September 2), 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
2G7 
every year. I therefore propose devoting the remaining half to these 
crops. There is an enormous lot of Thistles in the ground. Clearing 
them out of the ground is out of the question. I am led to wonder if 
gas lime would kill them. If so I should be glad if any of your 
correspondents that may have had any experience with gas lime 
would tell me when and at what rate to apply it. If gas lime will not 
kill them is there any other effective remedy 1 If so I shall be glad 
to know of it. The ground will be cleared in the course of a fort¬ 
night, and of course will not be planted until next March. It is 
about an Irish acre in extent. Some Potatoes I have in it this year 
are badly scabbed, otherwise the quality is good. Would gas lime 
remedy this defect ? Would any manure be required in addition to 
whatever application is suggested 1— Handy Andy. 
- The past summer in Nobth Wales has been a trying one for 
the vegetable gardener. Enemies on all sides have had to be combated, 
and that in no faint-hearted manner. The season commenced with 
an invasion of slugs, which attacked almost anything that was green. 
Jerusalem Artichokes went down before them, and it was only by the 
greatest care that seedlings could be preserved. Peas, especially early 
sorts, germinated badly, and what did come through the ground, in 
spite of repeated dustings of lime and soot, were made all the thinner 
by slugs.. We have had to sow about twice the quantity of seed to keep 
up the supply that we should have done in an ordinary season. Veitch’s 
Perfection and Dickson’s Favourite are the only sorts that have really 
done well. During the latter part of May, and all through June, we 
did not have a single thunder shower, and it was only by mulching and 
indefatigable watering that Peas could be kept bearing. Mildew 
attacked them in the earlier stages of growth, and spread more rapidly 
than in any season I can remember. Last year being so unfavourable 
to the maturing of seeds in general, undoubtedly impaired the vitality 
of Peas ; hence the fungoid attacks which have been prevalent in so 
many parts of the country. Onions in many gardens this year are next 
to a failure, especially when seed was sown early. In our case we 
reckon to have about a third of a crop. The ground being in good 
condition the seed was sown at the end of February. The cold, sunless 
weather which followed, with seed not too well matured, was all against 
its germinating. I am afraid that many of us after the turn of the 
year are too anxious to get seeds in the ground that would be better 
left for another month in the drawer. Parsley we sowed half a dozen 
times, with the result that we did not have two dozen plants. Our 
present supply is derived from the previous year’s seed, which as a final 
resort we sowed in heat and transplanted, but was long in coming 
through the ground, and the rows are patchy.—D. G., North Wales. 
CHARACTERS IN BRITISH FERNS. 
[Read before the Sheffield Floral and Horticultural Society by Mr. John Eadon.] 
The lovers of Nature are constantly brought into contact with the 
pleasing phenomenon of variation. It is generally accepted that variety 
is charming, and it is my intention to show how far, and in what way, 
this charm of variety can be claimed by our British Ferns. For beauty 
and gracefulness in foliage we have no other class of plants to compare 
with them. The fixed characters of British Ferns are divided into 
eight classes—namely, 1, Plumose and Frondose. 2, Divided and Decom¬ 
posite. 3, Imbricate and Crispate. 4, Lax and Flexuose. 5, Deltoid 
and Brachiate. 6, Cruciate. 7, Interrupted and Deficient. 8, Crested 
and Ramose. 
The eight characters named above are all to be found in the follow¬ 
ing four species—namely, Atkyrium Filix-fcemina, Blechnum spicant, 
Polypodium vulgare, Polystichum angulare. 
There are seven other species in which one to seven of the above- 
named characters are to be found :—Adiantum Capillus-Veneris, Allosorus 
crispus, Hymenophyllum Wilsoni, Lastreas, Osmunda regalis, Scolopen- 
driums, and Pteris aquilina or common Brake. 
The last is the most unlikely plant we should imagine to exhibit any 
special characters ; but I have seen it crested and ramose, imbricate and 
crispate. The Osmunda regalis is not given to much change, but there 
are several varieties of it, the most to be admired being the crested, 
of which we have more than one type. Polystichum Lonchitis has 
been found crested. Allosorus crispus has also produced a crested 
variety. There are also some beautiful varieties in the Asplenium class. 
A. marinum has given us a grand plumosum, also crested and ramose 
varieties. A. lanceolatum, A. nigrum and A. trichomanes have each 
produced good varieties. 
I will now bring before you some of the beauties referred to in Class 
1—namely, Plumose and Frondose. The first to claim our attention is 
the lovely Athyrium Filix-foemina Kalothrix, a name expressive of the 
fineness of its divisions, and meaning beautiful hair. The late Colonel 
Jones, when referring to it said, l, It is, perhaps, the most delicately 
beautiful of all Ferns.” The next is a good plumosum of my own 
raising from a plant which I found, and there are also many others; 
but we must content ourselves with referring to one or two in each 
class. 
The plumose character is represented in the Lastrea Filix-mas group 
by the beautiful plant, L. Filix-mas BollandiEe, a good variety, which is 
said by some to be barren, like many others of the plumose class, but the 
old plant that I possess produced spores last year and again this. 
