24 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, October 9, 1860. 
KEEPING APPLES AND PE AES. 
I made some remarks in the previous spring on keeping 
Apples and Pears exposed amongst grass during winter, and may 
have mentioned that I sent some specimens of them to the 
Pomological Society. Rut as that winter was not severe, I have 
the following to state in favour of the plan, so contrary to the 
general belief that frost js as injurious to both Apples and 
Pears as it is to Potatoes. Last autumn I put half a dozen each 
of a few different kinds of Apples and Pears into a Sea-kale pot 
on grass covered with a net to keep out mice and birds, on the 
north side of a fence. And though thus exposed to the 
most severe winter since, perhaps, that of 1838, I found 
on the 16th of February most of them in good condition ; 
while the ripest of the Pears, after being kept a few days in 
a warm vinery, were of good flavour. I sent some speci¬ 
mens of them to the Pomological Society, but never saw the 
report of those once-severely-frozen Apples and Pears. How¬ 
ever, they appeared equal, both in keeping and flavour, as those 
of last year, which were reported thus :—“ March 3rd. Beurre 
Ranee was sweet and juicy. Winter Crasanne ripe and juicy, 
but tasteless. Knight’s Monarch and Suzette de Bavay, under 
its own name, as well as under the name of Jean de Witte, hard 
and unripe, but containing the elements of juciness and sweet¬ 
ness of Apples. The best of those kept as above, was Bir¬ 
mingham, under the name of Court of Wick, small, firm, juicy, 
and sweet. The rest were chiefly kitchen Apples, amongst 
which were fine specimens of Gogar Pippin, a firm, good¬ 
keeping Apple, not so well known as it deserves, and the White 
or Norfolk Stone Pippin.” Although I have made those re¬ 
marks, I wish it to be understood, that perhaps the softer kind 
-of both Apples and Pears may be injured by severe frost, and 
also that much injury is sometimes done by handling or remov¬ 
ing them while frozen.—J. WlGHTON. 
CULTURE OF FERNS IN BASKETS. 
I WAS well pleased to see the communication from “ T.,” in 
The Cottage Gardener, respecting the cultivation of Ferns 
in baskets; and to all lovers of that beautiful class of plants I 
think the subject should be of great interest, not that we consider 
it at all new, but that the plants thrive so much better in baskets 
than in pots, and some of the species are seen to so much more 
advantage when suspended from the roof of the house in which 
they are grown. 
The Horticultural Society called attention to the subject at 
the great fruit show held in St. James’s Hall two years since, by 
offering special prizes for “Ferns in baskets suspended;” but 
none were brought forward, and judging from the collections we 
have had the pleasure of looking through during the last few 
years, the plan does not seem to have been adopted in any in¬ 
stance in a general way, although we frequently meet with in¬ 
dividual specimens. The usual plan seems to -be pots, brick 
pots, in most plant-houses of the present day ; so much so, that 
in several cases we have thought that the general appearance was 
more pots than plants, and these looking far more interesting in 
some exotic ferneries where they are frequently getting green. 
Nearly three years since we had a plant each of Adiantum 
cuneatum and A. assimile, in nine-inch pots. They had ceased to 
thrive, and we thought it necessary to give them a shift; but on 
turning them out of the pots it was found that the tiny creeping 
rhizomes of the plant had, on coming in contact with the sides, 
turned downwards, and were making rapid progress towards the 
drainage-hole in the bottom, and each of the rhizomes appa¬ 
rently ready to push out hundreds of fronds immediately they 
could get to the light. 
This suggested the idea that if they were put into baskets we 
should soon have quite a large plant. Two of these were pro¬ 
cured about twenty inches in diameter, the plants were trans¬ 
ferred to them, and in about two or three months from that 
date we had two of the most beautiful globular masses of elegant 
little fronds that we ever beheld, with not even room to get a 
finger through (under or over) to the basket without at first 
moving the fronds on one side. Those have never ceased to 
present the same interest up to this time, and they appear as 
though they will be just a3 good for the next five years. No 
one can tell what the baskets are made of, as they are quite in¬ 
visible. Since that time we have moved a great many other 
Ferns with creeping rhizomes to baskets, and to our mind not a 
phsenogamous plant in our collection possesses so much interest 
all the year through as those little plants. 
