July 18, 1872. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



63 



and the whole house being well sunk in the ground, has very 

 much the appearance of a long frame. The door is at the 

 back of the house, on its southern aspect, so that the northern 

 side presents an uninterrupted surface of glass, through which 

 the light of heaven from a clear northern sky penetrates. The 

 southern side is chiefly made of boards, covered with tarred 

 asphalted felt, which is a bad conductor of heat and a great 

 protection against frost. In conformity with more extended 

 experience of the value of light to Ferns, I have placed some 

 glass on the southern side ; but trees have been planted in 

 front, so that in summer the leaves keep off the rays of the 

 burning sun. In winter, however, when the leaves have 

 dropped, abundance of light penetrates into the house through 

 their naked branches, to the great benefit of the plants. 



"A stream of water runs through the fernery, which is 

 dilated, at one place, into a pond, and though the house is a 

 mere roofing of glass supported on posts, it is universally 

 admired as a very beautiful place: Mr. Eobertson has very 



faithfully rendered it. The view of it is taken facing the west 

 — the instant the house is entered ; and the little bird in it is 

 one of the poor frozen birds caught during the snow and ice of 

 winter, which luxuriated and cleared the house of insects, but 

 which flew away to its native haunts as soon as it could find a 

 hole through which it could escape. 



" In this house I desired to grow Ferns from all parts of the 

 world, that they may be seen at a glance ; and thus I required 

 a house varying in temperature from the tropical to the tem- 

 perate climates. It requires much thought to obtain this 

 result in any given house, especially where currents of air and 

 draughts are objectionable. The result has been perfectly 

 obtained on the first design, by raising the floor at the warmer 

 end, by placing more rows of hot-water pipes in the part of the 

 house between the door and the end desired to be warmer, and 

 by preventing the currents of hot air traversing the length of 

 the roof by the interposition of screens of climbing plants. 

 The transition in winter from this lovely scene of Ferns and 



Interior of Mi-. Sraee's Fernery. 



flowers to the equally lovely scene outside of frost and snow 

 is enchanting. To obtain these effects they must be de- 

 signed ; and with me it is difficult to decide which is the more 

 enjoyable, to contrive the picture or to contemplate it when 

 made. 



" For the construction of the roof of the fernery, a deal 

 plank was split into three parts, each of which constituted a 



rafter, and on the edge a portion was cut away to receive the 

 glass. The rafters were not even planed, but had before 

 glazing three coats of anti-corrosion paint. I place great im- 

 portance on this thorough painting before glazing, as it is a 

 material aid to the adhesion of the putty. After glazing, two 

 more coats of paint were used, as it is inconvenient to repaint 

 a house full of plants." 



MB. AYRTON AND DR. HOOKER, 



It has seldom been our lot to peruse a more painful document, 

 or one of which the Government and the public have more 

 reason to be ashamed, than the confidential statement addressed 

 to the First Lord of the Treasury, and signed by eleven names 

 of unimpeachable authority, concerning " the treatment which 

 the eminent Director of the botanical establishment at Kew 

 has systematically received at the hands of Mr. Ayrton since 

 his appointment to the office of First Commissioner of Works." 

 Sir Charles Lyell, Mr. Charles Darwin, Sir James Paget, Pro- 

 fessors Huxley and Tyndall, Mr. William Spottiswoode, and 

 the Presidents of the Eoyal Institution, the Eoyal College of 

 Physicians, the Eoyal College of Surgeons, the Eoyal Geogra- 

 phical Society, and the Linnean Society, respectfully invite the 

 Prime Minister " to decide whether Kew Gardens are, or are 

 not, to lose the supervision of a man of whose scientific labours 

 any nation might be proud, and whose natural capacity for the 

 post he occupies has been developed by a culture unexampled 

 in variety and extent ; a man honoured for his integrity, beloved 



for his courtesy and kindliness of heart ; and who has spent in 

 the public service not only a stainless, but an illustrious life." 

 The resignation of Dr. Hooker is, in fact, the "calamity to 

 English science " and the " scandal to the English Govern- 

 ment " which Mr. Gladstone is solicited to avert ; and we regret 

 to find that it is after eight months of unavailing efforts and re- 

 monstrances that the signatories of this appeal, to the head of 

 the Government have felt compelled to make it public. Among 

 the 600,000 visitors to Kew Gardens during the last twelve- 

 month, or the 37,795 who entered and quitted the Gardens last 

 Whit Monday, "without a single case of drunkenness, or of theft, 

 or mischief of any kind being reported," there must be many 

 who feel personally indebted to the illustrious Director of that 

 noble national establishment without knowing precisely how, 

 and in what manner and degree, they have entered into the 

 enjoyment of his devoted labours, and reaped the harvest of his 

 hereditary genius and self-denial. Among that number there 

 perhaps may be some of the electors of the Tower Hamlets, who 



