3 



but 12 inches is recommended. Every ninth row may be omitted to form a pathway, The seeds are 

 sown thinly, and lightly covered by raking. About 8lbs. of seed may be used to the acre. 



Cultivating. — Deep hoeing is not advisable, as the ground must be kept solid, but when the lines 

 of young seedlings first make their appearance, a hand cultivator may be applied between the rows. 

 Weeding and thinning should be done by hand. The distance between the Onions in the rows is from 

 4 to 6 inches. When the thinning and weeding is done, the surface should be thoroughly broken up 

 by using a wooden rake across the rows. 



Harvesting takes place in the Canary Islands during April and May. When the bulbs have 

 attained their full size, the leaves are bent' down at the neck of the bulb by the back of a wooden rake. 

 This checks the flow of the sap, and causes the leaves to decay, and the bulbs to ripen more quickly. 

 When the leaves wither, the Onions are taken up, and left lying for 3 or 4 days to dry in the sun with 

 occasional turning over ; they are then strung into ropes for sale. 



FERNS : INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 



On the terms used in describing Ferns. 



Ferns are flowerless plants, bearing leaves (fronds), which before expansion are spirally coiled 

 inward (circinate) and produce the fructification on the under surface or on the edges. 



The fructification consists of microscopic seed-like bodies (spores), which are contained in great 

 numbers in the spore-cases (sporangia). 



The spore-cases are grouped in dots, lines, or masses ; the groups are known as sori, and are 

 sometimes provided with a special covering (involucre), and borne on a special receptacle. 



The leaf is simple, when it consists of one piece, however much it may be cut. It is compound, 

 when the cuts extend to the leaf-stalk, so that there are two or more separate pieces or leaflets (pinna-). 

 The leaf- stalk between the pinnae is called the rachis. When the pinnae are simple, and arranged along 

 both sides of the rachis, the leaf is pinnate. 



The leaf is said to be twice-pinnately-divided, wh§n the leaflets (pinna 1 ) are themselves composed 

 of secondary leaflets (pinnules ), and thrice-pinnately- divided, when the secondary leaflets are com- 

 pound. When there is further division, or when the degree of division is variable, the leaf is said to 

 be decompound. 



Similarly, a simple leaf may be twice or thrice-pinnately-^ar^erf ; the divisions being distinguished 

 from pinnae as segments. 



The spores are sometimes only borne on special leaves, which are called the fertile leaves, the 

 others being barren. 



The spore-cases are provided generally with a ring, which passes round them in various definite 

 directions, vertically, horizontally, obliquely, or is placed like a crown at one end. 



FERNS : SYNOPTICAL LIST. 



Synoptical List, with description, of the Ferns and Fern-allies of Jamaica, by G. S. Jenman, Superin- 

 tendent of the Botanic Gardens, Demerara.* 



Spores of one kind— Microspores. 

 Order I. Filices — (numerous genera). 

 Order II. Equisetaceae. Equisetum. 

 Order III. Lycopodiaceae. Lycopodium. 



Selaginella. 



Psilotum. 



Order I. Filices, Fern Family. 

 Fronds circinate (i. e., coiled like a watch-spring) in early growth, rarely straight ; spore-cases of 

 one kind, with or without a jointed ring, variously grouped on the back or edges of normal or con- 

 tracted fronds. 



Sub-Order I. Polypodiaceae. Fronds circinate ; spore-cases free, with a complete, incomplete or 

 rudimentary, medial, oblique, or coronal, jointed ring. 



Series I. Involucratae. — Sori subtended by involucres, except in Alsophila and Notholaena. 

 * A. Spore-cases orbicular or pear-shaped without stalks or only shortly stalked, ring medial, 

 incomplete, vertical or obliquely vertical. 



I. Spore-cases orbicular, without stalks, ring obliquely vertical. 

 Tribe I. Hymenophylleae (Filmy- Ferns'). Sori globose or columnar, on hair-like protruded mar- 

 ginal receptacles, and enclosed in valvate or urn-shaped involucres. 



Genus I. Hymenophyllum. 

 Involucres bi-valved (like pairs of oyster shells). 

 a. Margins of fronds, and lips of the involucres spiny-toothed. 



1. H. Tunbridgense, Smith. 



2. H.fucoides, Sw. 



3. H. Houstonii, Jenm. 



* I have not given localities, except of rare or uncommon species. The altitudinal range is supplied from my own, 

 observation (chiefly in the eastern parishes, but extending also through the central parishes of St. Elizabeth) whilo 

 residing in Jamaica during the six years, 1873-9. The descriptions and remarks have been made as short as seemed 

 consistent with not sacrificing the object in view, viz., the identification of the species. References to works where tho 

 plants are described or figured, synononiy (except in necessary instances), general geographical distribution, collectors, 

 and much else of interest I have omitted, to keep the matter within the limits necessary to the means of publication* 



G. S. J. 



AbbrevUUions : — ft. — foot; li. — line; (l-12th inch); w. — wide; br. — broad; 1. — long; alt. — altitude. 