The next to be noticed are the most beautiful, and at the same time 
most useful, Polystichums. The pulcherrimums in the P. aculeatum 
division are among the most charming of our native Ferns. There are 
also several in the P. angulare division. A gentleman named Mr. Moly 
has two varieties of this beautiful plant, and one is variegated. I look 
on these plants as worthy to be classed among the gems of our British 
Ferns. The next is P. angulare plumosum Wollastoni; it is a fine old 
plant. I have grown it for a number of years. Here is P. plumosum 
grand. The late Colonel Jones, from whom I received it, said it 
was “ a gem of the first water,” and I endorse that opinion. But good 
as the above are, we have one much in advance of them. I refer to P. 
divisilobum plumosum densum, raised by the late Colonel Jone3. The 
opinion expressed by Mr. C. T. Druery is that this Fern is the perfection 
of division and delicacy. It has been called the Todea superba of British 
Ferns, and deservedly so. There are many other beautiful plumose and 
frondose varieties. There is a grand plant called Polystichum cristato- 
foliosum. Another, called P. divisilobum decorum by Colonel Jones and 
distributed by him, is also a lovely Fern. P. conjestum polydactylum 
was raised by Mr. E. F. Fox, near Bristol, from whom I received it last 
November. It is a fine plant of the foiiosum section. 
There are some fine plumose plants in the Polypodium class. P. cam- 
bricum is an old variety, but very good. There is also another of the 
cambricum group, which, as some say, is far better than the last. This 
is called P. Barrowi. The most plumose of them all is called plumosum 
Hadweni. It was found in Silverdale. 
Scolopendrium crispum varieties are fine plumose plants ; also the 
undulatum varieties, several of which I have collected myself. 
In the cruciate class the first I will mention as representing this 
character is Athyrium Filix-foemina Victoria, a plant well known to 
most growers, and needing no comment from me. Polystichum aculea¬ 
tum cruciatum was raised by Mr. E. J. Lowe from a cross with 
P. angulare cruciato-multifidum. 
The interrupted and deficient character is shown by P. angulare var. 
lineare, which has been repeatedly pronounced to be a grand plant ; but 
there are many in this division which are anything but attractive. 
The next and last class of character to notice are the crested and 
ramose Ferns, which is, as some of you are aware, form a very extensive 
section of our British varieties, for out of the forty-three species of 
British Ferns we have twenty that have produced crested plants, and in 
some of the classes the crested section is very strong ; but we can only 
briefly refer to a few. A little gem is Athyrium grandiceps, a beautiful 
and very densely crested variety. Athyrium percristatum (Jones) is 
small but very good. A young plant of my own raising of the 
A. Friselliae section is much better crested than most I have noticed of 
its kind. 
The fine old Lastrea Filix-mas. var. cristata is too well known to 
call for any comment here. Of L. grandiceps and L. polydaetyla there 
are a few very good varieties ; also a ramo variety, or two—L. ramo- 
cristata and L. ramosissima. 
I will next refer to one or two of the Polypodiums. In this class 
there are many beautiful crested and ramose varieties. Here are two— 
P. cristatum and P. grandiceps, both very good and distinct. A few of 
the best Polystichums are P. grandiceps (Moly), P. latifolium cristatum 
(Jones), P. polydactylum splendens (Jones), and P. polydactylum 
(Wollaston), both the last being very choice. 
I will now conclude with noticing a few varieties of Scolopendriums. 
I have one of the dwarfest, the densest, and most delicate in its divisions 
that I know, and with me it is a free grower ; but it must be kept under 
a bellglass to do well. I also found one last October, and referred it to 
the late Col. Jones, who advised me to name it S. trifrondosum. I think 
it is likely to establish itself as a very good variety. 
[Mr. Eadon fully illustrated his remarks with a collection of plants 
and fronds, for which, as well as for his interesting and able paper, he 
was heartily thanked by the meeting. The chair was occupied by Mr. 
Henry Davy, who is also, like Mr. Eadon, a successful and enthusiastic 
cultivator of British Ferns. The subject of Mr. Eadon’s paper, how¬ 
ever, being of a special and technical character, did not provoke any 
discussion. One question was asked, What did he consider the main 
causes of the changes from the normal varieties ? To this Mr. Eadon 
replied, That it was an inherent principle in Ferns to sport. He also 
was fully persuaded that we were entering on a new era in Fern culture, 
as it was now thoroughly understood how to raise new varieties by 
crossing. But many of the best varieties now in cultivation have been 
found wild. Different localities produce different forms of certain 
Ferns ; for instance, in one part of the country a gentleman found 
thirty Scolopendriums, all varieties of crispum. This gentleman thinks 
there is something special about the districts which produce these 
varieties. On the limestone in the neighbourhood of Auston, a village 
about twelve miles east of Sheffield, Mr. Eadon found special kinds of 
Scolopendriums. In some places you can never find anything different 
from the normal types. The English lake district is a prolific field for 
the Fern collector, many crested and plumose varieties having been 
found there. In some parts of England many varieties of the common 
Bracken (Pteris aquilina) can be found, but nothing different from the 
ordinary variety can be found in South Yorkshire or the neighbourhood. 
