VOL. LV.— No. 33O54. 



SATCEDAY, MAY 11, 1912. 



THE 



GARDENERS 



MAGAZINE 



NOTE OF THE WEEK. 



some catastrophe, since otbeiAvise the 

 world would be overrun with ferns, ^nd 

 ferns alone. This tiny speck, if it sur- 

 viA'es to do so, is capable of expanding 

 into a larger growth, little larger, how- 

 ever, than a herring scale, and this in 

 time will bear upon its under side the 

 equivalents of flowers and seed, and 

 through these will reproduce the parental 

 form. Minuteness, however, still ]>revails, 

 the fern fronds are, perhaps, I)ut half an 



sates for this waste. The number of spores 

 produced liy a large t ice fern absnlutply 

 defies compulation. On smaller tVrns. 

 such as a Lady fern, the annual <roj) has 

 been rclial)Iy compute<l as over a thousand 

 millions upon one plant, and anyone win) 



has had the opportunity <>i <\\ain lung 



backs of the fronds of a tree fern with an 



immense crown of a si'-dvv or more of 

 tronds, ten to twelve feet long, and some 

 feet wide, and has found the backs to l>e 



The Fern Spore. 



When we consider the wonderful diver- 

 sity of form, and especially of size, ex- 

 hibited by the existing ferns of the world, 

 ranging as they do from minute grass-like 

 tufts to noble groMth.s, scores of feet in 

 height, liorne on ^substantial trunks and inch high, the next an inch, and so on (-omplch'ly covired with tiny spore heaps, 

 crowned by wide-s])reading plumes which in slow^ progression, so that, as a rule, a each lieap repi es«'nting, say, forty or fifty 



capsules, each containing as 

 many spores, will speedily 



the hopelCvHsness 

 of forming any definite idea 

 of the multitude of spores 

 which must be present. 

 From a single such heap, 

 carefidly sown in sterilised 

 soil 



rival the l)oldest palms with 

 their spreading verdure, it 

 is curious to consider that 

 one and all can be engen- 

 dered from a spore of ^su:'h 

 minute dimensions as to be 

 individuallv all but in- 

 visible to the unaided eve. 

 In Howering ]:)lants we find 

 great diversity in the size of 

 the seed, lang'ng from very 

 tiny seeds to huge speci- 

 i-:ens as large or larger 

 than a man's head, such as 

 we see in the immense nut 

 of the Sevchelles cocoa 

 palm, but in the fern tribe 

 the spoi-e is always minute, 

 and its size is quite inde- 

 pendent of that of the 

 parent fern, the spore, for 

 instance, of our compara- 

 tively small PoWpodium 

 vulgare being several times 

 large as that of an Also- 

 phila Canthia Dicksonia, 

 or other tree or trunk- 

 forming fern capable of as- 



recognise 



snmuig 



dimen- 



miposnig 

 sions. Naturally, however, 

 this difference in size be- 



tWiH'Il. 



sav 



the 



huge 



'■^^^■oa nuts and the minute 

 ^^-rn spnre. involves a great 

 '';'»i^l'*'ap to the latter in 

 niitiul stages of exis- 

 ^^n;e The nut, in addition to the fer- 

 tilised germ it contains, holds also such an 

 nnmense storo of nourishment within its 

 aaamantme shell, that its first product is 

 J vigorous root, and thi.s is followed by a 

 ^"ge pinnate primary leaf some feet in 

 ^ngth and expanse ; in fact, a very robust 

 P =*Ht. <.a]nil>le of holding its own from the 



oi > 'i^^^^'^ the spore, hoAvever, it is 

 4Uite otherwise. Its first growth is all but 

 microscopic as itself, the eye can only 

 at tT^^ ^ nimute green speck, which is 

 \l ""^^''"^y of every shower or other dis- 

 ^''■'^^"g or destroy;ng factor, and ob- 



nuUion^ ^ million, or rather many 



A»oiis^ ol cases 



can 



MR. (i. ( ASKLTON. 



robust, thoroughly established plant of full 

 size, even minus a trunk, which is a growth 

 of many years, requires a year or two 

 at least for its development, usually 

 several. During this period^ it has, of 



many scores of plants 

 be readily raised, a 

 proof that, despite their 

 n u m bers a nd p rof usen ess , 

 every spore is gifted with 

 reproductive powers, and 

 contains that precious nu- 

 cleus ensh rined within its 

 tiny embryo cell, which, 

 given the chance^ can repro- 

 duce the parental form with 

 all its character and pecu- 

 liarities coinplete. We have 

 used the word "waste" in 

 this connection, but there is 

 no true waste in Nature, for 

 the vast majority of spores, 

 to be devoid of perfection 

 as regards the reproductive 

 power, would be waste in- 

 deed, since when they fell 

 on fertile ground, a chance 

 would be lost, which now is 

 eagerly sc'/^hI upim, how- 

 ever vain m its ultimate re- 

 sult, owing to external 

 handicaps. When we con- 

 sider, too, that some of our 

 finest coal consists mainly of the spores 

 and spore cases shed from the fern« and 

 fern allies of the carboniferous age, we ob- 



viously must in . 



with all the other vegetation which inv ades 

 its habitat, so that even when the risks of 

 the first infantine stage are survived, it 

 is by no means assured of reaching the 

 full specific size. Under natural condi- 

 tions, millions, as we have said, come to 

 grief for every one which survives, and 

 this leads us to the question of the fer- 



aMUi to aerial circulation 



tain another glimj^se of the non-existence 

 of " waste in Nature, as we warm our- 

 course, to carry on the struggle for exis- selves in the genial glow of their combus- 

 tence in competition with its fellow^s and tion, and by that combustion restore once 



the carbonic 



^.^^^ ^ ^ ^ locked up and 



banked, as it were, for our benefit, and is 

 now available for a fresh lease of vegeta- 

 tive life. 



Mr. G. Ca.selton has for so long a 



period occupied a prominent position 



the horticulturists whose activities 



to one, fall a prey to tility in si>ore production which compeu- among 



