196 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



October, 1913 



The maidenhair fern is without 

 doubt the most popular, and cer- 

 tainly no group of ferns is com- 

 plete \\4thout it, but the Pteris 

 also is a lovely little fern, closelv 

 resembling the maidenhair, and al- 

 though of slow growth, it possess- 

 es a charm of its own, while the 

 Hare's Foot, Aspleiiiums, etc., 

 should not be passed ovet. Indeed, 

 the onl\- difllculty with a beginner 

 is which variety to select, but 

 when this obstacle is conquered, 

 the pleasure to be obtained from 

 the culture of these beautiful 

 plants is immeasurable. 



— Palms. — 



There are two kinds generally 

 grown, for housa decoration, viz., 

 Kentia forsteriana, K. belmore- 

 ana, characterised bv more numer- 

 ous leaflets and a rather dwarfer 

 habit. Intermi£diate forms, how- 

 ever, often crop up in a batch of 

 seedlings. Although thev are g>ene- 

 rallv grown and referred to under 

 the name of Kentias, these Palms 

 are bv botanists placed .in the 

 genus Howea. This name is de- 

 rived from the fact that they are 

 both natives of lyord Howe's Is- 

 land. 



Kentias are grown in compara- 

 tively small pots, and this is an 

 item in their culture in which the 

 amateur is very liable to err, for 



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the plant is often shifted into a 

 pot much too large, and it conse- 

 quently soon falls into ill-health 

 and ultimately dies. It is far bet- 

 ter in most cases to allow the 

 plant to rem.ain in the same pot, 

 and, if necessary, give it an occa- 

 sional stimulant in the shape of 

 a weak dose of sulphate of am- 

 monia. When thoroughly estab- 

 lished the stout roots are apt to 

 coil aroimd the bottom of the pot 

 and, by slightly liftinsr the ball of 

 earth, allow the water to escape 

 between it and the pot. The re- 

 .si'ilt will be a gradual starving of 

 the plant. A good way to water 

 the Palm is to stand it in a pail 

 of wate'r and allow it to remain 

 therein for haH-an-hour or there- 

 abouts. Then take it out and, let 

 it drain before placing it in the 

 saucer or other receptacle. On no 

 accoimt m.ust water be allowed to 

 stand in the saucer, as this causes 

 the soil to turn sour and sets up 

 decay of the roots. The plant 

 should always be shaded from the 

 direct ravs of the sun, and the 

 foliage must be occasionally 

 sponged. 



— The Show Rose. — 



Out of the many thousands who 

 grow roses for their own home 

 pleasure, there are comparatikely 

 few who take the trouble to make 

 themselves familiar with the quali- 

 ties which should be present in a 

 (lower before it is up to .show 

 form. Briefly stated, the points of 

 merit are :— (i) Form; (2) size; 

 (3) colour. The petals should be 

 of good s(ub<5tance, ^regularly dis- 

 po.sed within the circular symme- 

 trical outline, free from blemishes 

 and notched ediges, and the colour 

 should be clear and fresh. The 

 larger the bloom the better, pro- 

 vided the centre is full and of a 

 good shape, and all the other 

 qualities are equal. Most of the 

 hybrid perpetuals carry a fuller 

 body, with more of the camellia 

 type of of-itside petal formation. 

 As a rule they are rather more 

 .stiff. Form, and si/.e, and colour, 

 then, are the three es.sentials for 

 which the would-be prizetaker must 

 aim.'. 



— Chrysanthemums. — 



It is pres|'.iTned that the beds havel 

 been already heavily manured, 

 deeply dug, and otherwise brought 

 into a suitable state to receive 

 the plants. And where not al- 

 ready planted, they should be at 

 once set out in their '])ermanent 

 (juarters. For decorative purposes 

 they sh'Quld be planted , as Jt will be 



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necessary to prune out the points 

 of the leading growths several 

 tim.es during the season of growth 

 to produce a dwarf bush habit. 

 The single varieties stand in the 

 very first rank as artistic 'and last- 

 in? flowers for cutting ourposes, 

 and for this reason should not be 

 omitted fnom any collection grown 

 soleh- for decorative purposes. 



— E.oses. — 



Roses are now last a'^tiroaching 

 the flowerinof stage. At this stage 

 of development a good soaking of 

 liquid manure twice in each week 

 will be of material advantage, not 

 onl-^- in sustaininGT them during 

 the ordeal of flowering, but also 

 in stimulating them to produce 

 produce finer developed blooms 

 than is pos.sible without such as- 

 sistance. The careful cultivator 

 will in the case of roses, as well as 

 all other plants, di.scriminate be- 

 •tween a weak growing variety and 

 those of more robust constitrition. 

 The powers of as.similation of any 

 ))lant is iu.st in proportion to the 

 vig-our of the variety treated. Con- 

 sequently, in the anpHcation of 

 liquid stimulants, difBarent alterna- 

 tiions are necessary in treating a 

 collection which are of varied con- 

 stitution and degree of vigofir. 



— Daffodils. — 



Where raising seedling's is carried 

 , oh," a daily watch must be kept 

 for seeds ; in hot weather the seed 

 matures very quickly and a pod 

 which in the morning looks all 

 rifrht for a day or two mav with 

 a hot day burst before eveJiing, 

 and in that c«.se the seeds— possib- 

 ly the residt of careful thought and 

 work— will be all lost. Some people 

 follow the T'lan of cutting the pods 

 off With some three inches of stem 

 as so'nm as the pod turns t'rown 

 on ton and bet^ins to show signs 

 of sT^littiufr. The stem is then 

 pushed into earth in a pot of 



