THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
103 
November 28. 
ccntro of each of these lobes, or wings, there are three or 
four hair-like teeth, which have the power of irritating 
over the whole leaf when touched. They are, as it were, 
the bait to tempt a fly to light upon the leaf, and the 
moment it docs so, the leaves close upon it, the hairs on 
the margin interlacing each other as the fingers of a 
j man’s hands would do to clutch anything, and hold it 
| fast. The fly may struggle, but it is vain; the trap holds 
it firm till it dies, or, as we may suppose, as long as the 
motions of the fly to escape continue to provoke the 
irritable power in the leaf. The late Mr. Knight sup¬ 
posed, and also some authors before him, that the 
gases arising from the dead bodies of insects so caught 
and killed are useful to the well-being of the plant; and 
I have known some cultivators, holding and agreeing to 
such an opinion, place small pieces of animal flesh near 
the plants, to encourage still more their growth ; but, I 
must confess, that I never could induce a plant to grow 
more freely with such animal food. Plants that had no 
flesh near them flourished, with proper management, 
equally as well without it. In fact, we may consider this 
an exploded idea. The use of this power of catching and 
killing flies, is another of these mysteries that man, with 
all his' boasted power, cannot penetrate. The plant 
flowers, throwing up a stem six or seven inches high, 
producing small white flowers, which require a magnifier 
to see all their beauty. It is the curious mechanism, and 
irritability of the leaves, that render this plant interesting 
to the cultivator. The closing of the leaves may be 
artificially caused by touching the spines on the leaf 
with a straw; but this must not be practised too often, 
or if it is, the leaf will be injured and die. 
This highly interesting and curious plant has been 
long in this country, but is yet rare, because its culture 
has been, and perhaps is, yet, imperfectly understood; 
and, in consequence, it is one that I have taken under 
my wing, to make its culture better known. I trust the 
above very feeble description will have excited a desire, 
in some of our readers that have the necessary con¬ 
veniences, to obtain a plant (it is not expensive), to try 
their skill, with the information I am about to lay before 
them in cultivating it. 
It requires a moderate temperature , rather more than 
a greenhouse, and not so high as an Orchid-house; a 
moderate stove will suit it well, with the thermometer 
varying in summer 65° to 80°, and in winter from 55° 
to 60°. 
The soil for it should be fibry peat, with some chopped 
sphagnum, and small pieces of broken pots amongst it. 
Culture .—The pot containing the plant should be, in 
size, in proportion to the size of the plant. The largest I 
ever saw was in a 6-inch pot. Let it be well drained, and 
set the pot in a common garden-pan or saucer, filling it 
with moss gently put in. Set a bell-glass over the plant 
just within the pot; but let it have air by propping up the 
glass every day ; and in summer, the glass may he with 
advantage left off for an hour or two in the morning, and 
also in the afternoon. Keep the pan full of water, and 
shade the plant from the midday sun. Though this 
plant catches flies, yet it cannot protect itself from the 
devouring slug. That enemy must be diligently sought 
for whenever its treacherous approaches are observed 
by the slime it marks its track with. By this careful 
method constantly followed, the plant will thrive and 
grow progressively, and produce in abundance its 
wonderfully-formed leaves. 
Propagation .— This may be accomplished three ways. 
By Seeds .—The plants do not always mature seeds, 
but when they do, let the glasses remain off longer 
than usual to ripen it. As soon as that takes place, 
prepare a pot to receive them, by filling it with the 
above-described compost, and covering the surface with 
a thin layer finely sifted, then scatter on it the seeds, 
covering them as thinly as possible with silver-sand. 
Set the pot in a pan of water without watering the soil, 
and place a bell-glass over the whole, largo enough to 
enclose the pan also. In this humid atmosphere the 
seeds will quickly germinate, and as soon as the plants 
are visible, give a little air daily. As soon as they can 
be taken hold of, transplant them into the smallest pots 
made, and place them under a hand-light till they become 
large enough to repot, when they may be placed and 
treated like the established plant. 
By Division .—If a plant thrives well, it will send up 
offsets round the base of the old plant. When these 
have roots of their own, they may be carefully divided 
off the main plant with a small sharp knife, retaining all 
their roots; pot them into small pots in the compost, 
and treat them in the same way as the young seedlings, 
only shade them more closely till fresh roots are emitted; 
then gradually inure them to bear light and air ; after¬ 
wards repot them as they require it, treating them like 
the mother-plant as they advance in size. 
By Leaves .—When the plants neither produce seeds 
nor offsets, and increase is anxiously desired, then take 
off a leaf or two, lay them on white moss chopped fine, 
in a pot covered close with a bell-glass, and densely 
shade them from the sun. They will, though I must 
confess not freely, form a plant or two on the margin of 
the leaf. When that takes place, and roots are emitted, 
give a thinner shade, and a small quantity of air for an 
hour or two every day, increasing the quantity of air, aud 
lessening the shade as the plants advance in growth. 
When fairly established, pot them off, replace them 
under a bell-glass, the pot being set in a shallow pan of 
water; and afterwards repot them, and treat them like 
the others. T. Appleby. 
HARDY FERNS. 
It is with great pleasure that I commence writing 
about these lovely plants, the hardy Ferns, and that 
pleasure arises chiefly from the fact, that any one 
possessing a few perches of ground may grow the most 
of the species that I shall treat upon ; and, therefore, I 
am somewhat sanguine that my remarks, the result of 
many years experience, will be, or may be, useful to a 
great number of the readers of The Cottage Gaedener. 
It also pleases me to write about them, because they are 
great favourites with myself, as much so, or more, than 
any other tribe of plants, always excepting the Orchids. 
“The labour we delight in physics pain,” was said by one 
of our greatest poets; by which he meant, that any 
trouble we bestow upon what we delight in, is purged 
away by the pleasure we anticipate and receive in doing 
it. Though these charming plants are at this day grown 
by many persons, yet, I think the cultivation of them is 
on the increase; and, 1 trust, when my instructions are 
completed, and, I hope, understood, that many more 
persons will be induced to turn their attention to, and 
enjoy the pleasure of growing them. 
They may be grown on the highest hills, and in the 
lowest vales. Many of them will bear the smoke of 
large towns, flourishing where few other plants will live ; 
they will grow in the shade of trees, or shrubs, and 
on the naked exposed rock ; some will only thrive in 
boggy, wet swamps; whilst others will grow on old 
walls; in fact, there are few places where a judicious 
selection of the proper species for right situations will 
not thrive. These selections, and situations for them, it 
will be my business in the forthcoming pages to point 
out. 
To grow the greatest number of species, two methods 
may be resorted to. The first (which is the best), is to 
form a spot to grow them in the open air, by imitating 
the various positions in which they are found growing ; 
wild. This includes rockwork formed with stones, | 
