THE CPLTIVATION OF MOSSES. 
THE CULTR^ATION OF MOSSES. 
By Mk. 6. LAWSOX, F.B.S. AssiST.tsT Cckator to the BoTAzacAX Socieit or Edineuegh. 
" "Wliat forests tall of tiniest moss 
Clothe erery little stone ! 
What pigmy oaks their foliage toss 
O'er pigmy Talleys lone ! 
Vith shade o'er shade, from ledge to ledge, 
Ambitious of the sky, 
They feather o'er the steepest edge 
Of mountains mushroom high." 
JA -MOXG the numerous and varied vegetable forms -svitli Tvhieli this gay world of ours is so gaudily 
Xa adorned, there is one tiibe for ■which we have long had an especial liking : it is the Mosses. 
True indeed, they have no bright array of bi-illiant blossoms to delight the eye : no majesty of form 
wherewith to give chai'acter to the landscape; no delicious balmy odour to breathe on the soft breeze 
i j at balmy eventide ! The heedless passer-by might never think that these himible unassuming things 
' j were worthy of a lingering look ; never would it occru- to him that in theii- humility they e x hibited 
1 } some of the most beautiful and remai-kable forms and stmctm-es of the vegetable kingdom. But to the 
' ' inquiring naturalist these tiny faiiy plants are replete with interest, and a bank, 
" With bright green mosses dad," 
is often one of the most pleasing and refreshing sights which greets the eye of the weaiy botanist in 
his lonely wanderings by sti'eam and moTintain side. "Well indeed can he sympathise with the feelings 
which arose in the mind of the A&ican ti'aveller, when, forlorn and in dark despair, the little Moss in 
; , the desert cheered his prosti'ate spirits, lit up the last spai-k of hope in his troubled breast, and pointed 
! I his Christian eye to Heaven.* 
: I Long however as the Mosses have been regarded with deep interest by the botanist, it is only re- 
cently that they have been thought worthy of introduction to our gardens, and still their cultivation is 
j I exceedingly circumscribed. We are not indeed veiy sure that they wiU ever be extensively cultivated, 
j i for they are not the kind of plants Ukely to talie with the bulk of horticulturaKsts, and we are certainly 
j I not so sanguine on the subject as some Moss growers have expressed themselves, who anticipate their 
I general introduction to oui' gardens. Although a neatly kept collection of Mosses in pots forms a very 
I I interesting, and withal a veiy pleasing object, it is one which has few attractions for the lover of the 
I gay and beautiful ; the little plants are indeed, one and all of them, passing lovely when closely ex- 
I amined ; but it is only now and then that a fortunate tuft can be gi-own to have any thing Kke a con- 
I j spicuous appeai'ance. It is the botanist alone, he who loves to investigate the wonders of the micros- 
copic world, and to find beauty worthy of om' most profound admiration, where no one else would di'eam 
a trace of beauty could be found ; it is he alone who will feel sufficient interest in the 
'■Dim world of weeping mosses," 
to induce him to pei-severe in their culture to any extent. Even he will rather prefer, when opportu- 
nity occms, to admire the " green mossy stones " where Natore's own hand has placed them, by the 
bura-side and the roaring waterfall, than to behold the nui'sling Mosses of a greenhouse stage, or even 
the few favourites which he cherishes on the siU of his window. With every lover of these plants, 
however, theii' cultivation will be deemed of great impoi'tance, as enabling him at all times, in sunshine 
and in shower, to have the beautiful objects of his regai'd beneath his very eye in all the vigour- and 
ft-eshness which they exhibit in theii' native homes on the mountain summit ; and moi-e especially will 
* Mr. J. Scrymgour, speaking of the Mungo Park Moss (Fissidens bryoides) has some beautifiil remarks, connectiiig it with the 
traveller, -n-hich Tve are tempted to quote. He says ; — " When you see a little rill stealing slowly through a shady wood, between 
shaggy banks, tura up the grass on the sunniest side, you will be sore to find it there, for such are its favourite haunts. Small in- 
deed, but it, too, has its purpose : 
"A flower is not a flower alone ; " 
and the wisdom of God is as manifest in its structure and growth as in the proud giants of the wood. Art cannot match this tiny 
thing ; all this minute mechanism within and without, growing in every part ; its life and power of reproduction baiHes the skill 
of man. Science may describe, but, like a puzzled child, wonders how such things can be. *' It is the Lord's doings, and it is mar- 
vellous in our eyes." It was a little tuft of this Moss which arrested the eye of Mungo Park, the celebrated traveller, when he was 
naked, hungry, despairing, and alone, far far from home, in an ,-Vfrican desert, and awakened in his heart a strong sense of the pre- 
sence of a gocd and guardian God. He was certain that He who would perfect and nourish such a very little plant, and in such a 
sequestered part of the world would not surely desert a creature formed after TTis own image. He reasoned well. He rose up, 
u j.j strong in faith, and soon found food, friendship, and shelter. It is impossible to trust God in vain." 
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