198 
THE COTTAGE GABDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, December 27, 1859. 
B. sylvUstriS (wood). Scape naked, one-flowered; leaves 
obovate, crenate, three-neryed. 9 in. White. June. Portugal. 
The Daisy is a favourite flower with both rich and poor. The 
cottagers’ gardens are plentifully stocked with the double varieties. 
On the continent the nurserymen have turned their attention to 
improving the varieties with great suocess; and every cottager may 
follow their example, and with similar results. The Daisies re¬ 
quire a good, not-over-rich, sandy loam, and frequent replantings, 
or they will perish. The best time to divide them is August or 
September. They maybe planted in beds or as edgings. Take 
up the plants and pull them in pidfces, each piece to consist of a 
single crown with all its roots as entire as possible; then, the 
ground being prepared, open a trench, chop down the sides nearly 
perpendicular, place against it a plant and press some fine earth 
against it; then, if in a bed, place the next plant five inches off 
and add the earth as before, and so on till the row across the bed 
is full; then dig some more of the bed sufficient to allow six 
inches between the rows, chop down the edge of the trench and 
plant again as before. If edgings are to be planted, then proceed 
in a similar way round the beds intended to be edged, by opening 
a trench deep enough for the roots, and plant them in a similar 
way, only put them in two inches from plant to plant; then fill 
up the trench and finish it off neatly, by chopping off the rough 
edgings outside the row of Daisy plants. The other species may 
be increased in a similar way, replanting them immediately in 
fresh soil where they are to bloom. If seedlings of the Beilis 
perennis are desired, then save the seeds of the best sorts and 
sow them in a warm border in April. Transplant them into a 
prepared bed as soon as they can be handled, five inches apart 
every way. Here let them remain to be proved when they flower. 
Number or name such as are decidedly new and superior, and 
pull all the others up and throw them away. Then increase the 
good kinds as directed above, and plant out again in any mode 
you may think desirable. Some of the varieties imported from 
abroad are considered tender, and are usually kept in pots under 
the shelter of a cold pit through the winter. 
BELLIUM. 
Nat. ord. Asteraceae. Linn. Svngenesia superflua. 
Generic Character. — Calyx leaflets equal. Receptacle naked. 
Seed-vessel conical, with a chaffy, eight-leaved crown. Pappus 
awned. 
Bellium bellidioides (Daisy-like). Stolones creeping; scape\ 
naked, filiform, one-flowered ; leaves spatulate. 3 in. White.. 
July. Italy. I 
B. crassifolium (thick-leaved). Stems many, ascending; 
leaves sub-radical, thick, obovate, entire, base attenuated, 
rather downy ; scapes downy much longer than leaves. 3 in. 
Whitish-yellow. June. Sardinia. 
B. intermedium: (intermediate). 1) in. White. August. Italy. 
B. hinutum (minute). Stem capillary, leafy; leaves ovate, petio- 
late. 1 ft. White. August. Levant. 
These Daisy-like plants are very interesting. They may be 
appropriately named the Summer Daisies, for they flower after 
the real Daisies have done. The first named is an annual, but 
may be propagated by cuttings; the second requires the shelter 
of a frame in winter, being only half-hardy. 
All propagated in the same way as the common Daisy, which 
see. Add a little sandy peat to the sandy loam, in which the 
Daisy thrives. T. Appleby. 
{To be continued.) 
CULTURE OF TRICHOMANES RADICALS. 
Your able correspondent “ Karl ” has with great clearness, 
written a very excellent article in The Cottage Gardener -upon* 
this beautiful species ef Fern. Some of your readers, I doubt 
not, are again reminded of having made a pleasing acquaintance 
with some specimen of this interesting species, who now regret? 
it* loss. Why so unsuccessful in its cultivation? say the few > 
who suceeed, with an emphasis upon the monosyllable “why.” 
We regretfully articulate the same, not forgetting to remmdb 
them of the scarcity of anything like grown specimens, even 
growing plants of the same; for are we not (save in name) 
almost strangers to the oft-repeated “ Killarney Fern ? ” 
Hoping it will interest some of your many readers,’I will offer 
a few remarks as to how it may be successfully grown, not- so 
much from practical experience as from close observation of the 
means employed by an enthusiastic admirer of these plants in our 
immediate neighbourhood, with trifling expense, and with little 
(the word to an admirer is chimerical) trouble. 
