June 19, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
491 
“ Having found from my experiments with Mons. Dumesnil’s * fertilis¬ 
ing moss ’ that it was quite possible to grow plants without any earth at 
all, I set to work to endeavour to impregnate ordinary moss with some 
fertilising substance that would enable plants to be grown in it without 
all the precautions necessary in using Mons. Dumesnil’s patent moss. 
I think I may say that I have perfectly succeeded. Plants in full bloom 
can be taken out of the ground or out of the pots, and after all the earth 
has been carefully washed off, are planted in moss which has been 
previously prepared with my fertilising fibre. They never even flag, 
bat grow more luxuriantly than in soil. I may be asked that, granting 
the possibility of growing plants without earth, what advantages are 
gained ? In answer to this, I would point out the extreme lightness of 
the baskets I am showing, and the extraordinary manner in which I 
have been able to mix plants in the same basket of utterly different 
characteristics, and requiring utterly different treatment when grown 
in earth. In one basket, 2 feet 9 inches by 2 feet 3 inches, I have the 
following plants, all in thoroughly healthy conditions, viz. :—Anthuriums, 
Franciscea, Yitis variegata, and Rhyncospermum, while the whole of the 
basket is covered with Selaginella. In another basket I have tricolor 
Pelargoniums, perfectly hardy outdoor plants, growing round the outside, 
with a Caladium growing in the centre. By this means we are enabled 
to get a mass of different colours beautifully blended together, and all in 
a basket that can be easily lifted about by one person without assistance. 
“ In addition to the advantage thus gained of extreme portability, and 
of blending different colours together, there is another point of great 
importance to invalids, and even to persons in sound health who like to 
have flowering plants in their sitting-rooms. Such plants when grown 
in earth always have more or less a sour earthy smell, which is most 
unwholesome. This is entirely absent from plants grown in moss. If 
you want to water them, too, all you have to do is to carry them outside 
(a very different thing to carrying out a number of heavy flower pots), 
water them, let them drain, and bring them back. 
“For ‘hanging baskets’ the system of growing in moss will be 
invaluable, and I may add that it will open a new era for the greatly 
increasing method of ‘ window gardening,’ now employed in London by 
many who formerly had no chance of seeing flowers at all. 
“ Now, as to the way to use my moss, my method is so simple that it 
hardly requires any description Take the plants you wish to put into 
the basket, carefully wash off all earth from the roots with tepid water, 
taking care not to injure the roots in so doing, then plant them in the 
ordinary way in the moss, which should be previously well wetted ; if 
possible, keep the basket in a warm place free from draught for three or 
four days. The plants can, if wished, be transplanted from earth when 
in full bloom ; they will not feel the check. After two months the upper 
layer of moss should be removed and a similar quantity of my moss 
put in its place. If Selaginella or Variegated Moss are grown on the 
surface of the moss, these should be carefully removed rirst and replaced 
after the moss has been changed. The baskets do not require watering 
oftener than plants grown in earth do. The weight of the baskets will 
show if they want water.” 
VINE GROWTH. 
“Thinker’s” “thoughts” on this subject are inaccurate. “A 
Kitchen Gardener ” spoke of the “ out-of-date ” system of cutting Vines 
down to within “ 2 or 3 feet from the bottom,” which was Mr. Pearson’s 
plan as recorded in his book, and “ Kitchen Gardener ” recommended 
instead “ rods 10 and 12 feet long the first year,” which is the new plan. 
If it was hypercritical to distinguish between the two systems “Thinker” 
must apply that term to “ Kitchen Gardener,” whom I only corrected in 
reference to the origination of the practice. “ Thinker,” however, mis¬ 
applies the word in this case; it can hardly be hypercritical to distinguish 
between a system of culture which gives a houseful of Grapes before the 
Vines “ are well over their first birthday,” as “A Kitchen Gardener” puts 
it, and another system which takes several years to accomplish the same 
result; and those who have discussed the subject previously in the 
Journal and elsewhere seem to think so. What Mr. Pearson would have 
done or said had he “ been alive ” I do not know, but what he did do and 
write when he was alive was quite contrary to “ Thinker’s ” “ pre¬ 
sumptions” now ; and the way to write history truly is to record what 
people did and said, and judge them thereby, and not to attribute 
suppositious acts to them to suit our own present fancy. It is quite 
possible “ Thinker ” may have seen long rods left the first year thirty 
years ago, but he knows it was far from the rule in practice to do so ; and 
those who come forward with such far-back testimony now are like 
Dr. Johnson’s friends, who “ encumbered him with their help when he 
no longer needed it.”— Non-Believer. 
THE OPIIIOGLOSSUMS. 
This genus of plants is closely allied to the Ferns, and many of the 
species have claims to cultivation. They are a class of plants quite dis¬ 
tinct in appearance, and, like the Platyceriums, are quaintly ornamental. 
The family has a wide geographical range, one species being found i n 
British meadows, and others in New Holland, Portugal, Japan, and the 
West Indies. The genus is named from op his, a serpent, and gloxsa, a 
tongue, and hence the name of Adder’s-tongue, which is the popular name 
of the familiar English species. One of the most curious of the family is 
0. pendulum, which is a native of Madagascar, where it is found growing 
on forest trees, its fronds hanging from the branches to a length of several 
feet. It is often found growing with Platycerium grande, and requires 
much the same mode of cultivation as that quaint plant. It is at home 
on the rocks of the tropical fernery, and will grow freely in a spongy mass 
of peaty soil. 
0. palmatum (fig. 115) is one of the best of the species. It is somewhat 
rare, yet is not difficult to cultivate. It does not require a great depth of 
soil, but will luxuriate in a rough open composition of sphagnum, turfy peat, 
Fig. 115.—Ophioglossum palmatum. 
and charcoal, if a place is afforded it in a well-heated structure, and a copious 
supply of water is given in the growing season. This species when well 
grown is a distinct and ornamental plant, and one that is well worthy of 
all the care that can he bestowed in its cultivation. Plants may be 
increased by divisions of the roots or by seeds, but in either case the 
process is a slow one, and for a supply of these plants we must rely mainly 
on importations. The Portuguese species 0. lusitanicum, and the British 
species 0. vulgatum, are the most common, and have a place in most large 
collections of plants. 
Several pretty species are found in India as well as other tropical 
regions, and amongst these may be mentioned 0. fibrosum, with delicate 
little closely veined fronds, and 0. reticulatum, with a similarly fine 
network of veins upon the fronds. It is surprising how widely distributed 
these Ferns are. For instance, the common 0. vulgatum is not only found 
throughout Europe, but it extends into Africa, Japan, India, Australia 
