December iiS, 1876. i 



JOUENAL OP HOBTIOULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



655 



moBt suitable and oonvenient. They are perfectly flat when 

 taken from the Btems of trees, and will fit anywhere. — Clekicus. 



THE OPHIOQLOSSDMS. 



This genus of plants is closely allied to the Ferns, and many 

 of the species have claims to cultivation. They are a class of 

 plants quite distinct in appearance, and, like the Platyceriums, 

 are quaintly ornamental. The family has a wide geographical 

 range, one species being found in British meadows and others 





Fig. H6.— OphiogloBBUm palmatvim. 



In New Holland, Portugal, Japan, and the West Indies. The 

 genua is named from ophis, a serpent, and glossa, a tongue, 

 and hence the name of Adder'a-tongue, which is the popular 

 name of the familiar English species. One of the most 

 curious of the family is 0. pendulum, which is a native of 

 Madagascar, where it is found growing on forest trees, its 

 fronds hanging from the branches to a length of several feet. 

 It is often found growing with Platycerinm grande, and re- 

 quires much the same mode of cultivation aa that quaint 

 plant. It is at home on the rocks of the tropical fernery, and 

 will grow freely in a spongy mass of peaty soil. 



0. palmatum ia one of the best of the apecies. It is some- 

 what rare, yet ia not difficult to cultivate. It does not require 



a great depth of soil, but will luxuriate in a rough open com- 

 position of sphagnum, turfy peat, and charcoal, if a place ia 

 afforded it in a well-heated structure, and a copious supply of 

 water ia given in the growing season. This species when well 

 grown is a distinct and ornamental plant, and one that ia well 

 worthy of all the care that can be bestowed in ita cultivation. 

 Plants may be inoreaaed by divisions of the root or by aeeda, 

 but in either case the process is a alow one, and for a supply 

 of these plants we must rely mainly on importations. The 

 Portugueae species 0. lusitanicum, and the British species 

 0. vulgare, are the most common, and have a place in most 

 large collections of plants.— W. J. B. 



CONCRETING VINE BOEDEES— WATERING 

 POTTED PLANTS— FRAGRANT ROSES. 



Let me thank " A NouTnERN Gardener " very much, and 

 congratulate him also on his very able article with regard to 

 concreting Vine borders. I thoroughly agree with and can 

 endorae all he aays, as both theory and practice will bear him 

 out, and I can recommend all who are making new or renovat- 

 ing old borders to read the article over again. I am sure 

 more harm is done from keeping borders too dry than from 

 having them too wet. Not long ago a friend of mine changed 

 his gardener, and when I was staying with him in the October 

 following he complained of his Grapes shanking and being 

 much worse than they had ever been before. On inquiry I 

 found the new gardener had covered the Vine borders during 

 the winter and up to May with rolls of asphalted felt, which 

 were so arranged as to throw all the water off the beds. The 

 Vines have never yet properly recovered the treatment, aa a 

 dry season followed, and I do not think they ever will. 



There is another question, and that ia also a moat important 

 one, I should like again to have ventilated in your columna, 

 and that is with regard to watering plants in pots in stoves 

 and greenhouses during the winter, when they are supposed to 

 be in a state of rest. I see constantly advice given to give 

 some stove plants 55° to 60° as minimum temperature, and 

 yet to withhold water. Now, though plants may not be in 

 active growth, yet all plants that retain their foliage, such as 

 Allamandas, Bougainvilleas, Passifloras, &c., must suffer very 

 much if the roots are kept too dry ; besides, too, as a general 

 rule, far too high a temperature is recommended for plants at 

 rest. We should remember that plants in their natural state 

 generally have their roots more moist in winter when in a 

 atate of rest than any other time ; take, for instance. Vines in 

 the vineyards of Lombardy or the South of France, or in the 

 champagne district, and the same law applies, almost equally, 

 even in the more tropical districts. 



The query arises whether the roots of plants are really ever 

 in a state of rest, and whether, even in deciduous plants in the 

 colder regions, there ia not a circulation of sap sufficient to 

 keep bark and buds healthy and plump. I feel confident, 

 from my own experience, that stove and greenhouse plants 

 often suffer in winter from being kept too dry, so that the fine 

 spongioles of the roots are killed, though of course they may 

 equally suffer if a pot ia allowed to be waterlogged ; but where 

 the temperature of a house is kept up to 55° by fire heat, 

 plants in pota are much more likely to suffer from dryness 

 than moisture, and many of our stove and greenhouse plants 

 wUl stand far more cold than is generally supposed. I have 

 seen several kinds of Orchids frozen without injury ; again, 

 I have seen Calceolarias and Cmerarias and Vtrbenas kept 

 dust-dry, and have known complaints made at the same time 

 of their damping-off, when all that was wanted was a plentiful 

 supply from the watering-pot. I should consequently like to 

 draw the attention of your correspondents to these points. 



Fragrant Roses. — I quite agree with Mr. Hmtou that I 

 was aurprised to aee Fran(;oia Lacharme omitted in the Hat 

 of scented Roses. I did not take my part in the election either 

 of new sorts or of Roses for scent, because I had not given suffi- 

 cient trial in my own garden of the newer sorts, and I thought 

 the question of acent so merely a matter of individual taste 

 that no very definite good could come of it ; and so I thick it 

 has proved, considering more than 150 Roses were namtd for 

 twenty-five beat and most highly acented. Very likely Francois 

 Lacharme was omitted because it is in most aoila a bad grower, 

 but the queation of growth was no element in the oaee. My 

 own feeUng is. Grow a certain number of Tea-scented and 

 other Roses for the sake of their buda and their scent, but 

 never discard a fine Rose even if the scent be nil. Ia there, 



