Febnmry, 1914 



396 



Fern Tassels. 



One of the mori.' pciuliar chkrac- 

 tcristics of the great Fcnii family 

 is that so many of its members 

 have developed a faculty of pro- 

 ducing tassels at the tips of their 

 Ironds and side di\isions. This 

 faculty appears to be entirely 

 conlinecl to Ferns with one doubt- 

 ful exception in Asparagus plumo- 

 sus which have leaves of an ex- 

 tremely Fern-like character, and in 

 one variety these terminate in fas- 

 ciated bunches similar to Fern 

 tassels. Fern tassels, however, 

 cannot be regarded as forms of 

 fasciation as they originate in a 

 different way. Thus if we com- 

 pare the Cockscomb Celosias with 

 a tasselled Fern frond we can see 

 that the fasciation begins really 

 at the base, the stalk being really 

 a number of associated stalks, 

 w-hich, as each expands by grow- 

 ing, eventuall}- form a huge mass, 

 tlie stalk of the tasselled Fern on 

 the other hand will be perfectly 

 simple and normal until the base 

 of the tassel is reached when it 

 branches into many and eventual- 

 ly as a rule forms as many inde- 

 pendent strands, these rarely ad- 

 hering together as in the Cocks- 

 comb, the only exceptions occur- 

 ring in the Hart's-tongne or other 

 undivided species. 



— Origin. — 



It does not appear justifiable to 

 attribute cresting to reversion to 

 earlier forms especially as, al- 

 though a large number of fossil 

 Ferns have been found in coal and 

 other formation, no tasselled ex- 

 ample has been discovered. The 

 tasselling varies very much in de- 

 gree ranging from a mere forking 

 of the frond tip ' or side divisions to^ 

 dense bunches of filaments or long 

 pendulous tassels of many strands, 

 these dividing again and again or 

 remaining single aiccording to the 

 variety. It originates a§ we have 

 said in a multiplication of the 

 midribs, and as a rule a frond 

 bearing a heavy tassel at its tip 

 will have its side divisions tas- 

 selled in proportion. 



— Method of Growth. — 



The divisions of a Fern frond 

 are indeed generally smaller re- 

 l)licas of the frond itself and any 

 decided character is reproduced an 

 a smaller ecale ; thus in some 

 thorough bred tasselled fronds we 

 find the tasselling to extend even 

 to the smaller siib-'divisions to the 

 fourth degree. The curiods part 

 about such extreme varieties is 



this. Fern fronds are entirely de- 

 velolK-d by growth at their points. 

 The Irond begins as a tiny knob 

 with a roUed-in point, this rises 

 on a sustaining stalk and de\ elops 

 into a rolled up bail, inside which 

 •growth proceeds by extension ot 

 more and more growing tips which 

 eventually uncoil and flatten out 

 to form the frond which normally 

 has its tips finished off with a 

 point. In these extremely tas- 

 selled forms, therefore, we must 

 concei\'e that at a given stage all 

 the growing tips multiply them- 

 selves with the result that when 

 the uncoiling occurs we see each 

 division emerge with a little tassel 

 complete, y formed, this eventually 

 assuming full size by mere expan- 

 sion. 



— Variation. — 



Nature, however, delights in 

 varying her methods, and in some 

 cases we see tasselled Fern fronds 

 iincoil which merely woolly look- 

 ing tius which subsequently divide 

 and re-divide, continuing this pro- 

 cess right through the growing 

 season or even in evergreen Ferns, 

 into the ;next, great bunches of 

 thready tassels be ng thus creat- 

 ed. Some forms of Pteris serru- 

 lata, the comm.on tasselled Pern, 

 act in this way, and the size of 

 the tassels depends entirely upon 

 vig-our of growth. It is a remark- 

 able fact that despite the great 

 extra drain which the formation 

 of heavy tassels must impose upon 

 a Fern, the production of .spores is 

 rarely, if ever, reduced. In 

 many cases indeed it is increased, 

 the tassels themselves being pro- 

 vided with spore heaps. 



— Fertility. — 



Plumose or extra feathery Ferns 

 on the other hand are invariably 

 less fertile in propoTtion to sheir 

 leafiness. The multiplication of 

 the midribs which leads to the 

 form.ation of terminal tassels 

 sometimes commences below the 

 leafy partion of the fronds, thus 

 multiplying the fronds thetoselves, 

 each branch bearing a frond, and 

 this as a rule branches and branch- 

 es ag'ain. This carried to an ex- 

 treme does away entirely with the 

 frond proper, and may so alter 

 the aspect of a species as to render 

 it difficult to determine it. Thus, 

 for instance, we have a Hart's- 

 tongue, which resembles exactly a 

 ball oi fine moss, and a lady Fern, 

 which in a plant of same size, 

 extremely resembles the Hart's- 

 tongne, though in their normal 

 forms nothing could be more dissi- 

 milar. In neither case is there a 

 trace of the normal flat frond. 



Between these extremis and a 

 simple forking of the frond tip 

 tlurc arc all grades of division, 

 and since tlu>se vary on other 

 lines, some forming flat-fan like 

 tassels, some dense bunchy ones, 

 others long i)endulous ones, and so 

 on, while other abnormal char- 

 acters are allied with these to 

 diversify them in other way.s, we 

 need not wonder that distinct 

 tasselled forms are numbered by 

 the hundred. — " The Gardening 

 World." 



♦ 



Roses. 



It will be readily understood 

 that if a plant is called upon to 

 give a succession of blooms over 

 a lengthy period it must be loving- 

 ly tended and liberally treated. 

 Deep cultivation of the soil is one 

 of the first and most important 

 requirements. If the roots cannot 

 find a cool and moist run during 

 the drought and heat of summer 

 they cannot sustain the strain of 

 continuous flowering, therefore dig 

 deeply and incorporate plenty of 

 rich farmyard manure with the 

 bottom spit. A little artificial in 

 the shape of quarter-inch bones or 

 bone-meal is also a great help. 



Another important point to be 

 observed is to remove all spent 

 biooms as speedily as possible, 

 and in cutting them to take a fair 

 leng-th of the flowering stem, but 

 at the same time taking care not 

 to cut low enough to start the 

 basal buds into growth. These 

 lower buds are those from which 

 the shoots for next year will em- 

 anate, and it is most desirable to 

 have the early-formed and well- 

 ripened wood, to prune back to 

 than that grown later in the year, 

 hence the need for exercising judg- 

 ment and care in cutting the 

 blooms. Constant stirring of the 

 surface of the Rose bed is also an 

 immense aid to healthy and \T.gor- 

 ous growth. It not only aerates 

 the soil, but prevents evaporation, 

 and thus conserves the moisture, 

 a most desirable thing, especially 

 in a hot, dry sum'mer. It is also 

 ad\T.sable to give a liberal top- 

 dressing of well-decayed farmyard 

 manure. This may be lightly 

 forked in, taking care not to dis- 

 turb the roots when so doing. 

 When time cannot be spared for 

 almost daily hoeing between the 

 plants, the manure may remain on 

 the surface all the summer, making 

 an effectual mulch and supplying 

 nourishment to the roots after 

 each shower of rain. This may be 

 supplemented with applications of 



