PARK AND CEMETERY. 
2 3? 
cases are 4 ft. high and on the back 2 ft. 6 in. with the 
brick of the house wall itself serving as one side of the 
case. Sliding glass sashes are in the front and light T 
iron supports the single movable glass panes that con- 
nect with the back wall and form the top of the case 
An air chamber of about one foot exists between the 
top of the case and the house roof. Three, four teet 
wide stages support the drainage of rubble surface with 
peat, charcoal and sandstone to a height of two feet on 
the back, sloping down to three inches on front. 
Three, four inch hot water pipes ranged horizontally 
extending the length of the house along side the back 
wall and starting from the ground at one end gently ris- 
ing as it recedes to the other. These are placed on either 
side, but only one side is operated and that only on very 
severe nights in win- 
ter to keep out the 
frost. No top ventil- 
ation, is given but on 
either end at the apex 
a single ventilator of 
54 sq. ft. opening from 
above i s provided, 
also under the stages 
on the New Zealand 
side four 1 2 in. by 22 
i n . ventilators are 
constantly kept open. 
One inch slate, 
varying from 20 in. 
to 2 ft. 9 in. in width 
a nd 4 ft. long, form 
the bottom o f the 
stage allowing for 
actually started by .Sir William before his death in 1865. 
That virtually embraces our best systematic botanical 
study of the ferns in the universal flora. There appeared 
subsequent to this in Hooker’s “leones Plantarum’’ the 
fern novelties down to 1887. 
Mr. Baker again in the “Annals of Botany” (1891) 
reviews all tho^e brought out since 1877. To-day over 
1,000 species of ferns are cultivated at Kew, of these 50 
are filmies. Except tor their comprehensive represen- 
tation they are most noteworthy for their extraordinary 
successful cultivation. Emil Mische. 
WATER LILIES— VICTORIA TRICKERI. 
I read with much interest the cultural notes on 
aquatics, especially the Victorias by Mr. W. Tricker 
in the December 
number of Park 
and Cemetery and 
having made the 
first attempt last 
season to grow a 
Victoria in our pond 
in Bushnell Park, 
Hartford, Conn., I 
offer a few lines to 
describe my experi- 
ence in that direc- 
tion. Last January 
I procured some 
seeds of Victoria 
Randi and Trickeri, 
and following the 
drainage one quarter 
in. between each 'two. is the Work of the Bullfrogs. 
Filices have always received much attention at Kew. 
John Smith I, the first curator scientifically bent in 
contrast to John Smith II, showed his ability in and 
love of ferns, starting with fifteen plants fifteen years 
before the institution became public he gradually en- 
riched it in size and species until in 1856 upwards of 
500 species were in the collection. In 1866 Smith pub- 
lished a ( lassified list of all the ferns in cultivation un- 
der the title of “Ferns, British and Foreign,” a pains-tak- 
ing work of great value and unusual historic merit and 
further interesting as probably being the first published 
list of any group of plants growing at Kew since the sec- 
ond edition of Airton’s “Hortus Kewensis.” Ilis per- 
sonal views on classifying ferns is given in his “Historia 
Filicum” published in 1875. 
Upon ferns is one of the first among the prolific ser- 
ies of works issued from Kew during Sir William Hook- 
er’s time. About 1843 the Director published “Genera 
F’ilicum” illustrated by the drawings of Francis Bauer 
made during a number of years previous. 
In 1846 Sir William Hooker started the publication 
of “Species Filicum” an exhaustive work in five volumes 
and only completed a year before his death. “Synopsis 
Filicum” a sort of abridgement of the foregoing brought 
out by Mr. Baker in 1S68 (ed. I I 1874) was planned and 
ers Water Garden , 
I succeeded in germinating every seed of the 
Randi, but only one of the Trickeri, and that 
one so late and poor that it was useless to plant it 
out. The reason for the failure to germinate 
Trickeri was undoubtedly too high temperature of 
the water, which was when lowest 65 degrees. 
The Randi’s grew right along at a temperature 
of about 80 degrees, but when planted out in June, 
the plants stopped growing at once, and disappeared 
entirely within a few days. 
Feeling satisfied that it was useless to make 
another attempt to grow the Randi without arti- 
ficial heat to start it along in its permanent quarters, 
I concluded to try the Trickeri, and I procured a 
young plant. The plant arrived first week in June 
in good condition, with 2 leaves from 8 to 10 in., 
diameter and one leaf about ready to unfold. I 
first put the plant in a tank at the green houses, 
with the water at a temperature of about 75 degrees. 
Finding the water in the pond to be from 75 de- 
grees to 80 degrees, I brought the plant to its 
final quarters about 3 days after its arrival. I had 
previously built a large box 12 ft. square and 2 ft. 
