356 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
transit. Perhaps the early part of summer will be the 
best season, because then it will have the warm weather 
to enable it to get over the journey. Having pro¬ 
cured a nice, young, healthy plant, place it under a 
bell-glass, just in the pot it arrives in for a few days, to 
recover the effects of the transit, then be on the look¬ 
out tor materials to repot it. I have found it to thrive 
well in white bog moss (sphagnum), chopped small, and 
the dust sifted out through a very fine sieve, and sandy, 
turfy peat pulled in pieces with the hand, sifting the 
dust out of it also, and, lastly, half-decayed leaves used 
as rough as possible. Mix these in proportions of two 
of the first and one of each of the latter. Throw in 
amongst this mixture a goodly lot of broken gardon-pots, 
in pieces about the size of your little finger’s end. 
Mix all well together, and the whole will form a compost 
open to allow the superfluous water to pass off freely, 
and yet the moss will retain moisture enough to keep 
the roots constantly supplied. Placo this compost in a 
warm place, to get thoroughly aired throughout. To 
pot any plant in cold, wet soil, is almost certain death 
to it. (I have no doubt many plants coming from a 
nursery, where they have been subjected to a high state 
of culture, suffer considerably by immediate repotting 
in compost in an unfit state.) Having got the compost 
into a comfortable state, neither wet nor dry, and mode¬ 
rately warmed, then look out a nice clean pot, a little 
larger than the one the plant has arrived in ; let it be 
well drained, for though this plant is a native of a 
marsh, it cannot live in stagnant water; there is some¬ 
thing in such water that is poisonous to the roots in 
pot-culture; probably some gas or other is generated 
that is injurious to vegetable life. After the pot is 
drained, turn the pot containing the plant upside down, 
and place one hand to catch the ball, give a gentle 
stroke on the edge of the bench, and the ball will come 
out entire. Examine the old stuff, and if it appears 
sour and sodden, remove the greater part of it carefully, 
preserving every root, however small; also look out for 
and remove all worms or slugs, if there are any, then 
put in some compost in the fresh pot, hold the plant in 
the centre of it with one hand, and fill in around it 
with compost till the pot is full, press it down firmly, 
and fill up again. Then take a larger pot, and put 
some green moss at the bottom, sufficient to raise the 
pot containing the plant rather above the rim. Pack 
moss round it till the pot is full, and then choose out 
some neat, fresh, green moss, and cover the entire 
surface of both pots with it, close up to the neck of the 
plant. It will then stand in a bed of moss, and will 
look very beautiful and fresh. Give a gentle watering, 
and cover the whole with a hand-light, high enough to 
allow space for atmospheric air. The best house to 
grow it in is a low stove, within eighteen inches of the 
glass. The temperature to be kept up is 70° to 75° in 
summer, and 55° to 00° in winter. • 
General Management: Water. —Apply this element 
regularly, but do not keep the soil too wet, as if it was a 
puddle. When the plant is growing freely, sprinkle it 
over head twice a week. The moss will grow rapidly, 
and to keep it short, clip it close to the compost once a 
fortnight. In winter give less water, and cease the 
sprinkling entirely. 
Air. — If the hand-light has a moveable top, and 
every hand-light ought to have it so, then prop it up 
about half-an-inch every morning in summer, and less 
in winter. If the hand-light is entire, then prop it up 
at the bottom, but rather wider, to let in an equal pro¬ 
portion of fresh air. 
I prefer a hand-light to a bell-glass, because there is 
less drip and more air; but I saw lately, in the stove be¬ 
longing to Mr. W. Itayncr, a zealous amateur in plant- 
culture, in Uxbridge, a plan of using a bell-glass, that 
is, I think, a great improvement. He chooses a bell- 
February 6. 
glass a little larger than the pot containing his plant or 
cuttings, and by a simple contrivance places the bell- 
glass so that no drip can possibly run into the soil or 
sand; that simple thing is nothing more than three or 
four slips of zinc, four or live inches long. One end is 
thrust into the soil, close to the inside of the pot; the 
other end is bent down outside, close to the pot also, 
then turned up again ; it then forms a kind of a hook, 
on which the bell-glass rests. It will easily be seen that 
the condensed water runs down the bell-glass sides, and 
escapes down the outer side of the pot, which, if placed 
otherwise, would run into the soil; besides, there is an 
opening all round, which gives air to the plant inside 
at all timos. This simple contrivance is, I think, a good 
one, and worthy of general adoption, especially to 
newly-potted plants requiring only partial elosoness. 
Propagation. —The Cephalotus may be propagated 
both by seeds and division. Seeds are sometimes per¬ 
fected, and should be sown directly they are ripe Sow 
them in very sandy peat, under a bell-glass in heat, and 
as soon as they are largo enough to handle, prick them 
out singly, in the tiniest pots, place them under a hand¬ 
glass in heat, and repot as thoy advance in growth, till 
they are large enough to be treated as a lull - grown 
plant. 
By Division. — When a plant is large enough it 
sends forth from its base young suckers. As soon as 
these have roots, divide them off from the parent plant, pot 
them in small pots, and place them under a hand-light, 
kept close, and shaded for a fortnight; they will then 
have made some fresh roots, and will bear a small 
addition of fresh air. Very little water must he given 
whilst in this weak state, but as they advance in growth 
more stimulants, in the shape of water, air, and light, 
should be allowed. The time for this division is about 
the end of April, and by the middle of Juue they may 
have a repotting, and be treated afterwards in the same 
way as the established plants. T. Appleby. 
HARDY FERNS. 
(Continued from page 222.) 
CETERACH. 
Ceterach oeeicinarum ( Officinal , used formerly in 
medicine).—The name is Ohcterak in Persia. A Fern not 
uncommon in Britain. I found it growing on the north 
side of old walls near Tethury, in Gloucestershire, in 
groat abundance. This shows how it ought to be 
cultivated, namely, on shady rocks. 
Fronds simple, but so deeply cut as almost to be 
pinnate; lance-shaped, about six inches long, densely 
covered with long, loose scales. Seed-vessels placed 
between the veins on the upper part of the frond. The 
veins are beautifully placed on the leaves like net-work. 
A very beautiful Fern, easily cultivated, and increased 
by dividing the tufted plants. 
LO MARIA, 
Most of the species of this genus of Ferns were 
formerly arranged under that of Bleclmum, a genus that 
had become quite unwieldy. The Lomarias are easily 
distinguished by their contracted fertile fronds, of which 
our L. spicant is a familiar oxample. None of the 
Bleclinums, as now arranged, are hardy. 
Lomaria Alpinum (Alpine).—This is a pretty dwarf 
Fern, from the hills of Van Dieman’s Land. It is 
generally kept in a frame ; but it will live through the 
winter, if covered in severe frost with dry fern-leaves 
or a hand-glass. I have had it live through severe 
weather close to a wall without any protection. Seed- 
bearing fronds contracted, and distantly pinnate, grow¬ 
ing six inches high. Barren fronds lance-shaped, erect, 
