





THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



460 



It gra 



~^"tf>ri large, numerous, irregularly bi- tri-serial ; 

 3y below: fronds adherent. 



pry remarkable Fern, so distinct-looking, and so 



^TlTjn habit from the other free-veined Aspidiese, 



w.nti is proposed to separate it from them. It is of 



Sand striking aspect, full deep green in colour and 



kTfitf » beauty distinct from the delicacy usually found 



^002 Ferns, which makes it valuable for grouping. 



rs a foot or more high, the leafy part of the 



as broad as long, and consisting of about two to 



f-uriribof very thick leathery pinnae, ami a larger 



anal ore. W pinnm of the barren fronds are 



u m a to 6 inches long, oblong-lanceolate, falcate, acu- 



EJiate and somewhat undulated, borne on a stipes 



?or4 inches long, which is very stout^ at the base, and 

 there clothed with long narrow hair-pointed scales. The 

 Mile fronds, which bear sori throughout, are elevated 

 on longer stipes than the barren ones, and are besides 

 in a slight degree contracted, the pinnae in the most 

 perfect fronds° being about an inch in width, whilst in 



the barren ones they are an inch and three quarter 8 

 wide. The sori, which are very large, consist of a great 

 crowd of black spore-cases, seated on a somewhat de- 

 rated receptacle. The vernation is peculiar. The 

 rhizome or caudex, to which the fronds are adherent, 

 grows quite erect, and the apex is developed beyond the 

 dim of the perfect fronds, so as to show two or three 

 •eries of incipient fronds, having a somewhat decussate 

 arrangement. This Fern, as we learn from M. Van 

 Houtte, from whose nursery at Ghent it was introduced 

 to oar gardens in 1852, was obtained by him from Dr. 

 von Siebold, and is a native of Japan or of China. It 

 grows well in a greenhouse, but is quite hardy, having 

 fcmved the winter of 1854-5 without the least injury, in 

 an exposed case in Mr. Ward's garden at Clapham, and in 

 toe open air without any protection, in the garden of 

 A. bast, Esq., of Blackheath, Kent. It- may be raised 

 wiUi much facility from the spores. The genus is related 

 toustrea m its fructification, and to Polystichum in its 

 M tio n . The veins, however, are remarkable for their 



lib-shaped apices, and are quite like those of Scolopen- 

 mm ; an ^ the large multiserial sori on elevated recep- 



ud 



J^!?.2 i8COrdant with Lastrea, as are the distinct 

 fo» pyenos, thick, and pteris, a fern." 



— - "*m urtswcft, aa are tin 



partially contracted fertile fronds. The 



name is 



ft 



Daullu dissecta, J. Smith MS. ; Gard. Mas. 

 r Bot., hi., 325. 



•"■Xfe .fl abro, ; s ' ^angular, tripinnate, sub-raembrana- 

 "■eqiiKd . fn. ea, * r, y Ungate, acuminate, the lower ones 



^nged • tnri ~*Z . ., segments; racms and midribs 

 ■tt*S Py " gt i e apexof the stents, often with 

 «"***ted scaVSint 1 J ? V0,11 1 cres linear cup-shaped ; rhizome 



^mSprlT^ St °? Fepn »but also growing in a close 

 JJJJJ with out the influence of strong heat. The 



0f an ele 8* n * bright green, and are very much 



.**** 



^IS^SL^JlJfl P01 ' °n e u e *' and have a means with much satisfaction, but I cannot say I have 

 wrete -° n i C eXieU °\ Bide ' al Wa - V8 *PP~"d of every act of its administration. For 



rarely on the mner side also ; the involucres are lmear instance, the management of elections for pensioners, 



Ihis Fern, which is a native of Java, was through the system adopted by influential subscribers, 



is open to much censure as being anything but just or 

 fair. The list election affords a striking example of 

 the evils of the system of canvassing, or, to use a 

 stronger and more modern term, of favouritism. We 

 will see then how this favouritism, or patronage, 

 has acted to the detriment of those candidates 

 whose claims were such as would naturally entitle them 

 to the consideration of subscribers, in preference to 

 those who have never endeavoured to contribute one 

 farthing to the support of the institution. At the last 

 election there were 1 7 candidates, of whom three were 

 to be elected pensioners ; the two first on the list were 

 elected, one on the eleventh, the other on the ninth 

 application ; but the third, who was elected on the 

 second application, is a palpable instance of the system 

 complained of, and I will endeavour to show the great 

 body of subscribers that, by sending their polling papers 

 to the influential man, they are unintentionally the cause 

 of great injury to other and more deserving candidates. 

