9 6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 419. 



large Globe onion. It apparently does not produce leaves, 

 but, instead, green, abortive-panicled inflorescences. The 

 way these abortive panicles branch from the main stem is 

 remarkable, the axils being below the branches instead of 

 above, which gives the plant the appearance of growing 

 upside down. The branching also is very irregular. A 

 few inconspicuous flowers are produced at the extreme 

 upper end of the stem ; these are small, green, with white 

 stamens ; they produce seed, however, by which the plant 

 is propagated. A specimen is now flowering in the Botanic 

 Gardens of Smith College, and Mr. Canning writes that it 

 does best in a light nch soil, like all bulbous plants requir- 

 ing a season of absolute rest. At the first signs of growth 

 the bulb is turned out of the pot, all the old soil shaken off. 

 After being repotted it makes all its growth in about three 

 weeks. It then commences to flower and lasts in flower 

 about three months. As soon as the flowering period is 

 over the plant begins to show signs of maturity, when 

 water should gradually be withheld. A temperature of 

 fifty-five suits it well. 



Magnolia Kobus. — Of the Japanese Magnolias which 

 become large trees, perhaps the best for cultivation in our 

 north-eastern states is M. hypoleuca, which is still a rare 

 tree, although it was introduced into this country more than 

 thirty years ago by Mr. Thomas Hogg. This is one of the 

 species whose flowers appear after the leaves are spread, 

 and in form and habit it is somewhat akin to our native 

 M. tripetala. There is no doubt, however, that M. Kobus, 

 which also grows to a height of eighty feet in Japan, will 

 in time become one of the most striking ornaments of our 

 parks and pleasure-grounds. We have just been observing 

 a specimen some twelve years old, and after the severe 

 weather the smooth reddish bark of the branchlets looks 

 fresh and healthy and every bud is plump. There is no 

 doubt of the hardiness of the tree even in New England, and 

 it grows with as much rapidity and vigor as any other spe- 

 cies. It belongs to the section in which the flowers appear 

 before the leaves, being classed in this respect with the 

 well-known Chinese Yulan Magnolia and its various hybrids 

 and varieties. Its blossoms are pure white and fragrant, 

 and when fully expanded as much as five inches across. 

 Although this species was also among Mr. Hogg's intro- 

 duction, the tree is comparatively rare in American gar- 

 dens, and as it does not seem to flower freely when young 

 few persons have ever seen it in bloom. If, however, it 

 flowers as abundantly here as it does at home when it 

 arrives at full age it will present a magnificent spectacle in 

 early spring. The Magnolias, both native and Asiatic, are 

 celebrated, as a class, for their handsome flowers and large, 

 beautiful leaves, and our climate is especially suited for 

 their cultivation. M. Kobus, so far, seems as thrifty here 

 as in its native forests. It has been developed, however, 

 in a climate where moisture never fails, and long experi- 

 ence alone can prove whether its constitution can endure 

 the strain of a series of summer droughts such as some- 

 times occurs in this country. 



Cultural Department. 



Indoor Ferneries. 



\'\7'ARDIAN cases may afford ideal facilities for indoor Fern- 

 * * culture, nevertheless their size and expense are formida- 

 ble drawbacks to many devotees of the Ferns. One authority 

 claims to have an improvement on Mr. Ward's invention 

 which secures better ventilation by sliding panels, but the 

 principles are much the same in all cases — namely, an atmos- 

 phere free from soot, too much light, heat, moisture and 

 change. Another essential is good drainage ; much pleasure 

 and profit, however, may be developed with a bell-glass and 

 soup-plate. 



Three such glasses stand in a north window of my house ; a 

 ten-inch chestnut shelf, partially supported by light iron brack- 

 ets, having been inserted in place of the regular sill for this 

 purpose. The largest shade, a ten-inch glass, rests upon the 

 rim of a plate well on in its second century, which, apart from 

 its aesthetic value, has the intrinsic merit of possessing a 



broader rim than modern ware, thus affording desirable space 

 between the glass and the plants within. Broken crocks and 

 porous matter from coal-sittings fill the bowl of the plate and 

 make excellent drainage ; lear-mold or soil taken from the 

 native haunts of the Ferns is placed over this in the shape of 

 a mound. I am often asked how I keep the Ferns and Mosses 

 in place, and my reply is that hairpins are useful for many 

 purposes, and when the house supply of these falls short 

 deftly concealed toothpicks are passable makeshifts. 



