January 10, 1865. ] 



JOUKNAIi OF 50ETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



21 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



Day 



of 



of 



M'ntli 



Week. 



10 



To 



11 



W 



12 



Th 



13 



F 



14 



S 



15 



Sun 



16 



M 



JANUARY 10-16, 1865. 



Linnrcus died, 177S, ajred 71. 



Sir Hans Sloane died, 1752, a^ed 93 ', 



John Ray ciied, 1703, aged 77 



Blaclibird sing?. 



Furze flowers. 



•2 Sunday after KriruANY. 



Crocus flowere. 



Average Temperature 



Rain In 



last 

 38 years. 



San 



Sun 



near London. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Day. 



NiRht. 



Mean. 



Daya. 



m. h 



m. h. 



41.7 



30.5 



36 1 



17 



SafS 



Ilaf4 



41.5 



30.6 



36 



19 



5 8 



12 4 



42.4 



30.7 



36 5 



16 



4 8 



13 4 



43.0 



32.1 



37.5 



l" 



3 8 



15 4 



42.0 



29.6 



34.8 



16 



3 8 



16 4 



41.5 



28.9 



35.2 



12 



2 8 



18 4 



41.7 



30.6 



36.2 



19 



1 8 



20 4 



Afoon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



h. I m. h. 



3 22 6 



4 8 7 



5 45 7 



6 ! 15 8 



7 41 8 

 8^5 9 

 9 ' 28 9 



Moon's 

 Age. 



13 

 O 



15 

 16 

 17 

 18 

 19 



Clock 

 before 

 Sun. 



Day of 



Year. 



10 

 11 

 12 

 13 

 14 

 15 

 16 



From observations taken near London during the last tliirtv-eight years, the average day temperature of the week is 42.0°, and lt3 night 

 lemperature'30.4'. The greateiit heat was 56° on the 14th, 1840; and 15th, 1331 and 1852; and the lowest cold, i', on the 14th, 1838. The 

 greatest fall of rain was 0.80 inch. 



HATvDY FEENS: 



HOW I COLLECTED AXD CULTIVATED THEM.-No. 7. 



^^ ISJE of tlie greatest 

 difficulties in 

 Fern-liuiitingis 

 the not know- 

 ing what you 

 are looking for, 

 or where you 

 are to find it. 



I had never 

 seen Hymeno- 

 phyllum unila- 

 terale, or tun- 

 bridgense. wlien I set off one morning to searcli for it 

 somewhere in the torrent bed of the West Lyn, as it 

 takes its way amidst rock and forest tree, under Lyn 

 niff to the sea at Lynmouth. Ablebodied must they 

 be who venture on the like errand ; able to contend with 

 a down-hill rush from Lyuton, and an up-hiH scramble 

 amidst moss-covered rock and leaping waters ; now 

 steadying oneself with a branch of an overhanging tree, 

 through which the sunshine gleams ; now warily step- 

 ping over fissures and chasms, with the river bubbling 

 beneath. And then the grand discoveries and the failures ! 

 The learned way in which one strives to pabn off some 

 pretty moss upon oneself as the veritable Tunbridgense, 

 or at the very least Wilsoni, with the pleasant and ex- 

 tremely logical argument of " Filmy Ferns are moss-like 

 plants — this is a moss-like plant : therefore this is a 

 Hymenophylluni." And then the false argument leading 

 to the true conclusion, for at last in my hand is a large 

 mass of moss-Uke plants, and lo ! it is Hymenophyllum 

 Wilsoni : and why is it not tunbridgense ? I have found 

 some of these Filmy Ferns much finer than others, and 

 I call the finest Tunbridgense ; but I am afraid that in 

 reality I have only foimd the unilaterale, and when I 

 have found it I am obliged to own I have never kept it 

 alive for any time. I have planted it on a brick in a 

 running stream, but a rush of water washed it off; I 

 have tried it in a flower-pot with a glass over it, but a little 

 inattention or a visit, and I found it damped off. Still it 

 is worth hunting for, if only to see it at home sporting 

 with Naiades and Dryades. It seems a graceless thing to 

 take it away to pine and die, either in solitude, or with 

 companions uncongenial to it. I alwa3's feel loth to tear 

 the little Fern from the rock it so prettily adorns ; there 

 is something sad in the look of the bare uncomplaining 

 stone when the companion that gave it all its beauty and 

 its hfe is gone. 