Davallia dissecta, bullata, and pentaphylla, have quite sur¬ 
rounded the baskets, and seem to cling so pertinaciously to their 
quarters, that, when I have wished to remove a bit for a friend, 
it reminds me of attempting to move a limpet from a rock— 
mutilation is the usual consequence. Phlebodium percussum 
and stigmaticum ai’e now highly interesting objects—the former 
showing off its beautiful fructification so well suspended, and the 
latter embracing the now decaying wood of the basket, as though 
it would say, “We part not until death.” We never saw the 
real beauty of the genus NephrGepis until they were put into * 
baskets. Adiantum formosum sends the rhizomes and fronds in 
all directions round the basket; the former six or eight inches 
below, while formerly they used to burrow in the pots, and thus 
lose all interest. 
We have been moving a fine plant of the lovely little Pteris 
scaberula from a pot to a basket. Next year we expect it 
quite a picture. Indeed, all the plants that we have changed 
seem to thrive admirably; nothing can be more striking than j 
the change in appearance of Polypodium plumula, and a ' 
few others, which appeared sickly while in pots, but now grow 
quite rampant. For plants that grow from a single crown, as 
Blechnum corcovadense, Cibotium Schiedii, &c., we have adopted 
I a galvanised wire basket made in the shape of an ordinary flower¬ 
pot to the sizes required. These, in every instance, succeed just j 
' as well as the others. 
Mr. Beaton when here in the spring wa3 pleased to name 
; them crinoline pots, but since that time we have quite covered 
the crinoline appearance of some of them, by planting a dwarf 
species of Selaginella around the sides. This covers the whole 
very rapidly, and to our eyes looks quite unique, presenting as it 
does one mass of luxuriant vegetation. 
Perhaps some of your numerous correspondents would be kind 
enough to tell us if they have adopted baskets at any time, and 
with what success. Your very able coadjutor, Mr. Fish, would 
much oblige.myself and several other readers of The Cottage 
Gardener, if he would give us a chapter on baskets, with what 
he considers pro and con. We feel quite disposed to try more of 
them, unless there are “ breakers a-head,” and these, if any, I 
feel sure Mr. Fish with his great experience could point out. 
On a future day I will write a few lines concerning other 
plants that we have put into baskets, including Heaths, Begonias, 
Fuchsias, &c., and in what manner we consider the plan superior 
to pot culture. Meantime, I may say that my object in jotting 
down the above was to call the special attention of amateurs and 
others who take personal interest in their plants to “ T.’s ” 
j communication.—J. A. Summers, Gardener to A. Monaredien, 
j JEftq., Forest Sill. 
PLANTING A BED of TOM THUMB GERANIUM. 
COVERING a trellis with trofjeolum 
STAMFORDIANUM. 
I intend forming some new beds for growing Tom Thumb 
Geraniums and Calceolarias ; but previously to fixing upon their 
dimensions, I should like to know'at what distance apart they 
ought to be planted, one plant from another ? How far from 
the edges of grass should they be ? Would there be any dif¬ 
ference in the distance, supposing the Tom Thumbs were plunged 
in pots ? 
Would Tropceolum Stamfordianum grow sufficiently to cover 
a wire fence 3 feet high ? What would be best for training upon 
a wire fence 18 inches or 20 inches high ? Both fences have 
good exposures. 
Is there any white variety of Calceolaria worth using for 
bedding?— Aurea Floribunda. 
[The most respectable diameter for circular beds for Torn. 
Thumb, variegated Geraniums, and Calceolarias, is just six feet. 
The distances at which all Geraniums and other bedding plants 
are planted are regulated entirely by the size of the plants. We 
have planted very small Tom Thumbs six inches apart and three 
inches from the grass; also at nine, twelve, eighteen, and 
twenty-four inches apart, and from three to nine inches from the 
grass. To have only four or five inches from the leaves of one 
to those of the next is the best rule for them. Tom Thumbs 
should never be planted in their pots. 
Tropseolum Stamfordianum will cover a wire fence double the 
height of three feet, and just as it gets to the top the frost comes 
