August 15.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
305 
given; managing it so that the flower-buds do not 
appear until the pot is crammed with healthy roots. 
Now, glance for a moment at the old plants we left 
getting nursed in the cold pit. In eight or ten days 
after being cut down, and receiving moisture about the 
tops rather than among the roots, the pots may receive 
a fair watering,—aslmuch as will reach every good root. 
When the buds break, gradually give air. When one 
inch in length or so, take the plants to the potting-bench, 
shake the soil from the roots, examine and prune the 
roots a little, re-shift into similar, or, what in general 
will answer better, smaller-sized pots ; place them again 
in the cold pit, and keep close until the fresh roots are 
running in the new soil, then give air gradually until at 
length you expose them entirely to the atmosphere; 
i steering clear, however, of cold rains and anything like 
frost. Plants cut down in June and July, if transferred 
to small pots, will require to be placed iu blooming pots 
in the end of October. Those cut down in the end of 
July or during August, will not want repotting until 
the new year has brought lengthened sunshine; and 
from these different successions of bloom may be ex- 
: pected. To have it fine, cleanliness, air, light, room, 
I and a temperature seldom below 45°, must be leading 
1 considerations. During winter, unless during sunshine, 
the temperature should never be higher. After a sunny 
day it may be from five to eight degrees lower at night 
1 with impunity. In the case of large plants, little stop¬ 
ping will be required after repotting. Thinning instead 
j will often be necessary. Hence, old plants generally 
produce the earliest bloom, as every general stopping of 
the shoots as well as every shift given retard the 
blooming period. 
Cuttings inserted now would flower early enough next 
season, if kept in small pots and not stopped. Young 
plants when first potted, will do well in rich sandy soil; 
as they get older more nutritious matter may be added 
by degrees, and the best for them is two or three year 
old cow dung. At the last shifting we generally use 
three-parts fibry loam, one of peat, one of leaf mould, 
one of cow dung, and one of silver sand. A dressing of 
cow dung on the surface is often given when the flower- 
buds appear. R. Fish. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
STOVE PLANTS. 
Exotic Ferns. — To grow specimens such as are 
exhibited at the metropolitan shows by Mr. Williams, 
] gardener to C. Warner, Esq., the following method 
should be practised:—Choose in March a young healthy 
plant, the roots of which have just reached the sides of 
the pot, say of one five inches in diameter. Take a pot, 
eight inches in diameter, and drain it well, fill it just high 
enough to receive the plant with a compost of rough 
fibrous peat, turfy loam, and half decayed leaf-mould, 
mixed with a due proportion of river sand. Then place 
the plant in the middle of the pot, leaving the drainage 
attached to the ball; fill in around it with the compost, 
pressing it down gently with the hand, till the pot is 
full. Then give tho pot a smart stroke or two upon the 
bench to settle the soil. Place the plant in a position 
where it will receive a due proportion of light, and as 
near the glass as will allow it to receive the benefit of 
the rays of the sun during the morning and afternoon, 
shading it from the noonday sunshine, and giving it a 
1 liberal supply of water after it has begun to grow freely. 
The strong growing kinds will require repotting twice 
before August into a pot increased in size proportion¬ 
ately to the growth of the ferns, using the same com¬ 
post. By this liberal treatment, a plant six inches high 
may be grown in one year to a bush two feet high, or 
j more, and as much across. 
The following species bear this treatment, and flou¬ 
rish well in consequence :— 
Adiantum formosum, A. trapeziforme, Aspidium serra, 
Allantodia axillaria, Asplenium faloatum, A. prsemorsum, A. 
nidus-avis, A. rhizophyllum, Blechnum brasiliensis, Chei- 
lanthus repens, Cibotium Barometz, Dicksonia adiantioides, 
Diplazium deeussatum, Gymnogramma calomelanos, G. 
ochracea, Lycopodium coesium arboreum, Meniscium pa- 
lustre, Nephrodium molle, N. exaltatim, N. pectinatum, 
Polypodium aureum, P. nereifolium, Pteris hastata, P. 
effusa, P. tremula, P. vespertilionis, and Woodwardia 
radicans. 
The more delicate growers require a little different 
treatment. The shifts at the potting time should be 
less; that is, supposing the young healthy plant to be 
in a pot three inches in diameter, a shift into a five-inch 
pot will be sufficient at once. This will allow a full 
inch of fresh compost (which should be a trifle finer) all 
round the ball. They should have the same number of 
shiftings during the summer, the last of which will 
leave them in nine-inch pots. If they thrive as they 
ought to do, they will then be specimens a foot or more 
high, and as much through, and very beautiful objects. 
The following are a few kinds that may be subjected to 
this second mode of treatment:— 
Adiantum curvatum, A. concinuum, A. cuneatum, A. 
macrophyllum, A. tenerum, Asplenium palmatum, Casse- 
beera faiinosa, Cheilanthes lendigera, Csenopteris cicutaria, 
C. vivipara, Gymnogramma clirysophylla, G. dealbata, Lyco¬ 
podium Wildenovii, Notbocleana nivea, Polystichum proli- 
ferum, Pteris collina, P. saggitiefolia, and P. palmata. 
Some British Ferns are much finer specimens if cul¬ 
tivated in the same way in the stove. The beautiful 
Adiantum cap Ulus veneris will by such treatment grow 
to an amazing size. A plant of this species was exhi¬ 
bited by the same successful grower referred to at the 
commencement of this article, which measured a foot 
high and eighteen inches across. This plant had been 
grown in a vinery from March up to the time it was 
exhibited, and was so fine as almost to cause a doubt as 
to its identity with the puny plants of the same species 
cultivated in the usual way. The pretty Asplenium 
marinum, or Sea-side fern, will scarcely exist away from 
its native habitat , excepting when it is grown in heat, 
and then it rivals in beauty and vigour its foreign 
rivals. We recommend the following British ferns, in 
addition to the above, to be cultivated in the stove in 
the same manner, knowing from experience that they 
will agreeably surprize the grower by their luxuriance 
and beauty:— 
Allosorus crispus, Asplenium fontanum, Cystopteris alpina, 
C. dentatus, C. fragilis, Lastriea loncbitis, L. rigida, Poly¬ 
podium calcareum, P. cLryopteris, P. pliegopteris, and P. 
thalyptris. 
The only point to attend to will be to keep such 
specimens of hardy ferns so cultivated in a cold frame 
or pit from September to March, to give them a rest 
during that season, and so enable them to shoot again 
with equal vigour the following season; potting them 
into fresh compost to strengthen their summer growth. 
We might have given much longer lists, but we con¬ 
sider the above quite sufficient for a moderate collection, 
or medium sized house. It is an easy matter to increase 
the number, if space and inclination render such in¬ 
crease desirable. We shall be glad to see their culture 
more attended to, because no objects in the plant world 
is more interesting, or more worthy of attention and 
care in cultivation. 
Gesnerace;f, (Continued from page 174J. 
In our former communications we have principally 
confined our remarks to the large genera of Achimenes 
and Gloxinia, alluding only to one species of Gesnera, 