I was once walking in the country with one who 

 spared himself but little recreation from a life of toil in 

 London — not Literary toil only, for the gamins of the 

 London streets were gathered into schools and taught 

 by him. It was spring time, and the lanes were sweet 

 with the breath of flowers, By-and-by I spied a Prim- 

 rose root, and as I was about gathering the flowers my 

 No. 19!.— Vol. Tin., New Series. 



friend said, " Nay, leave them alone, they look so home- 

 lilie ; they did not choose that quiet corner, and deck 

 it out so daintily for you to destroy their labours in a 

 moment. Let it live." Nature, to the toil-worn Lon- 

 don man, was a living, breathing Presence ; he drank 

 with a thirsty grateful heart at the fountain of her 

 beauty ; but he would fain have left the waters un- 

 disturbed for the enjoyment of others. Yet we, who 

 boast ourselves such lovers of Nature, are often at best 

 only destroyers. 



Lynton and Lynmouth abound in natural charms of a 

 wild and strange character. The "Valley of Eocks " 

 brings to mind a shadow-like memory of the pass of 

 Glencoe, although the " Chimney " and " Castle Eock," 

 " Eugged .lack " and the " Devil's Cheesewiing," never 

 rise into the solitary grandeur which leaves Glencoe un- 

 surpassed by any other scene in Britain. 



I was not very successful in my Fern hunts in North 

 Devon. I found a small plant of Adiantum capiUus- 

 Veneris at Combe Martin, and I saw some more, but it 

 was too high for me to reach. The little bay is worth a 

 visit on its own account. And as I sat to rest on a rock 

 above the sea the voices of children, playing with the 

 boats and lobster baskets below, came round me like 

 music, tempting me to descend and survey nearer a 

 picture superior to any in even CoUins's happiest style. 



A stranger was then a stranger at Combe Martin, 

 and the bright-cheeked urchins left their play, and came 

 running bare-legged out of the water to gaze. " Did I 

 want Ferns ? " Presently the happy group were tumbling 

 up the rock I had looked at with such timid eyes ; but 

 children's hands are destructive implements, and fronds 

 without roots were the only result of the scramble. 



I made another attempt to reach A. capiUus-Veneris 

 at Ilfracombe, taking with me a lad who seemed ready 

 to climb the side of a house if necessaiy ; but all the 

 available tresses of Maiden-hair had been shorn away, 

 and I returned with only a tinful of sea creatures to 

 reward me for my pains. 



It seems cruelty so entirely to destroy the habitat of 

 any Fern : yet, if the present rage continue, I see no 

 hope of any known species being allowed to remain in 

 its old haunts. The poor Ferns, like the wolves in 

 olden time, have a price set upon their lieads, and they 

 in like manner will soon altogether disappear. We must 

 have" Fern laws," and "preserve " them like game. 



In the neighbourhood of Ilfracombe I found a few 

 Scolopendiiums with the ends of the fronds cleft, but 

 they were hardly worth bringing away. I also found 

 Polystiehum angulare growing in magnificent profusion; 

 P. aculeatum was comparatively rare. 



Between Launceston and Holsworthy I found the 

 only Lastrea Fcenisecii I have seeu wild in Devonshire ; 

 it was growing in an old hedge by the roadside, and the 

 fronds were small and iU-grown, wanting the rich fulness 

 of size and colour that distinguishes the L. Fcenisecii in 

 Cornwall. There is no mistaking this Fern when you 

 find it. It has the appearance of crisp curled Parsley, so 

 entirely "recurved " is each pinnule. 



No. 860.— Vol. XXXIII., Old Seuieb. 