 Take, for instance, the case of poor Ann Arnold, whose 

 husband subscribed eight years ; of Joseph Jeffrey, 

 who subscribed eight years, and of George Kidd, 

 who subscribed nine years to the institution, and from 

 this evidence, it must be apparent to even the most 

 casual observer that the fact of having been a subscriber, 

 so far from giving a candidate a prior claim to the notice 

 and favourable consideration of voters has rather, from 

 the favouritism exercised, been productive of opposite 

 results. There is no reasonable person who will not 

 admit the injurious consequences of this system of 

 patronage ; we have unfortunately seen far too much 

 of it already in various quarters, and we need only take 

 the case of the Literary Fund to see the full extent of its 

 evil effects on every part of such institutions. After so 

 long and useful a career every one would regret to see 

 the Gardeners' Benevolent Institution in such a posi- 

 tion, or indeed anything approximating to it, and I 

 address you now solely with the desire of correcting this 

 abuse. An Old Subscriber to the Institution, City, July 11. 

 Training Trees on Walls. — In your lei.ding article a 

 few numbers back, you gave us a dissertation upon the 

 structure of garden walls, with the view of ascertaining 

 the most suitable for the purpose of training fruit trees, 

 &c, on. Your observations in that article, and the con- 

 clusion to which they led, met my entire concurrence* 

 Supposing such walls are constructed, the next question 

 is, how best to cover them with trees ? It has often 

 appeared to me something unnatural in training wall 

 trees to divide them low — say ] foot, or 1£ feet from the 

 ground, as those commonly called dwarfs are usually 

 managed ; I am of opinion that it would be more in 

 accordance with nature Mere the trees trained with a 



cup-shaped. ^ __ 



introduced in 1849 by 'Messrs. Rollisson, of Tooting" 

 It is one of the most elegant of the very beautiful genus 

 Davallia, and is besides very easily cultivated. 



6. Phlebodium multiserule, Moore and Houlston, in 

 -^Gen. and Sp. of Cult. Ferns, ined. 



Fronds ample, sub-pinnate, glabrous, green not glaucous ; seg- 

 ments broad, lanceolate-acuminate, dilated at the base, entire ; 

 sori in several series on each side the midvein; rhizome 

 shaggy, with light brown scales ; fronds articulated. 



A noble Fern with the general habit and aspect of 

 Phlebodium aureura, but differing in the greater breadth 

 of its segments, in the total absence of the striking blue- 

 green colour which pervades P. aureum, and in the 

 numerous small sori scattered in four or five series over 

 the whole surface of the segments. The fronds are 

 from 2 to 4 feet long, pinnatifid, or pinnate at the base ; 

 the segments lanceolate, acuminate, 8 to 10 inches long, 

 and nearly 2 inches broad, the sinus narrow and rounded, 

 not broad and oblique, as in aureum. The fructification 

 either occupies the upper part of the frond, or some- 

 times occurs over the whole surface of distinct fronds. 

 The plant is a native of South America, and was intro- 

 duced to Kew in 1850 ; more recently it has been 

 obtained from Demerara. It is a desirable and effective 

 species among the bold-looking Ferns of ample size. 

 T.M. 



Home Correspondence. 



Celery.— I am induced to submit the following hints 

 on the cultivation of Celery, which I practised very suc- 

 cessfully many years in the West Indies, and which, I 

 trust, may be found useful to those who may feel in- 

 clined to adopt my system. It is as follows : — Finding 

 the usual mode of planting Celery in trenches 5 feet 

 apart, and "earthing up" laborious and inconvenient, I 

 was led, after making several experiments, to adopt a 

 very simple plan by which much labour and ground 

 were saved by planting the plants upon well manured 

 ground 14 inches apart in the rows, and each row 14 

 inches from each other, in the quincunx order. When 

 they were grown of sufficient length I introduced the 

 leaves, after stripping off the small under ones, into 

 bamboos cut about 12 inches long — the length they admit 

 of between joint and joint, the diameter of each being 

 about 3 inches — and in 11 days I have generally had 

 them beautifully blanched clean and fit for the table. 

 Since my return to England in 1849, seeing some hollow 

 tiles 12 inches, and of the same diameter as the 

 bamboos before-mentioned, used for draining land, 

 it occurred to me that a similar method might be 

 practised here ; consequently I had a piece of 

 ground well manured, dug, the clods being well broken, 

 and plauted in rows and distances as before detailed. 

 When the leaves were long enough, the small ones being 



stem, say from 4 to 6 feet high, and radiated so as to 

 cover the wall to very near the ground. I allude chiefly 

 to Peach and Nectarine trees, and am of opinion, more 



pulled off, I gathered the rest together in my hand, 



and put them through the tiles, keeping the surface of the j over, that the durability of the trees is prolonged by 

 ground clean by occasional hoeing ; the plants made Bucn a mode of training. I remember a remarkable 

 rapid progress, and after a time I put some half tiles on instance in proof of my opinion at the seat of an ancient 

 the top of those first placed, thrusting a stick inside both [ family in the vicinity of Derby, where there is a very 

 into the ground, to prevent the wind from blowing them good garden, a walled-in oblong square, with a walled- 



down, and in 34 days the Celery was well blanched. On 

 the 1 5th December last year I cut one head, that had a 

 second tile about 10 inches long over the first, which 

 measured 3 feet long and 10 inches in circumference, 

 exceedingly well blanched. Previous to severe weather 

 coming I put Peas haulm, straw, or dry litter between 

 the tiles, with clean straw or dry Fern over the whole 

 to protect the plants from frost. It will be an improve- j on the exterior south wall had 