Overcrowding is to be avoided ; only three varieties are 

 growing under the glass referred to. Of these Asplenium 

 ebeneum is most conspicuous because of the sentinel-like 

 precision of its narrow fertile fronds. It is a Fern of good 

 substance, rich color and gloss ; the barren fronds are prop- 

 erly subordinate, spreading themselves in loose rosettes after 

 the manner of its more dainty relative, A. Trichomanes. A 

 specimen or two of th e Walking-leaf, Cam ptosorusrhizophy II us, 

 add variety in shape of frond and shade of color, relieved by 

 gray lichens and red berries of the Wintergreen. 



From a branch of a rustic twig firmly inserted in the midst 

 of the pile there hangs a tiny basket, from which emanates a 

 graceful plant, spreading and filling the upper part of the glass 

 and showering pink petals on the mossy carpet below ; this 

 plant is none other than the common herb Robert, Geranium 

 Robertianum. 



The second glass is devoted chiefly to fine specimens of 

 Camptosorus rhizophyllus, Polypodium vulgare and Asplenium 

 Trichomanes ; unsuspected prothalliums have added an Aspi- 

 dium or two, which, with various mosses and stray wildlings, 

 are all confined by an eight-inch glass. Here the Walking-leaf 

 grows with the wildest luxuriance, nearly every frond rooting 

 at its apex, but, lacking proper environment, the rootlets are 

 held forlornly in the air, or else, as in a case recently observed, 

 they lodge themselves in a cluster of Wintergreen leaves and 

 skeletonize them in a short time, a parasitic performance 

 which I have never seen recorded of any Fern. 



A groove inside the scalloped edge ot a glass dish just fits 

 a six-inch bell-glass, and is the prettiest receptacle of the three. 

 Saving a frieze of moss and a few berries, Asplenium Tricho- 

 manes, the English Maidenhair, has entire sway ; a dainty and 

 bewitching little plant and historically interesting, as the 

 vaunted hair-restorer of earlier times, Parkinson, the cele- 

 brated apothecary of 1640, tells us that "it both stayeth the 

 shedding of the hair and causeth it to grow thicke." Gerard 

 is even more explicit : " The lye wherein it hath been sodden 

 or laid to infuse is good to wash the heads, causing thescurffe 

 to fall off and hair to grow in places that are peld and bare." 



Change of air is as necessary to plant-life as to animal-life. 

 The shades should be removed for a few minutes every day, 

 and to insure a constant supply of air and prevent damping off 

 a match or two can be sometimes inserted under the glasses. 

 A gentle shower-bath of tepid water should be given once in 

 ten days, after which the plate may be tipped to allow "surplus 

 water to drain off ; this is essential, for a water-logged condi- 

 tion is disastrous. In spite of extreme vigilance, with every 

 supply of tresh moss comes an invoice of pests. Worms and 

 snails breed with such rapidity to prey upon tender fronds and 

 the pulp of berries that constant watchfulness must be exer- 

 cised againt these marauders. 



The growth and longevity of Wintergreen berries under 

 glass is remarkable. Rooted and fruited specimens, put in 

 late in the fall, not only send up young shoots in March, but 

 hold their fruit in good condition for months. A cluster of 

 nine large berries which had been fourteen months under 

 glass was destroyed by tiny mollusks — dwellers in pointed 

 shells about a quarter of an inch long. After this I observed 

 that a fluted specimen of brown Thallophyte was an excellent 

 trap — possibly a breeding-ground — for the glistening shells 

 were easily seen and destroyed on it. The addition of a tuft 

 of exquisite moss brought disaster to a cluster of three per- 

 fect berries and broke their record of seventeen months. A 

 novel spectacle was then before my eyes : the gable-end of the 

 residence of a full-grown mollusk was protruding from the 

 biggest berry of all, while at the foot of the plant were two 

 more of its kind. Truly, life underglass furnishes amplefood 

 for thoughts not strictly horticultural. 



Vermont. <-r- A. WooIsOll. 



Cephalotus follicularis. 



WHERE a collection of cool greenhouse insectivorous 

 plants are grown this little species can be successfullv 

 cultivated without much extra care. In European collections 

 it is usually seen growing under bell-glasses in the full sun. 

 Conditions such as these do not suit its requirements here 

 when the sun gets powerful, unless continual attention be 



