumn. What was really required here was a close daily 

 inspection during the prevalence of uugenial weather, and a 

 prompt clearance of the insects as they appeared. This I 

 could not manage, consequently the trees have sustained a 

 check from which thoy will hardly fully recover this season. 



Some other trees on a south wall with a clear space of not 

 more than 20 feet between it and a belt of wood have much of 

 the foliage affected by blister. I did not remove it while the 

 cold weather lasted, but left it on as affording some protection 

 to the sound leaves. I attribute the severe blistering to the 

 violent rushing of cold wind between the wall and wood ; 

 strange to say, there are no insects upon any of these trees. 



The coping-boards have done good service as usual, screen- 

 ing the trees so effectively that although the outer foliage has 

 sustained much damage yet the crop is an excellent one, the 

 fruit having set freely, and is now swelling fast. I repeat, there- 



