July 21. 
i 
THE COTTAGE GARDENEK. 
bouse, at Pine Apple Place, which, partly from its situa¬ 
tion, and partly from being syringed every day to 
moisten blocks of wood on which Orchids grew, was kept 
constantly moist. On this wall the common Pteris 
serrulata grew so thickly from seed as completely to cover 
it; so much so, that it became necessary to pull them 
away, and whitewash the wall, to prevent the Ferns from 
growing so much. And in Messrs. Loddige’s Orchid- 
, house there was, and may be yet, growing on the walls 
| quantities of the Adiantum capillus veneris , chiefly seed¬ 
ling plants. These facts point out forcibly how we 
ought to propagate Ferns from seed. 
I have raised great numbers of choice species by 
placing a slightly moss-covered brick under a hand- 
light, in a moist heat, or shady part of an Orchid-house, 
or even common stove. On these bricks I scattered the 
seeds, and soon had the pleasure to observe them grow¬ 
ing ; the only care bestowed was surrounding the bricks 
with common green moss, and keeping it moist by fre¬ 
quent sprinklings of tepid water. I was careful, of 
course, to sow seed, and not dust; for the capsules, or 
seed-cases, soon burst, the seeds fly off, and leave nothing 
but dust. The best way to be certain of real seed is to 
| frequently brush oft’ on the brick the real seed before it 
flies off from the fronds. The seed itself has much the 
appearance of dust, and requires a strong magnifier to 
distinguish it. If the desired species sown upon these 
bricks do not vegetate, the operator may be sure that no 
seed has been sown. Some kinds will not vegetate by 
this method, but may be raised under a bell-glass. To 
effect this, fill a pot with the compost described for 
potting Ferns in, sift a portion through a very fine sieve, 
and place it about half-an-inch thick upon the compost; 
then give it a good watering, so as thoroughly to wet 
the whole of the soil. Fit a bell-glass to the pot, lift it 
off again, and sow the seed upon the moist soil. The 
best way to sow the seed is first to cut off two or three 
fronds, and brush off the seed on to a white sheet of 
paper, then, with the finger and thumb, sow the seed 
evenly all over the surface of the moist earth. Place 
upon it a bell-glass, and set the pot in a shady part of 
the stove or Orchid-house. The sun must never be 
allowed to shine upon the bell-glass. 
Fern seed will keep for an extraordinary length of 
time. The late Mr. Shepherd, Curator of the Botanic 
Garden, at Liverpool, obtained a crop of many kinds of 
! stove Ferns, the seeds of which were brushed off speci- 
1 mens that had been brought from the tropics several 
years previously to coming into Mr. Shepherd’s posses¬ 
sion. He sowed them in pots filled with peat earth, 
covering each pot with a fiat piece of common glass, 
and where the cultivator has no bell-glasses he might 
adopt the same method. To prevent drip from the 
condensed water on the underside of the flat glass, all 
that he would have to do would be to turn the glass 
over when the vapour had condensed; the air of the 
house would take it up off the glass. If bell-glasses are 
used (and I greatly prefer them) they will require wiping 
dry occasionally. The bell-glass should be a little 
smaller than the pot, so that water could be poured 
gently upon it to wet the surface of the soil whenever it 
appears dry. The seed is so minute, and so easily 
perishes, that the finest rose-pot would infallibly destroy 
it, but by applying the water over the bell-glass, the soil, 
by capillary attraction, becomes gradually moistened, 
and thus the delicate seed is preserved uninjured If 
all goes on favourably the plants will soon make their 
appearance probably mixed with several common 
species. Some recommend baking the soil to prevent 
these from growing, but I always find seedlings of the 
desired species did not come up so freely, if at all, in soil 
so prepared. The experienced eye will soon detect the 
kinds wanted to grow, and the rest may be weeded 
out as soon as they are distinguished from the species 
30b j 
expected. When these have attained their second 
or third fronds they should be pricked-out, as it 
is technically termed, thinly over the surface of fresh 
pots, in fresh compost, at about an inch apart. In this 
position they may be allowed to grow till the leaves 
touch each other, then pot them off singly into thumb- 
pots, place them in a shady place till they are fairly 
established, and then subject them to the same manage¬ 
ment as the larger established plants. 
By this method I have successfully raised some of the 
more rare species, such, for instance, as the beautiful 
Gheilanthes lendigera, and the Qymnogrctmma chryso- 
phylla, as well as the rare and beautiful Gcenoptcris 
squamata. 
Propagation : by Division. —Many kinds of Ferns can ; 
be propagated successfully by division. Some send out I 
stolones or creeping root-shoots—the Adiantum assimile { 
is a notable example—and these can be easily detached 
from the parent plant, potted aud shaded for a few days, 
and then soon make good plants. These suckers, as 
they may be termed, are most conveniently detached at 
the time of potting, or a pot well filled with them may 
be taken to the potting bench, the soil shook off, and 
the plant divided into as many divisions as it will make, 
then potted separately, and shaded till established. 
Others that do not send out these side-shoots, or suckers, 
may be divided into several plants, care being taken 
that each division has a good lot of roots to it. The 
Adiantum cuneatum, and several others, may be divided 
into several pieces, or plants,in this manner. One point 
I must not forget to mention, and that is, young plants 
are most certain to grow when thus divided. Old plants 
I have divided into apparently well-rooted divisions, 
and such I have often found to fail nearly entirely. 
Plants of two years old, that have several crowns, 
succeed almost every one; but plants three or four 
years old almost as generally fail to grow. 
T. Appleby. 
(To he continued.) 
NOTES ON THE GOOSEBERRY. 
Although it has been often said that Lancashire and 
other north-western counties excel all other parts of 
England in the production of this fruit, as far as size 
and crop are concerned, while it is also said that the 
north of Scotland excels Lancashire in the flavour and 
perfection to which they are brought; nevertheless, we 
opine that the great Metropolis would be poorly pro¬ 
vided, did it depend on these localities for its supply; 
for we question very much if a single basket finds its • 
way into the London market from either of those 
districts. Supposing, therefore, that the neighbourhood 
where this fruit is extensively grown for that purpose, 
must not be altogether unsuited to its growth, a few ob¬ 
servations on the treatment it receives there may not 
be altogether out of place in a journal especially 
adapted to convey just and economical principles. 
Although, doubtless, quantities of this fruit are cul¬ 
tivated in the counties bordering London, on the south ] 
and west, and even some may be grown a little to the 
north of it, still the great bulk are grown in the counties 
of Surrey, Sussex, and Kent, or the parts of them which 
lie to the south-east of the great market of the world ; 
and as the last-named county is the one from which the 
greatest supply is sent, we will confine our observations 
to the treatment the bushes receive there, as well as 
other notices of the evils it is subject to. 
Beginning with the last-named first, wo will observe 
that the Gooseberry-trees in Kent seem to suffer moro 
from the small birds, in early spring, than we have ever 
known them to do anywhere else; as it is not unusual, 
after being pruned, and left apparently all right, to find 
