102 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 7, 1884. 
cleaner than the common ware, the evaporation being of course 
greatly less. Forty of our largest Vandas and a good number of our 
largest Phalienopsts are in glazed pots, the rest of the latter being 
in teak baskets, but none in ordinary pots. 
Speaking of Orchid pots with holes in their sides, I have come to 
regard them with disfavour, and am putting those of them in use 
aside as fast as it can be done. My reasons for so doing are, first the 
material used for potting is found to decay sooner in them than in 
close pots, simply because more exposed to the decomposing influence 
of the air ; and secondly because they form a most convenient retreat 
for a cockroach, a slug, or a woodlouse ; and thirdly, because they 
cost more.—D. Thomson, Dmmlanrig Gardens. 
FERNS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 
[The following is the substance of an instructive paper read by 
Mr. W. Birkenhead of Sale at a recent meeting of the Manchester 
Horticultural Mutual Improvement Society. For the figures repre¬ 
senting the Ferns mentioned we are indebted to Messrs. W. & J. 
Birkenhead.] 
1 iieke is at once apparent an important and striking difference 
between Ferns which do not flower and other plants which do ; and 
we might even go further and say that the Fern has no true leaf, 
and yet its seeming leafiness constitutes most of its beauty. There 
is, however, this difference between a true leaf and a frond (as the 
leafy part of a Fern is called)—viz., that the frond produces the 
spoies for reproduction of the species, while true leaves do not ; 
and there is the further difference, that while the leaf of a tree 
expands in all directions at once, the Fern frond, which has been 
coiled up much like the spring of a watch, gradually unrolls from 
the base upward to the apex, the lower part gaining a considerable 
degree of rigidity while the upper portion is yet soft and still rolled 
up. So also the pinnae or side branches of the divided fronds partake 
of the same peculiarity, uncoiling from their junction with the rachis 
to their extremity. This curious fact leads me to advise people who 
Ferns in windows never to practise turning the plants round 
Auth the object of making them symmetrical; for the ineAdtable 
consequence is, that while the lower part of an expanding frond has 
become rigid and unyielding, the upper pait, being soft and pliable, 
a\ ill turn towards the light, thus causing the frond to have a twisted 
or distorted appearance, and as the frond is still hardening this 
deformity becomes permanent, for turning the plant back to its 
"VU 116 ! P°siti°n will not bring the frond straight again. A similar 
difficulty is observed jf a growing frond meets with an obstacle in 
its way and is bent in its growth, and there is no possibility of putting 
it afterwards into its proper form ; hence it is \’ery important to give 
specimen Ferns plenty of room for development while the fronds are 
glowing, and they will give ample reward for this little attention 
by their elegance of form, providing, of course, that other necessar 3 r 
conditions of culture are attended to. Of these necessary conditions 
I aviII say a few words, and submit that the nearer our culture of 
Terns approaches the state in Avhich they flourish in their native 
habitats the greater will be the success which will attend our efforts, 
and the more las ing our satisfaction. 
One of the first things likely to strike our attention in viewing 
reins in a wild state will be the extreme modesty displayed in their 
c mice of a situation in which to grow, generally in those recesses 
where the leafy canopy of more gigantic growth shelters their delicate 
Bonds from the fierce rays of the summer sun, and protects them 
from boisterous winds, or where similar protection is afforded by 
inendly rocks or sloping banks. These facts will suggest the 
necessity for providing them with shade from the sun and shelter 
xiom the winds ; but here in regard to our imitation of Nature let me 
give a warning against making the gloom too deep, for Ferns cannot 
groAv without light any more than other vegetation. They may not 
need it quite so intense as many other plants, but light they must 
have or die. ° J 
After giving much attention to the importance of light and its 
effect upon vegetation as illustrated by several extracts from Dr. 
