THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



The Culture of Ferns. 



Those who delight in growing 

 Ferns, whether for exhibition of 

 otherwise, usuaUy make for that 

 exhibit, writes The Gardening 

 World Sometimes we look on 

 m wonder when we see Maidenhair 

 l-erus in iSm. pots, with fronds 

 from IS to 24 inches long, and say 

 to ourselves, - How on earth do 

 they grow such plants ? " and do 

 home ^v■lth the firm mtention of at 

 least having a try. To those who 

 iave that intention, the following 

 hints may be of interest ;— 



In spring, just before the young 

 fronds make their appearance, se- 

 lect the plants you wish to grow 

 on. Next cut away all the old 

 ironds m readmess for potting. 



Compost can be made up of six 

 parts good yellow turfy loam, two 

 parts peat, and one part coarse 

 saver sand. 



Th s should be well mixed, and 

 in a nice friable condition, neither 

 too wet nor too dry. When pot- 

 tmg, procure a clean pot, at least 

 two sizes larger than that which 

 the plant has lately occupied The 

 inside of the pot should then be 

 smeared with a thin layer of 

 moist cow manure. This can be 

 done with the back of an ordinary 

 garden trowel. I as a rule use 

 my hand. Then place a large 

 crock over the drainage hole, next 

 some broken charcoal, then apiece 

 of rrough compost, and over all a 

 sprinkling of soot. The amount 

 of drainage should depend on the 

 size of the pot used. On no ac- 

 count must the soil be rammed 

 hard with the potting stick • 

 moderately firm is better for the 

 purpose, lea\ing sufTicient space 

 between the soil and the rim of 

 the pot to allow for watering. 



With regard to watering, the 

 plants should be examined in the 

 growing season at least once a 

 day, twice is better. Never let 

 the soil become sodden or too dry. 

 Water should never be given over- 

 head, but just above the rim of 

 the pot ; avoid giving cold tap 



January, l9]4 



V, ^"""^^ ^"PPl^' water 



should always be kept in the house 

 m which the plants are growing, 

 and that, preferably, rain waten 

 Shade the plants before the sun 

 ^^ams power, s3-ringe in the morn- 

 ing when the young fronds are 

 opening, and, when the first fronds 

 are about a month old, cease sy- 

 ringing and give weak soot water 

 about once a week. The plants 

 mav be raised from the staging 

 by placmg two pices of wood at 

 either side ol the drainage hole 

 beneath the pot. Brown ar with- 

 ered fronds should be cut away as 

 tbev appear. Ne^•er dry the plants 

 ott, but give water when required 

 Potting may be practised about 

 the same time every year, till they 

 attain the standard for exhibiting 

 I worked my plants on from 48'! 

 and with the above culture tbey 

 are now m i8in. pots, with fronds 

 2lt. long. 



with soil so that the stem roots 

 may be covered and have ample 

 material from which to obtain 

 suppo'-t. Some Lilies even pro- 

 duce small bulbs in the same re- 

 gion as these stem roots. 



A suitable compost consists of 

 equal portions of fibrous loam and - 

 peat with plenty of sand 'to keep 

 It open. A little well decayed and 

 finely broken cow manure may be 

 used m the compost for top-dress- 

 ing purposes, but no manure what- 

 ever should come in contact with 

 the bulbs. When the plants are in 

 full growth weak 1 quid manure 

 may of course be employed It is 

 easv% however, to overdo bulbs by 

 overfeeding them. ^ 



The Beauty and Value of 

 Annuals. 



Potting Lilies. 



The primary operation is of 

 course, to put ample drainag^ in 

 the bottom of the pot, placing 

 either fibre, leaves, or the rougher 

 portions of the compost over the 

 crocks to keep the soil from wash- 

 ing down. A Httle of the potting 

 compost should be placed on this 

 and the bulb placed in position so 

 that when the pot is filled the top 

 of the bulb will be at least i in 

 below the surface of the soil. 



Two methods are pursued, name- 

 iy, to pot the bulbs singly or 

 three together in pots of a suit- 

 able size. When a larger number 

 are employed large pots may be 

 used at the beginning, and the ini- 

 tial preparations performed as 

 abovie. Then soil is filled around 

 and over the top of the bulbs mak- 

 ing It rather fiirm. These big pots 

 are left partly filled at the time 

 of potting, but they are afterwards 

 filled up or top-dressed, when a 

 rather richer potting compost may 



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Some lilies make roots from the 

 underside of the bulb and also 

 base of the flower stem immediate- 

 ly above the bulbs. This is the 

 object of having the bulbs entirely 

 covered with soil. The roots from 

 the base of the stems are neces- 

 sary lor the support of .stean leaves 

 and flowers. Only some species of 

 Mlv produce these roots from the 

 lower stem. It will also be noted 

 that this IS also the reason for 

 afterwards fiUing up large pots 



Only an annual ! Again atid 

 again the expression is used, and 

 It makes us doubt whether the 

 debt of gratitude we owe to this 

 fine class of flowering plants is re- 

 cognised as it should be. The mir- 

 acle of Iwrth and rapid growth, the 

 glory of form and colour, the mys- 

 tery of fruition wrapped up in the 

 small brown seed, these are all 

 discounted for many a one by an 

 undefined sense of rebellion against 

 the short tenure of their life To 

 grow them, we say, is hardly 

 worth whole. Perhaps, if we so 

 to the root of the matter, the se- 

 cret of our discontent is an un- 

 worthy one. It may be indolence, 

 a grudging of trouble which must 

 recur. Or it may have been failure 

 and then a lack of perseverance in 

 trying aga n to conquer a difficul- 

 ty. But how much colour and fra- 

 grance should we not miss if we 

 had only the slower growing plants, 

 to rely upon. And not colour 

 and sweetness onl}-, but what mar- 

 vellous diversity of form in flower 

 and leaf and outline. A garden 

 solehr of annuals, though it is sel- 

 dom met with, would be no moan 

 thing to look at and possess. 



Our attention is much directed 

 nowadays to the beauty and ar- 

 tistic effect of colour schemes in 

 garden arrangements. This can be 

 done, of course, to a certain ex- 

 tent by permament planting. But 

 there is no such thing, so to speak, 

 as permanence in Nature. Beauty 

 is for ever waxing— but it wanes 

 Our colour schemes would be fleet- 

 ing indeed if we could not supple- 

 ment and renew them with the 

 rich harmonies of quick-growing 