in compartment at the east end, which served as a 

 Melon ground, &c. ; there were trees (Peach and 

 Nectarine) planted on the exterior south wall, dwarf 

 and standard alternately ; in the Mtlon ground com- 

 partment the south wall was planted with standards 

 only, and radiated. In the days when I knew 

 them intimately (now many years ago), the standards 



all been cut away to 



ment to have the tiles so constructed as to admit of 

 what may be termed a collar on the under and upper 

 tile, so as to fit on each other similar to a turned 

 wooden box, which will exclude the air at their junction; 

 and instead of sticks, as before mentioned, I would re- 

 commend wires of the thickness of a common goose 

 quill, 30 inches long, or thereabouts, formed similar to 

 a surveyor's arrow, to be substituted. Should you feel 

 disposed to give my method publicity, further improve- 

 ments may be made by experimentalists, or even as it is 

 practised by myself, it will be found very useful. James 

 Waters, the Rectory, Penshaw, Fence Houses, Durham. 



Ineffectual Puddling. — Would you or any of your 

 correspondents be kind enough to give roe auy informa- 

 tion in my present difficulty. This time last year I 

 began to form an ornamental pool in front of my house 

 below the lawn ; the subsoil is quite a gravel, extending 

 to a great depth, so much so that the undertaker con- 

 sidered that no bottom at the under side of the pool 

 could be obtained upon which to found a puddle wall in 



give place to the dwarfs, and these had nearly become 

 naked sticks, with only a little bearing wood near the 

 top of the wall. The radiated standards, on the con- 

 trary, were fine healthy, vigorous, fruitful trees, and 

 covering the entire wall from top to bottom. The case 

 impressed me so then that I made it a subject of remark 

 to a friend (the late Mr. Ayres, of Kedleston), who told 

 me he was the person who planted the trees, and got 

 laughed at and ridiculed by his neighbours about his 

 radiating scheme ; he was an intelligent, good gardener, 

 and was surprised that I (then a youth) should have 

 adopted the notion he had so successfully proved. I 

 have practically proved it since, and feel quite confirmed 

 in my opinion that the radiating system is most natural 



and most preferable. Quercus. 



Bow to prevent Leaf -burning.— -For several years I 

 have been annoyed by the scorching of the leaves in my 

 vinery from the intense heat of the sun. I saw it stated 

 that Hartley's Patent Rough Plate Glass is admirably 

 adapted for vineries ; I therefore covered the inside of the 

 - r - ■ - ?-t- xu: — u: «._—.»». It has answered 



the centre of the embankment ; he, therefore, determined glass of my vinery with thin 7 ! ^ tew f *V. 



After perfectly. The vines and the fruit 



J^ iQ, Mr^uU f r m * f ° 0t t0 a foot an * » half long ; 



C!* r ^dojmelt °nf 8 ?? ewhat P entan S ular t™m the 

 fcZf Ptoiwe j th* Ak posterior pinnules on the 



& 1 ** ^umina^ he k.P in r are n *™*> elongate, 



to line the whole interior with puddled clay. 



three unsuccessful attempts to retain the water (the 



puddle now being 2 feet deep and well beaten both at 



the bottom and at the sides) we have covered it all with . . 



about 2 inches of soil; still the water will not stand j of course avoid syringing, or 



above 9 inches deep until it runs out at the lower part. | ^he whiting. I strongly recommend this, particularly 



The clay is of a very fine nature, and the water from its A *~"~ 



are m a very 



healthy' condition ; and a few plants that stand about 

 have assumed an appearance of vigour and luxuriance 

 which I never saw before. I keep the floor moist, but 



it would wash off 



tat^u 



I u l the P rimar 3 r an <i secondary 



^ 0f *itha ah in segments narrow, linear, 



a 8lulIow n °tch ^ the apex. The sori 



own weight must, we consider, penetrate through it 

 The intended depth is about 4 feet at the deepest part 

 or lowest side. I am now quite at a loss what to do 

 with it, and would feel greatly obliged, if through your 

 columns you could afford any information upon the 

 subject. J. J. 



Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution. — I have 

 taken an early interest in the formation of the Gar- 

 deners' Benevolent Institution, and watched year by 

 year its successful progress with regard to its pecuniary 



to amateurs, for conservatories during the present 

 glaring weather. A friend has suggested that some 

 paste made of flour would be better, and adhere longer 



to the glass. G. L., Cambridge. 



Nidijication of the Talegalla,—Y our correspondent 

 • G. W. L." seems to doubt the truth of the passage in 

 the Zoological Society's Guide Book having reference to 

 the nidification of the Brush Turkey (Talegalla Lathami, 

 of Gould), whose manner of reproduction as there 

 stated he thinks will not bear "investigating by the 

 ordinary process of analogical reasoning." Now I have 