Carpenter s works, Mr. Birkenhead continued as follows :—I have all 
* 00 ^ sm y houses washed and thoroughly cleansed by the middle 
of October, being persuaded that the more light we can get through 
the glass during winter the more Adgorous will be our plants, and to 
a faige extent this will apply in summer also, for even where Ferns 
are grown I object much to permanent shading where it can be 
avoided, preferring blinds which can be rolled up immediately the 
danger of scorching is past, and not allowing them to be put doAvn 
until the heat of the rising sun makes it unsafe any longer to delay 
the shade. With this provision, allowing all the ‘light possible to 
enter the structures, 1 find those Ferns nearest the glass are the 
sturdiest, most vigorous, and most shapely plants. Of course there 
are exceptions to the rule, among which may be mentioned the 
Asplemums, many of which are benefited by rather more shade, and 
the Filmy Ferns, such as Todea, Hymenophyllum, Trichomanes, &c., 
which require and must have a large amount of shade through the 
summer months, though even to them I give all the light possible 
during the dark months of winter. 
Another important subject for consideration is the temperature 
and supply of air for different genera. The Filmy Ferns already 
mentioned must have an atmosphere heavily charged Avith moisture, 
and generally require a house, or frame, or propagating glass to them¬ 
selves in Avhich to be successfully cultivated, for a current of dry air 
passing over them for only a short time is often enough to destroy 
all their beauty. Abundance of moisture in the atmosphere, abun¬ 
dance of Avater at the roots, and abundant drainage, that the water 
may escape, are among the necessary requirements of this class of 
plants, together with rather deep shade in summer. The moisture 
should be generated by watering the paths and walls rather than by 
syringing the fronds, though this even is preferable to alloAving them 
to be too dry. 
The compost should be very open. It may be composed of peat, 
strong loam, and stone in equal parts, Avith or Avithout charcoal, but 
all in lumps, the fine material being all sifted out and rejected, 
pieces as large as a walnut and larger being far better than finer 
compost, except for very small pots. I invariably find the best, 
healthiest, and strongest roots in the crevices between the pieces of 
compost, and when fine material has inadvertently been used the 
Fig. 16.—Todea pellucida. 
roots have travelled on the surface and gone down the outside of the 
pot instead of inside, Avhere, of course, they could get no air. I 
believe air in the soil to be most necessary, and the quicker the water 
passes through the soil the quicker the air will follow, and the 
healthier the roots in that soil will be ; and this will apply to nearly 
all Ferns providing the supply of Avater is sufficient. 
A mistake is often made in the culture of Filmy Ferns by giving 
too much fire heat, Avhich dries up the moisture from the atmosphere, 
and inevitably broAvns the foliage and often destroys it. For most 
of the species, such as those already mentioned, I would rather subject 
them to frost than to fire heat. Last winter the Filmies at our place 
Avere Avhite with frost, for although there are pipes in the house the 
heat is never turned on unless the frost is likely to be intense. I 
have heard of many cases where Todea superba and others were 
covered Avith frost and ice for weeks together during the severe 
Avinters a feAv years ago, and no harm was done to them. Some of 
our own plants which were frozen during the same length of time 
came out of the ordeal Avithout harm. The Hymenophyllums and, I 
believe, the Todeas, will groAV far better in a close garden frame 
than in a house in which there is much artificial heat. I have now 
Hymenophyllum Wilsoni and H. tunbridgense in a cold frame the 
perfection of beauty and health, and they have been in that frame 
since the spring of last year. I hope the knowledge of these facts 
may become general, so that many persons may enjoy the beauty of 
foliage, such as that of Todea superba, who ha\ r e hitherto been 
deterred from attempting the cultivation of Filmy Ferns through 
fear of disappointment. I must, however, remark that some of the 
rare and more delicate species of Filmy Ferns, such as clothe the 
stems of other Ferns and trees in warmer climes, must be provided 
with artificial heat, but provision must be made for retaining moisture 
in the atmosphere they grow in, which will perhaps be best accom- 
