May 18. 
THE COTTAGE GARDEN EE. 
121 
S gradients will be equally beneficial to tbe after-crops on 
' the ground. 
In early sowings, the cold weather, to say nothing of 
the frosts, often decimate the crop very much, and it is 
only in very dry, warm places, that this production can, 
j with safety, be committed to the ground before the 
second week in April, while in late or cold ones, the end 
of it will probably prove quite as successful. The deli¬ 
cate cotyledons, as well as the tender stems that support 
; them, are ill able to endure the chilly blasts of tbe east 
I wind ; it is, therefore, advisable to sow a few in pans or 
! boxes at the same time as those are sown in the open 
I air, so that if the latter suffer a mishap, there may be 
1 plenty to make up the deficiency without going the 
round of sowing them a second time on the same 
ground; but, as I have repeated, there is not much 
gained by sowing very early, for no ordinary amount of 
protection, in the shape of covering, can urge them into 
a healthy growth until that genial warmth which the 
spring brings with it comes to their aid; however, if 
. established plants can be saved, so as to be ready to 
start forward when the weather allows, there will be 
a decided advantage, and as tbe planting of them is not 
I attended with much trouble, we advise its being done 
when it seems advisable to replace a broken plantation, 
or hasten on a new one. 
Although the above observations are intended to give 
a clear idea of the wants, &c., of tbe Scarlet and other 
running kinds of Kidney Beaus, yet, much that is there 
said applies equally to the Dwarf varieties; only the 
j latter, being of a less robust character, have never been 
j such favourites with the general mass of cottage 
gardeners; but as there is a greater diversity amongst 
these, and as they come into use sooner, and, requiring 
no sticks, are adapted for situations where these supports 
cannot well be bad, a good breadth of French Beans 
is a very useful plot of ground; but as tbe treatment 
necessary to give them requires more explanation than 
our limit now allows, I must leave that subject for the 
present. J. Robson. 
SEA WEEDS. 
{Continued from paye 103.) 
We next come to a very beautiful and delicately-formed 
order of Sea Plants, tbe 13th, or, 
CEBAMIACE.E. 
“ r.ose-red, or purple Sea Weeds, with a filiform frond, 
j consisting of an articulated, brandling filament, composed 
j of a single thread of cells, sometimes coated with a stratum 
of small cells. Fructification, 1. favelln?. berry-like re- 
j ceptacles, with a membranous coat containing numerous 
angular spores; 2. tetraspores attached to tbe rarnuli, or 
more or less immersed in tbe substance of tbe branches 
scattered.”— Harvey. 
This order contains, among many others, tbe exquisitely 
beautiful Geranium diaphanum, looking like Mosaic work, 
with its alternate light and dark cells; Griffithsea selacea, 
which dies immediately on being placed in fresh water, but, 
dolphin-like, becomes more beautiful in colour. The noble 
1 Ptilota plumosa, so peculiarly a northern weed, with its rich, 
I brown, graceful, feathery fronds. The lovely CaUithamnion, 
, in all its delicate varieties ; so delicate, indeed, that it is a 
cause for wonder how these tender plants ever bear to be 
tossed about as they are by tbe rough waves of the ocean ; 
1 or, as Shakspere poetically calls it, 
11 The pretty vaulting sea.” 
And again, 
“ The murmuring surge 
That on the unnumber’d idle pebbles chafes.” 
1. PTILOTA. Ay. 
“ Frond inarticulate,linear, compressed, or flat, distichous, 
pectinato-pinnate, the pinnules sometimes articulate. Fruc¬ 
tification, 1. roundish, clustered favellse, surrounded by an 
involucre of short rarnuli; 2. tetraspores attached to, or 
immersed in, the ultimate pinnules. Name from tbe delicately 
pinnated frond.”— Harvey. 
1. P. plumosa (Feathery).—This very handsome, feathery 
weed, of a rich, deep crimson-brown, is found growing on tbe 
thick leathery stalks of Laminaria diyitala. It is very 
common in Scotland. I have bad my finest specimens from 
Ireland. Sometimes tbe fronds are rouuded at tbe tips like 
tbe feathers on a ben’s back; at others, sharp and narrow, 
like tbe hackles of a cock. This plant is not found in the 
south of England. 
2. P. sericea (Silky).—So called from its soft and silky 
texture. Tbe frond is so much branched that it is not easy 
to display it to the best advantage on paper; it is rather a 
dull, dead brown, grows on rocks, and is found, unlike its 
more hardy brother, P. plumosa, on tbe southern shores of 
England. On some specimens, which I had from a friend 
in Jerseyq were little chains of the rare and beautiful 
zoophyte, Crisia chelata, or Bull's-horn coralline; very 
minute, in “ sickle-shaped branches, looking, when magnified, 
like bull’s-homs inverted, each one arising out of the top of 
another. 
2. MICROLADIA. Grcv. 
“Frond filiform, compressed, distichously branched, 
traversed by a wide articulated tube, surrounded by nu¬ 
merous, large, coloured, angular, radiating cells, the outer 
coat formed of minute cells. Fructification, 1. sessile, 
roundish, involucrated favellai; 2. tetraspores immersed in 
the rarnuli. Name from two words signifying small and a 
branch.”— Harvey. 
M. glandulosa (Glanded). Very rare, and parasitic on 
other plants, of a fine- red colour, and having some resem¬ 
blance to Geranium rvbrum. It lias been lound by Mrs. 
Grillith, Miss Warren, Mr. T.alfs, and Mrs. Gulson. 
2. CEEANIUM. Roth. 
“ Frond filiform, one-tubed, articulated ; the dissepiments 
coated with a stratum of coloured cellules, which sometimes 
extend over the surface of the articulation. Fructification, 1, 
sessile, roundish favellce, having a pellucid limbus, contain¬ 
ing minute angular spores, and subtended by one or more 
short involucral rarnuli; 2, tetraspores either immersed in 
the rarnuli, or more or less external. Name from a 
pitcher.”— Harvey. 
1. C. hubrum (lied).—Very common, hut a pretty weed, 
and making elegant specimens for the herbarium when 
young. It is then a fine, deep pink; but is very variable in 
colour, being sometimes dark brown, yellow, or even white. 
It grows on stones and rocks, and is from six to twelve 
inches long. 
2. C. botryocarpum (Bunch seed-vesseled).—Growing on 
rocks at low water; a very variable plant. “ The stems are 
hooked, aud bent at the base; of a purple-red colour, aud 
fading to green or yellow.” 
