The Canadian Horticulturist. 177 



Jl^e (g-apdei) ai)d LaloQ. 



SUMMER TREATMENT OF CALLA LILIES. 



A great many articles have been written on this subject, and it seems as if I 

 had tried every plan given in three years gone by, and finally buried the last of 

 seven nice callas, all killed by excessive kindness, I expect. A year or two ago 

 I started in anew, and made some experiments of my own. 



Last June I put a calla bulb in a bed with canna and caladium around a 

 fountain basin, and it received the same treatment as they ; it grew slowly all 

 summer. In September I took it up and re-potted it in good, rich dirt. In a 

 few weeks it began to bud, and has had flowers on all winter long. The last 

 bloom was very large, measuring five-and-a-half inches across the top. 



It has done the best of any of my callas. This year all the calla bulbs will 

 be planted in the open ground, where they can get the full force of the sun, and 

 only sufficient water to keep them growing slowly. I have not kept the plant as 

 wet as I used to do, and have had more blossoms and larger ones. Keep the 

 leaves washed free from dust, and also to help destroy any stray louse that may 

 endeavor to find a resting-place there. — Gvpsv in Farm a)id Fireside. 



OUR NATIVE FERNS. 



The ferns and brakes of this country are marvellous in beauty and variety. 

 Even those who do not care to study them can get worlds of pleasure in bringing 

 them from the woods and planting in odd spots about the home. The writer 

 had two corners near a portico, as well as a spot nearly a foot wide in front of 

 the house, where the grass simply would not grow. Plenty of ferns, of assorted 

 sizes, were put in place of the grass, with some odd bits of broken stone scattered 

 between them, interspersed with moss, and what was a constant nuisance came 

 to be the most attractive spot on the grounds. The woods and their associations 

 were constantly with us from early spring until Jack Frost came. Then, toe, 

 they were clipped from freely, to mix with cut flowers and for table decoration, 

 and they seemed to like it, as the more we cut the more they grew. Four large 

 fronds of ferns laid around the center dinner dish give a wonderful refreshing 

 effect. Mr. J. S. Van Devoort, of Ohio, in the Agriculturist for March, says : 

 '' In trying to beautify our lawns and gardens, native plants are too much 

 neglected. There is nothing that for so little work and outlay produces so pleas- 

 ing results as tastefully arranged beds of ferns in a shady corner of the yard or 

 garden. Various kinds of ferns may easily be obtained in moist woodlands. 

 The proper time to go " ferning " is in early spring when the plants begin to 



