FERNS AND FERNERIES. 117 
RE-PRINTED FROM 
“The JOURNAL of HORTICULTURE.” 
:o: 
NOTES AT MANCHESTER. 
The Whitsuntide Show at Manchester has gained a great fame throughout this country, and in 
consequence many horticulturists pay an annual visit to the great Cotton City, with the object either 
of contributing some of their productions or to inspect and -criticise those of other members of the 
craft. * * * ^ * 
MESSES. W. & A BIBKEEHEAQ’S FEBHS. 
The charming group of Ferns from this firm was one of the features of the Exhibition, a most taste- 
ful combination of elegant foliage and varied shades of green. Examples of this style of grouping 
plants have for several years been prominent at Brighton and Eastbourne Shows, where classes are 
specially provided for them ; but the idea does not appear to have extended beyond these Societies. 
Messrs. Birkenhead therefore set a bold example in entering the class for a general group of plants 
with one composed exclusively of Ferns. It was, however, so greatly admired that it is to be 
hoped that some special encouragement will be given to this form of grouping. 
A large number of species and varieties were represented in the group, but to gain an accurate 
idea of Messrs. Birkenhead’s stock a visit must be paid to their Fern Nursery at Sale. There the 
fern-lover will find ample to interest him, for some seventeen or eighteen houses are devoted to these 
graceful plants, forming probably the largest collection of Ferns in cultivation. All the best-known 
and generally useful species of both hardy and exotic Ferns are grown in thousands, and a glance at 
the house of sporelings ready for potting occasions a feeling of wonderment as to where they will all 
find homes. There certainly appears to be enough to stock the entire country, yet Messrs. Birken- 
head occasionally find it difficult to meet the demand for some particular species. At this time of the 
year, when the majority of the plants are making fresh growth, their appearance is especially 
beautiful, their bright green elegant fronds rendering the houses very attractive. In every depart- 
ment the Ferns are distinguished by a robust healthiness that is most refreshing, and there is an 
absence of that drawn flaccid flimsiness which too often characterises Ferns in private gardens. 
One cause of this greater sturdiness is the practice of exposing the plants freely to light without 
going to the extent of permitting the young tender fronds to be injured by a bright 
sun. What might be termed the “dark” system of culture has too long been followed 
with Ferns, and the result is that in many establishments plants may be seen dragging 
out a miserable existence, unsatisfactory alike to gardener and employer. There is, however, a 
gradual awakening to the fact that Ferns, like other plants, do not under cultivation require to be 
perpetually in a state of semi-darkness, and with better houses, stages, or shelves nearer the glass, 
and more liberal ventilation in suitable weather, the plants are more likely to develop their true 
beauty and proportions. Another matter which has been fully proved in the Sale Fern nursery is 
that peat is by no means so necessary for Ferns as has been so long supposed, better and more 
substantial growth being obtained from Ferns in a compost of good loam and leaf soil than from the 
best peat obtainable. Indeed, there are some Ferns, and amongst them may be mentioned the 
Scolopendriums, which thrive best in a rather heavy loam. The supply of moisture is of great 
importance, and the soil in which a Fern is growing should never be allowed to become dry. At the 
same time Messrs. Birkenhead and many other growers find that syringing Fern fronds is to a large 
extent better avoided ; in many cases it is of doubtful benefit, and in some it is positively injurious. 
Preserve the requisite amount of moisture in the air by damping paths and stages, but beyond an 
occasional sprinkling to keep the fronds fresh and clean do not syringe them. Such in brief is their 
practice, and the proof of its suitableness is apparent in the condition of the plants. 
To enumerate only the best of the species and varieties composing the Sale collection would fill a 
volume ; all the leading genera are strongly represented, and there are some varieties which it would 
be difficult to find in any garden in England. Those little gems the Cheilanthes, Nothochlaenas, and 
Pellseas are especially numerous, and succeed most satisfactorily on a shelf close to the glass in a 
lean-to house. These charming little plants are reputedly difficult to grow, but there they appear 
quite at home, producing their graceful prettily powdered fronds most freely. They are seldom seen 
in gardens, chiefly no doubt because there is an impression that they will not succeed ; but those who 
have seen the Sale collection will be inclined to alter any unfavourable opinion they might have 
formed. There the plants grow freely, unfurling their charmingly graceful fronds, and soon forming 
on the shelf devoted to them quite a thicket of growth. An especial favourite is the so-called Lace 
Fern, Cheilanthes elegans, with its finely divided fronds, which needs a rather warmer position than 
most of the other species, such as C. Clevelandi, C. Fendleri, C. frigida, C. myriophylla, and C_. vestita, 
which succeed best in an ordinary cool Fern house. The Nothochlaenas are similarly divisible into 
two classes, the warmer section including N. chrysbphylla, N. nivea, N. rufa, and N. sinuata ; while 
in the cooler group we have N. csmariensis, N. Candida, and N. lanuginosa, all pretty species, but 
little known. 
In every house there are numberless attractions— Adiantums and Aspleniums_ in abundance, 
with scores of varieties over which a Fern-lover would go into ecstacies. In addition to the usual 
tropical Ferns there is a good collection of the best “ Filmies,” which, like all the others, are in a most 
satisfactory condition. The hardy Ferns are grown in hundreds of thousands, and more vigorous 
specimens I have never seen in cultivation. The beautiful little Beech and Oak Ferns, ever;^one’s 
favourites, are very strongly represented ; while the most distinct and handsome of the varieties of 
British Ferns are grown in abundance. Throughout, the collection is most interesting, and no horti- 
culturist should visit Manchester without spending an hour or two at Sale,— Lewis Castle. 
