124 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Nepenthes distillatoria, Pitcher plant, (fig. 8).— This is 

 the famous pitcher-plant of China and the East Indies, 

 which bears leaves, the 

 extremities of which are 

 hollowed out into cup- 

 like appendages, which 

 are generally filled with 

 water, which seems as if 

 confined within them by a 

 lid, by which they are 

 surmounted. This plant 

 probably requires more 

 heat to keep it in good 

 health than most of the 

 others here mentioned, 

 and should, therefore, be 

 used only where a pretty 

 warm temperature is kept up, say from 70° to 80°. 



Dionce Muscipula, Venus' fly-trap, (fig. 9). — This is a 

 native of the Southern States. It is a singular plant in 

 respect to its leaves, which are of 

 an anomalous form, and have a sin- 

 gular motion by which they catch 

 insects. Loudon says : " Linnaeus 

 affirms that when the entrapped in- 

 sect ceases to struggle and is quiet, 

 the leaf opens and permits it to es- 

 cape." This does not agree with 

 Ellis' account, for he affirms that 

 the lobes never open again so long 

 as the animal continues there. He g- 



thinks it probable that a sweet liquor discharged by the 

 red glands tempts the insect to its destruction. He adds 

 that if a straw or pin be introduced between the lobes, 

 they will grasp it as fast as if it were an insect. A friend 

 of ours who has had considerable experience in growing 

 this plant has informed us that when an insect is caught 

 in a leaf,- it remains closed until the structure of the in- 

 sect is destroyed by decay, and he considers that the plant 

 draws nourishment from this source. 



Goodyera discolor. — An herbaceous plant, with fleshy, 

 chocolate-colored, ovate leaves. 



Of native ferns, in addition to those already noticed, 

 we will add, for a larger collection : 



Aspidium cristatum, Crested shield fern. — Frond twelve 

 to eighteen inches high, pale green ; remarkable for its 

 broad, ovate-lanceolate outline. Grows in moist woods, 

 in New England and the Middle 

 States — rather rare. 



Aspidium Lancastriense, Lancas- 

 ter shield fern. — A beautiful fern, 

 quite distinct from the preceding, 

 l!\ ^&'72f<i>p/M ri '& twenty-four to thirty inches high. 

 Frond dark green, from fifteen to 

 eighteen inches long and five to 

 eight inches in widtu ; narrowly 

 ly lanceolate. 



Aspidium tenue, Brittle shield fern. — A delicate fern, on 

 moist rocks — frequent. Fronds six to twelve inches in 

 height, dark green ; its divisions rather remote, and with 

 subdivisions considerably variable in form. 



Aspleuium Filix-fozmina (fig. 10). — A delicate, finely, 

 divided fern, found in moist woods. Fronds from one toi 

 two feet high, with sub-opposite divisions. These are 

 subdivided into distinct obtuse seg- 

 ments, which are themselves cut in- 

 to oblong, deep serratures, and last- 

 ly, the serratures are mostly with 

 two or three teeth at the summit, 

 the whole producing a very graceful 

 and pleasing effect. 



Osmuuda regalis, Royal flowering 

 fern, (fig. 11). — Almost too large for 

 a case, for which, however, small 

 plants may be used. It is a large 

 and beautiful fern, found in swamps 

 and meadows. The fronds are three 

 or four feet high, smooth in all their 

 parts, lance-leaved in outline. Leaf- 

 lets or pinme opposite, remote, each with six or nine 

 pairs of leaves, with an odd one. 



Fig. 1!. 



"HOW MUCH SEED SHALL I REQUIRE FOR MY 

 GARDEN]" 



This is a question often asked, but which can not be 

 answered definitely unless all the circumstances are 

 known. The general mle is to buy enough to ensure a 

 crop; in other words, take the advice of the seedsman, 

 who alone knows how far Ms seed will go ! The London 

 Gardeners' Chronicle has an article on the subject from 

 which we make a few extracts: 



The uncertainty in the quality of seeds may be owing in 

 part, and in some cases (as with onions) almost wholly, to 

 their having been produced in a bad climate, the husks 

 alone being formed, without the presence of a living germ 

 within. Another cause is the destruction of ,the vital 

 principle in consequence of seeds having been stored be- 

 fore they were dried, the inevitable effect of which is the 

 loss or fatal weakening of germinating power. In some 

 instances an eager gardener gathers them before they are 

 ripe, as is much the case with those flower " seeds " 

 which are not seeds at all, but seed vessels, such as China 

 Asters and other composite flowers, or esculent Umbelli- 

 fers like carrots; these may be fair to the eye, although 

 but emptiness within. And there is the dead remainder 

 of a seed drawer invigorated by the addition of a fresh 

 young crop. 



These causes, to say nothing of others, are more or less 

 in continual operation, and seedsmen themselves can by 

 no means always guard themselves against being deceived 

 by appearances. But it is evident that unless seeds are 

 uniformly alike in quality, there can be no certain rule 

 by which to determine the quantity to be sown. You can 

 not de;il with living as with dead matter. In the affairs 

 of mankind, it by no meaus follows that two and two 

 practically make four; life sets arithmetic at nought. In 

 like manner a pound of cabbage seed is not like a pound 

 of shot, although the two are a good deal alike. A pound 

 of shot will always produce the very same effect under 

 equal circumstances. Hut a pound of cabbage seed will 

 do no such thing ; not one-halt— not more than a quarter 

 — will take effect, so that two pounds or even four pounds 

 may be required to do the work of one pound. 



