320 



JOUENAL OP HOETICULTUKB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ October 26, 1871. 



letnlina. Boletus Intens, elegans, flavna, laricinng, grannlatns 

 cliryBenteroii, Inridus, scaber, versipellis, and badius. Polyporni 

 pereniiis, sqnamosns. qnercinus, Incidus. betalinns, fomentarins, cuti 

 cularis, versicolor, and igniarins- Trataetes snaveoleus. Dfedalia qner^ 

 cina. Craterelins cornucopioides. Calocera cornea. Clavaria for^ 

 mosa, cristata, stricta, fumosa, and rngosa. Lycoperdon gigantenm 

 coelatnm, saccatum, gemmatnm, and pyriforme. Scleroderma vnl^are 

 Cyathus striatns. Crncibnlnm vulgare. Helvella crispa. Leotia 

 Inbrica. Spatbnlaria tiavida. Thelephora la^iniata. Peziza anrantia 

 Xylaria Hyposylon, Mernlins tremellosns, and Helotinm virgnltornm 

 Many others -were also shown on the tables, which time did not admit 

 of being properly named by the mycological authorities who were 

 present. 



OUR LARGEST AND FINEST SEPTEMBER 

 PEAR. 



I HAVE to-day (Sept. 25th) eaten one of the nnest Pears of the 

 month. It is large, and in colour much like the Brocliworth 

 Park. One figure in 

 the "Dictionnaire de 

 Pomologie" is like that 

 given of this sort in the 

 " Year-Book ;" another 

 in the same book dif- 

 fers from it widely. The 

 French and Englisli 

 descriptions of it do 

 not vary much. The 

 former is " Peau jaune- 

 citron, ponetnee, striS 

 de rous, largemeni 

 marbiee et tachee de 

 meme vers I'ceil et le 

 pfidoncule ; " the latter 

 — " Skin smooth, pale 

 yellow, slightly flushed 

 and streaked with crim- 

 son on the esposed 

 side." 



In France this sort 

 ripens in August, here 

 in September, and this 

 year late. The habit 

 of the tree is robust, 

 much like Williams's 

 Bon ChiL-tien, of which 

 I should think it a 

 seedling, and it is mar- 

 vellously fertile. There 

 is none of the Wil- 

 liams's musk in its fla- 

 vour, but a rich, plea- 

 sant, vinous, sugary 

 taste. It seems as if 

 this Pear is a twin of 

 the Brockworth Park 

 Pear, and if so, a very 

 worthy sister or bro- 

 ther. 



The Beurre de I'As- 

 somption was raised 

 at Nantes, and was in- 

 troduced with another 

 very large Pear raised 

 at Lyons, called Sou- 

 venir du Congres. This 

 has much the habit of Benrre de r 



the former, and seems 



to be also a descendant of Williams's Bon Chretien, but it has 

 hitherto proved coarse ; it is, however, larger than Willianis's, 

 more robust in habit, and if it bear well it will prove a valu- 

 able market Pear. — T. E. 



DESTROYING PHALLUS IMPUDICUS. 

 Some of your readers may be glad to learn that we have 

 succeeded at this place in gradually extirpating the miserably 

 stinking Fungus (Phallus impudicus), with which we were a 

 few years since much infested, by a steady perseverance in the 

 following operation — viz., we dug up every Fungus as soon as 

 i appeared, committing it to the fire, and spread over the place 



where it grew a handful of common salt. By the careful ad- 

 herence to this mode of operation, in a copse of about a quarter 

 of an acre the number of Fungi was reduced to one in the year 

 1869, to in 1870, and to one in 1871.— C. W. Johnson, Waldron- 

 hyrst, Croydon. 



FILMY FERNS. 



What are they ? is a question not unfrequently put to us by 

 correspondents and others. We purpose to-day furnishing a. 

 few particulars regarding their haunts and habits. 



Fir8t, then, as to the name Filmy Ferns ; it has been given 

 to this most interesting division of the tribe by reason of the 

 cobweb-like texture and transparency of the fronds of many of 

 the species. In some this filmy, diaphanous character is 30 

 marked that the smallest print may be read through their 

 fronds. This transparency is strikingly and pleasingly iUuE- 

 trated in that loveliest of Ferns, the New Zealand Todes 

 superbs, by quickly placing an envelope, or other piece of white 



paper, at the back of a 

 frond, when the latter 

 appears as though illu- 

 minated by a flash of 

 light. Though the vast 

 majority of species are 

 to be found only in 

 the lofty ranges of dis- 

 tant Chili and New 

 Zealand, it is not ne- 

 cessary to travel out- 

 side our own country 

 for examples of these 

 delicate Ferns. In 

 what is called, par ex- 

 cellence, the Irish or 

 Killarney Fern, Tri- 

 chomanes radicans, 

 and the tiny Hjme- 

 nophyllums, H. tnn- 

 bridgense and H. Wil- 

 soni, we have excellent' 

 illustrations of the two- 

 genera which take in. 

 nearly all the known- 

 species of Filmy Ferns. 

 Now for a few worde 

 with regard to the 

 haunts which they 

 afiect, and the condi- 

 tions under which they 

 are found growing. 



The shady forest an3 

 the damp ravine in, 

 mountainous districts,, 

 where air and soil are 

 saturated with mois- 

 ture, are where the 

 Filmy Fern grows and 

 revels in luxuriance • 

 consequently, in cul- 

 tivation, a humid at- 

 mosphere is an essen- 

 tial element to their 

 well-doing. They rather 

 affect cold and tempe- 

 rate climes ; and except, 

 in the case of a few 

 West Indian species, 

 artificial heat in their 

 cultivation is not only not required, but must be sedulously- 

 avoided. Even natural atmospheric heat must be subdued 

 by attention to aspect and other means of modification. Many 

 of the species will bear with impunity the closest hug of 

 the ice, but not one of them the slightest touch of the sun- 

 beam ; let it but play directly upon these delicate subjects,, 

 and they shrink from its influence, shrive), and die. This, 

 however, does not imply absolute darkness ; too deep shade,, 

 even, suits only a few. They like light, but light subdued. 

 The habit of moat of them is to extend their creeping rhizomes 

 over the rock or other surface to which they are attached. In 

 growing species of this habit, care must be taken not to cover 

 the delicate rhizomes with soil. The soil best suited to theni 



'Assomption. 



