2(58 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July 17. 
1 
triangular in form, and are more or less alternate, and 
so are the leafits composing each leaflet. The Unfits 
are spear-head-shaped, and so finely toothed at their 
edge as almost to appear fringed. The pair of leafits 
nearest the main stalk of the frond are so deeply cut as 
to be divided into still smaller, or sub-leafits. They all 
are bright light green on the upper surface, but the 
under surface is much paler. 
The fructification (sori) appears at first in oblique 
whitish lines, varying in number from three to seven, 
on the under surface of the leafits. The whiteness 
arises from a thin covering (called the indttsium), which 
bursts with a smooth edge on the side next the mid-vein 
of the leafit. The covering finally peels off, and then 
the sori, which are brown, spread until they cover the 
entire back of the leafit, all but the edge. This spread¬ 
ing, or running together, of the fructification is called 
confluent by botanists. The seed, or spores, are in 
various states of growth from April to October. 
There are two varieties, acutim (very pointed), and 
obtusum (blunt). The only differences between these 
and the species we have described are that the fronds, 
the leaflets, and leafits of acutim extend to a longer 
and sharper point, whilst those of obtusum are more 
rounded. The intermediate forms are so various, that 
we really consider the above not entitled even to the 
subordinate distinction of a variety. 
Variegatum is a more certain variation, for it is very 
distinctly variegated with cream-colour. It was found 
on the church of Shottisbrook, in Berkshire, during 
1847, by Mr. Silver. 
The generic name, Asplenium, is derived from a, 
not, and splen, the spleen, alluding to the supposed 
medicinal power of some of the species to lower the 
activity of the spleen. The specific name, Adiantum 
nigrum, is literally translated in the popular title, Black 
Maiden-hair. 
This is one of the common Ferns of the British 
Islands, being found very generally on old walls and 
among stones in shady places. It is spread over all 
Europe, and was known as a native plant to our earliest 
herbalists. Geravde says it grows “ upon trees in 
shadowie woods, and now and then in shadowie banks, 
and under hedges.” We never found it upon trees, nor 
have we spoken of it to any one wdio has. Ray is 
more correct in stating that it is found “ in shadowy 
places at the roots of trees and shrubs ; in shaded 
fields, and on old walls generally.” The same author 
is the first of our native botanists who gave an accurate 
description of this Fern ; a description which he pub¬ 
lished in the first volume of his “ Historia Plantarum.” 
This Fern is one of the best among our native Ferns 
to examine as an illustration of the peculiar packing, 
or rolling up of the fronds previously to their expansion 
to the light and air. The point of the frond is turned 
inwards, so that as the frond unrolls the upper surface 
is always outwards, and the lower, or seed-bearing 
surface is always within and protected. 
In Ray’s time, the latter half of the 17th century, 
this Fern was believed to be a beneficial medicine in 
coughs, asthma, and some other diseases, and even 
Hoflinann recommended its use as an anti-scorbutic, but 
it is no longer employed even by herbalists. 
It is a Fern very useful to the cultivator of this 
Natural Order of plants, for it is evergreen, and will 
thrive in pots under glass even better than upon rock- 
work in the open air. Hence it is a good tenant for a 
Wardian case. It will endure continued exposure to 
bright sunshine, but is then of a dwarf stature, but 
under shade, and in a favourable soil, it attains a 
medium size. The soil best suited to it is a mixture, in 
equal parts, of sandy loam, leaf-mould, limy rubbish, 
and pebbles. 
It is easily propagated by dividing the crowns in 
early spring. April is as good a mouth as any for this 
purpose. 
CUTTINGS IN SUMMER. 
Saint Swithin ought to be the patron saint of all the 
propagators ; if only for this reason, that his day is the 
best day in the year for putting in summer cuttings; 
that bottom and top-heat is then provided free of ex¬ 
pense; and that all that the propagator has to do is to 
provide the meaus for giving the right degree of 
moisture and the right degree of stillness to the air 
which surrounds his handiwork. 
The natural conditions, that is, the glare of the sun, 
and the too much or too little dryness of the open air 
about this time, are well known to be great enemies to 
this kind of propagation—out door cuttings, as we say ; 
yet many, very many, cuttings will root now easier and 
at less expense than at any other season, with merely a 
slight screening from the sun, such as the north side of 
a hedge. Between this point and that at which propa¬ 
gation ceases to be profitable out-of-doors, the natural 
conditions are overcome in so many ways, by different 
individuals, that a great choice is left for the amateur to 
choose from ; and my object, to-day, is to explain some 
of the ways which have proved the best and the easiest 
to follow', by those who know very little of gardening, 
but who are anxious to learn all they can, and are able 
and willing to pay the best pipers to the bargain. 
Pinks. —I shall begin with Pinks. The best strike of 
them I ever saw or heard of was under my own eye, 
many years ago. Mr. Muirhead, now, and for many 
years, gardener to Lord Charles Wellesley, was then one 
of my helps, and at a consultation on the 20th of July, 
1837, he undertook to strike 500 Pink pipings, or 
cuttings, without iosing more than two cuttings out of a 
hundred, or only ten out of the whole lot. I believe 
there was some sort of betting over this feat; and I 
recollect that I rather sided with a couple or three other 
very clever assistants against Muirhead; but in about 
six weeks he struck off the 500 with the loss only of 
four cuttings, and three out of the four w’ere killed by a 
mere accident. The glass fell on them and crushed 
them. 
When a gardener’s son takes up propagation from a 
natural taste, and is naturally clever himself, he makes 
the best of all propagators. Our winner was of that 
class; but I refer to this merely for the opportunity of 
saying, that we who “ pipe” for The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener cannot make a propagator: tea, all the pro¬ 
fessors in all the colleges will never make a propagator 
worth sixpence for his salt, by writing or talking, unless 
the student has some natural taste for the work. You 
might think that self-interest would bo the greatest 
inducement for an amateur to learn to be a clever hand 