Indeed, each of your readers may, unassisted, succeed. No 
greenhouse, not even a pit, is necessary, and certainly I would 
not intrude a semi-expensive gardener. 
The Killarney Fern, of which we are sneaking more directly, 
(our remarks being equally applicable to other species), is the 
Trichomanee radicans, or Irish Bristle Fern. It is found, with 
slight variations, in at least seven distinct parts of the world, and 
among these rather plentifully in Madeira. Its fronds seldom 
are a foot high, of a compound olive green, semi-transparent— 
beautifully so when seen with the particles of a moist atmo¬ 
sphere condensed upon its fronds. There is a variety named the 
Long-fronded Irish Bristle Fern {Trichomanes Andrewsii). Its 
general height exceeds one foot. It is very scarce. 
The plant obtained, procure a plain glass Wardian Case j size 
according to the plant; in the centre of this pile some pieces of 
the best-to-be-procured porous sandstone. The very best for 
this purpose is found plentifully in Cumberland. It is upon and 
near this stone that the distinctly pretty Fern, the Allosorus 
crispa, thrives so well. 
Having three-parts filled the centre of the Case hi this way, 
procure a piece with as undulated a surface as possible; and this 
piece, when placed upon the first-named pieces, shoidd make a 
slightly-elevated centre. With a small copper wire secure the 
Fern to this centre stone, placing substantial bits of moss upon 
the roots or other parts of the plant against which the wire 
might come in contact. Fill the remaining vacancy with peat,— 
a dark variety of peat found in woods, slightly sandy, is pre¬ 
ferable,—dusting a little over the centre stone. Give it just 
sufficient water to moisten the whole, but no more. Upon this 
and the after attendance, as regards water, rests much. Say 
you, How is the water to drain off? How be absorbed so as 
to require more? Upon this and the above depends the 
whole—as they are attended to, so you succeed. The absorbing 
process is accomplished by simply but thoroughly drying the 
interior of the shade or bell-glass of your Case each morning 
with a clean glass-cloth. The whole of the soil, &c., is to be 
kept damp with occasional moistenings. The first morning or 
two after the same, with a gentle finger, brush the heavier gem¬ 
like drops of moisture off the fronds. 
In a shady place under a window, in a library, drawing or 
dining-room, the Killarney Fern in its Wardian Case will thrive 
well.-—, Gardener to F. Pryor , Fsq. } Digswell Souse, 
Welwyn. 
SOME OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS.—No. 2. 
THE HEPATICA. 
This charming little plant, one of the beauties of early spring, 
may be classed amongst the neglected old favourites. No ad¬ 
vance has of late been made in the improvement of this class of 
plants : yet, from the months of February to the middle of April, 
this little pet stands almost unrivalled in the flower garden ; and 
most effectually does it do its part, for the blossoms arise in pro¬ 
digious plenty from well-established roots. 
There is certainly an elegance attending their low state ; and 
the lively colours of these plants still heighten their excellence 
and enhance their worth. The flowers appearing before the 
foliage render them still more interesting, and they make a beauti¬ 
ful show in small beds, or in the borders of the pleasure-grounds. 
The double varieties are preferable to the single, although both 
have their merits. The single varieties come into blossom earlier 
than the double; while the double varieties have larger flowers 
and continue much longer in blossom. 
The culture of this plant is exceedingly simple, therefore a 
few remarks will here suffice. I merely allude to this plant in 
order to persuade those who have flower-beds near the mansion, 
which are sometimes indispensable to be kept filled, that this old 
neglected plant is particularly well adapted for the purpose. It 
docs not like to be often removed; for it is well known if the 
roots are too frequently parted or moved (unless with great care), 
they are liable to die, besides which the flowers decrease in size. 
Yet, if planted in beds or borders and not disturbed, they will 
flower profusely for several years. I state this because plants 
intended merely to occupy the beds while in blossom should not 
be parted when planted, but should be grown expressly for 
the purpose at such a distance apart as to admit a spade being 
placed under them, so as to lift them in patches without injury to 
the roots, and deposit them whole in the beds. This is the 
