US 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



Juke 15, 1912. 



BRITISH FERNS AT THE 



INTERNATIONAL. 



Although the schedule of the great show 

 at Chelsea embraced a number of competi- 

 tive classes for British fern varieties, so 

 far as the amateur was concerned the op- 

 portunity afforded was by no means as 

 favourable as it appeared, since the show 

 was held several weeks too soon in the sea- 

 son, and as the hardy species do not take 

 kindly to forcing, few of the splendid speci- 

 mens shown had finished their growth, and 

 none were so fully developed as to present 

 themselves at their absolute best. Some 

 speeies, indeed, Polypodium vulgare, for 

 instance, were not even schedviled, presum- 



ably for the reason given. 



Messrs. H. B. May and Sons devoted a 

 fair portion of their space to hardy ferns, 

 mainly British, embracing a number of the 

 best varieties, such as the plumose and tas- 

 selled lady fenis, the plumose polystichums, 

 including a \fin© specimen of P. 

 aculeatum graoillimum Drueryi, a large 

 number of the frilled and ciested hart's 

 tongues, Osmunda in variety, and, in short, 

 a fairly representative number of the best 

 forms in commerce. It was, however, left 

 to Mr. W. B. Cranfield, of East Lo^lge, Em- 

 field Chase, to exhibit as an amateur a 

 still choicer lot, embracing some unique 

 plants which have been rescue<l from the 

 collection of the late Mr. Moly, which Mr. 

 Cranfield acquire<:l a year or so ago. These, 

 though somewhat handicapped by lack of 

 time for perfect development, were, 

 though mainly lifted from the open, so far 

 advanced that only the eye of the expert, 

 acquainted with the types, could detect the 

 la<'k and recognise that a week or two 

 A\ould have greatly improved th«m. The 

 frilled or crispum hart's tongues, for in- 

 stance, had unrolled their fronds to verv 

 handsome effect, but had still to lengthen^ 

 widen, and deepen the fnlling considerably 

 to their great enhancement, and so with 

 other species. Despite this drawback, how- 

 ever, each class obtained a First-class award 

 and the connection certainly merited an 

 additional recognition as a whole. 



Amongst the more beautiful sp*^cimens 

 were to be seen finely-grown examples of 

 the elite of the superbum " section of 

 Athyrium filix foemina, viz., plumosum 

 Druery, percristatum, grandiceps, crispa- 

 tum, and, above all, as the original progeni- 

 tor of these exquisite forms, a division of 

 the original superbum itself, the parent of 

 all of them. Several large specimens of 

 the P. acideatum gracillimum (Druery) and 

 P. a. plumosum (Green), exemplified these 

 new additions to the British fern flora, 

 while some half-dozen of the finest frilled, 

 fringed, and crested hart's tongues, grandly 

 grown, and in fine shape, showed what this 

 wonderful species is capable of in skilful 

 hands. 



The only competitive group was that of 

 Lady Tate, which included several hardy 



exotics associated with .«ome well -grown 

 British varieties. Mr, Amos Perrv, of En_ 

 field, showed a good number of British 

 ferns, accompanied by an interesting an-d 

 instructive exhibit, showing the various 

 stages of development, from the tiny pro- 

 thallus through the full-grown one, to the 

 picked-out and potted-f)ff specimen plants 

 readv for the market. A collection was 



also shown by Messrs. Artindale and Soas, 

 Sheffield, covering a hundred square feet, 

 and embracing many very pretty varieties, 

 with, however, unfortunately, a number of 

 wrong names. 



Altogether, despite the drawback 

 tioned, the exhibition of 1912 will have 

 marked an immense advance over that of 



the more to be doubted as the furore which 

 they aroused in the fifties had subsided, 

 owing to the flooding of the market, and 

 the extinction of the popular taste by the 

 lack of discriminaion shown by the raisers 

 and exhibitors of those days, who, to judge 

 by extant catalogues, put a premium on the 

 " ugliest," and charged high prices accord- 

 ing to the defects they presented. 



C. T. Drttery, V.M.H.^ F.L.S. 



DAHLIA CULTIVATION. 



Many young dahlia plants are eaten by 

 slugs and the worst part of the damage 

 is done close to the surface of the ground. 

 If growers only fully realised what a 

 serious matter this partial, or complete, 

 gnawing of the bark is in its effects on 

 the aftergrowth of the plants, more care 

 would be taken t-o prevent the mischief. 

 When the weather is perfectly fine and 

 dry very little damage is done, as a rule, 

 but as soon as a damp or rainy day occurs, 

 the slugs assemble round the stems as if 

 by magic. The very best thing to do is to 

 remove the soil immediately round the base 

 of the stem, thus laying it bare, and then, 

 in the evening, go round and dash a hand- 

 ful of quicklime round the stem. Do not 

 be afraid of using the lime. I have fre- 

 quently used it quite hot. Anyone who 

 cares to note the after effects of slugs 

 can easily do so by examining the cankered 

 and unkindly condition of the stems in the 

 autumn. 



During June the plants make roots, and 

 get well established, if planted at the end 

 of May, and it is not till early July that 

 any great attention is needed, beyond an 

 occasional tie here and there. Old tubers, 

 however, may have thrown up a quantity 

 of growths, and these will need thinning 

 down to three or four, selecting the best, 

 and cutting off the weaker beneath the 

 soil. Early in July the plants require a 

 careful survey, and it must then be de- 

 cided as to whether they shall be stopped 

 to force them to branch out, or if already 

 throwing side shoots, these should be re- 

 duced to 



There is a great difference 

 in the w^ay the varieties act at this period. 

 In one instance they may run xip two feet 

 high, if left to grow naturally, and not 

 produce a single lateral, A variety of 

 this nature requires drastic measures in 

 order to get sufficient side shoots to ensure a 

 numW of flowers, and the only way to 

 treat stubborn varieties is to cut them 

 back, leaving only six or eight joints with 

 the leaves intact. Whatever course is 

 adopted, the joints must be made to break 

 into growth. Other varieties break very 

 readily, and are veiy easy to handle. Yet 

 others break too freely, and soon produce 

 a mass of spindly laterals, some of w^hich 

 niust be removed. It is by no means ad- 

 visable to lekve the forward ones, as these 

 may already have formed buds, and will 

 flower too early. In a few cases it may 

 be worth while to cut down the entire plant 

 if 3^oung shoots are breaking up freely 

 from the base. 



All through July the plants will need 

 syringing or^ watering overhead during 

 the evening, if the davs are at all fine and 

 dry, and, as a rule, tlirips will infest the 

 heads unless exterminated by syringing 

 with nicotine imsecticide of about normal 

 strength. It is useless to expend time and 

 labour on plants w^hich are being slowly 

 killed by the presence of thrips, and very 

 often I have found growers quite at a loss 

 to account for the unhealthy appearance of 

 their plants, through being ignorant of 

 the habits of these verv small and deeply 

 concealed enemies. Duriiiu wet seasons 



be met with in the case of some varieti 

 Snowdon, for instance, being singled out 

 as a prime favourite, from the tune the 

 cuttings push forth from the parent tubers 

 It is hardly, I think, necessary to state 

 that in no instance should a young plant 

 be allowed to flower, and just as a test it 

 is worth while to allow one plant to prodiuv 

 a bloom, and note the effort on the growth' 

 as compared with a plant of the same 

 variety which had the buds and one or 

 two top joints removed. 



My remarks have, to a great extent, re- 

 ferred to cactus dahlias. In the case 

 shows and fancies, the young plants go t, 

 work in a business-like way, and late- 

 planted stock left to run up and flower on 

 the main stems, often produce very fine 

 flowers. In the case of earlier plants thev 

 may need the bud removed, and will then 

 produce stout laterals, which may be re- 

 stricted to four or five, and as these varie- 

 ties are shown as specimen blooms, tlir 

 laterals left to flower should be as varied 

 as regards age as possible, and in allowing 

 for this always depend on the upper 

 growths flowering first. 



It is impossible to say definitely what 

 should be done to the land during July. In 

 very wet seasons I have had it dug all over 

 when opportunity in the way of a dry spell 

 has occurretl. One verv wet vear it was 

 necessary to dig right close up to the 

 plants, so hard and unkindly had the 

 ground become, whereas last year it was 

 perfectly friable, and no digging between 

 the row^s was needed. As a rule, a light 

 forking along the centre of the row\s, and 

 not too near the plants, is beneficial. It is 

 a capital plan to give a good mulching of 

 rough stable manure, immediately after 

 digging, and if the grower has the good 

 fortune to obtain a soaking rain on this, the 

 plants will grow like weeds. In dry sum- 

 mers a free watering through a coarse rose, 

 during the evenings will have much the 

 same effect. From this time onwards, the 

 exhibitor and the grower for cut flowers 

 may be said to part company, as the one 

 will be tying and thinning incessantly, 

 while the other will be content to let the 

 plants grow naturally. At the same time, 

 it Avill well repay anyone to periodically 

 thin out the weakly growths and tie \\\ 

 the plants. 



The work of securing dahlias aga:nst 

 damage by wind is no mean portion of the 

 entire routine^ or at least, this is so in all 

 open situations, and three good stakes per 

 plant are the least that can be used if th** 

 latter is to be safely guarded. One stake 

 having been placed at the back of the plant 

 at planting time, two others are now added, 

 forming a triangle, wide at the top, and 

 narrow at the base. Round the three 

 stakes run rough string at a height just 

 sufficient for the branches of the plant to 

 reach when spread out. In doing this, i.e-. 

 the spreading out, take care not to strip 

 off the laterals at the juncture of base and 

 main stem, as wlu^n young they slip oiu 

 very easily, and .shouhl there be any wind, 

 many good laterals may be Idown ont, if not 

 secured' both at the top and the hottoni. 

 It is usual to see tarred twine use<l for 

 running round the stakes, but a rougn 

 string -s much l>etter. As the plants grow 

 and tteconie loose, add otlier string, ti^r 

 above tier, but four tiers are enough tor 

 plants of ordinary height, whilst two 

 rounds is ample for' the dwarf sorts such as 

 Mercury and Mrs. Dyer. Once the stems 

 are tied to tw^o strings they are safe, and 

 if the plants are attended to once a week 

 and a tie given where needed, they w^j 

 always be in a fit state to withstand a sud- 

 den gale, which is far better than waituij 

 for the wind to rise and then rushnig 



1 



1866, if indeed, hardy ferns appeared in 

 any shape at all in those early days^ a fact this trouble is minimised, but may still to secure the branches. 



P. P. 



