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THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, February 7, 1860. 
HYACINTHS IN WATER-GLASSES FAILING. 
I shale be much obliged if you will inform me from what 
malady my Hyacinths are suffering. I put them in glasses about 
the end of October, banished them to the cellar until they threw 
down their roots nicely, which they did in about three weeks. I 
then brought them into the dining-room. Soon after the roots died 
away, and they looked badly. In about a fortnight three or four 
very thick roots appeared to each bulb, and no end of offshoots 
began to make their appearance. Ought I to have pulled them 
off ? I did not. Three of the bulbs are set for bloom, and three 
are grown immensely high, but no signs of bloom. Can you tell 
me what is the matter with the family ? How am I to preserve 
the bulbs for next season ; break off the offshoots or not ?—An 
Admirer. 
[We hardly know what is the matter, unless you have neg¬ 
lected giving water, or changing the water, at least two or three 
times a-week; or that, after giving the plants the stimulus of a 
warm room, they have been allowed to be frosted in one of the 
late severe nights. The great length of the leaves leads us 
to suppose that the glasses have been nearer the chimney corner 
than the window. It matters little what you do with these off¬ 
shoots now, as it is not likely the bulbs will be much benefited 
by removing them, nor can we hold out any hope that bulbs 
grown in glasses one year will bloom again in the succeeding. 
The bulbs will require one season’s good culture in earth, at any 
rate.] 
SOME OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS.—No. 5. 
THE AQUILEGIA, OR COLUMBINE. 
Among the many neglected old favourite flowers that are de¬ 
serving more notice may be classed the Rose Columbine. While 
the Chrysanthemum, Sweet William, &c., have made some rapid 
progress, the above once favourite flower is, I believe, scarcely 
superior to what it was when I was a schoolboy; and I believe there 
are better varieties to be found in the gardens of cottagers at the 
present day than in our well-cultivated ones. Surely this is to 
be regretted; and I trust before many years to see this old 
favourite flower elevated to the position in our gardens it 
deserves. 
Its easy culture is, no doubt, the cause of its being neglected. 
But few flowers make a better show in the early season than this 
old cottage favourite. The graceful drooping of the flowers, its 
profusion of blossom, its various colours, and the length of 
time it continues in blossom, should be recommendations of it 
to every one who has a garden in which to form a collection. 
Neither arc the above all the excellencies of the Columbine—the 
flowers are large and showy ; the plants are no ramblers, but of a 
size proper for any garden ; and these, with the other consider¬ 
ations, combine to increase their value and heighten them in our 
esteem. 
For pot culture the Columbine is well adapted, and well- 
grown specimens in pots look charming. It is equally deserving 
of pot culture as the Dielytra spectabilis, and will amply repay 
the cultivator for his trouble. 
Some few years since I had the pleasure of seeing a long 
border devoted entirely to the growth of the Columbine, and I 
need scarcely say it was the admiration of every one who was for¬ 
tunate enough to see it when in perfection. No one who has 
never seen a large quantity massed together can form any opinion 
of its beauty. 
In order to continue them in the greatest perfection, fresh 
plants should be planted every four years ; for it is observable 
that the youngest plants always exhibit the finest flowers, and as 
the plants get old they frequently sport in their colours, and from 
the superlative of elegance in variegation become plain. 
The seed should always be gathered from flowers of the best 
properties—that is to say, from the largest, most double, and 
the most distinct and brightest in colours. On the same plants 
flowers with these properties will often be found, and others of 
an indifferent nature, as in the case of the Balsam. The inferior 
flowers should be constantly clipped away as they appear, and 
the best only saved on those plants intended for seed. 
The seed may be sown in autumn or spring. Any common 
garden soil made fine will do for the purpose. The plants will 
require no further trouble except keeping them free from weeds; 
and, if the weather is very dry, occasional watering until they 
are fit to remove. A bed should then be prepared for their re¬ 
ception and the plants placed in rows about a foot apart. Early 
in autumn they may be removed to the placo in which they arc 
intended to blossom, and in the following May they will produce 
flowers. 
It is advisable, if the roots are intended to be propagated 
from, not to let them seed, but to crop off all flower-stems as 
soon as the blossoms have passed. 
In order to keep up a good succession of flowers, it is advisable 
to sow some fresh seed every year, and if you can rely on a friend 
it will be advisable to exchange seed every two or three years. 
All those which show bad colours or defective properties should 
be eradicated at once, and the remainder always kept free from 
weeds. The ground should be dug between the rows every winter, 
and a little manure added. This is all the trouble these elegant 
plants require.— Edward Bennett, Osberton. 
NOTES UPON FERNS. 
Neottopteris Australasica, J. Sm. (Synonyme, Tham- 
nopteris Australasica , Moore.) Fronds sessile, simple, elliptical- 
lanceolate, widening towards the top, coriaceous, glabrous; while 
very young and before they are unrolled they are covered with a 
brown downy substance. In full-grown specimens the fronds 
are three or four feet long, and six inches wide. Veins forking ; 
the venules running parallel and producing the sporangia along 
their upper side, covered by a thin membranaceous indusium. 
The points of the venules are connected along the margin of the 
frond by a vein which runs parallel with it. The costa, or 
midrib, prominent, acute, of a purplish colour. 
This noble Fern is a native of Australia, the peninsula of India, 
and some of the East Indian islands. It is sometimes confounded 
in gardens with Neottopteris ( Asplenium ) nidus, which is much 
inferior to it in beauty. N. Australasica can at once be dis¬ 
tinguished by the midrib being very acute below, while in nidus 
it is rounded. It is often called “ the Bird’s-nest Fern,” from 
the fronds being thrown out from the centre so as to leave an 
open cup-sliaped space. The leathery texture of the dark-green 
fronds, with the narrow parallel lines of sori, the dark purple 
midrib, and the habit of the plant, cause this to be one of the 
greatest favourites of the whole family. It succeeds well in a 
house, the minimum temperature of which is 40°, but grows 
stronger in a stove. 
Brainea insignis, J. Sm. (Synonyme, Bowringia insignis , 
Hook.) A dwarf tree-fern; the stem two to four feet high, 
densely covered with coarse, brown, shaggy hairs. Fronds 
pinnate, three feet long ; p inn re linear-lanceolate, four inches in 
length, nearly sessile, margin crenated. Veins branching, forked; 
the lbwer venules anastomosing (as in Woodwardia and Doodia), 
so as to form a single line of areoles on each side of the midrib. 
The sporangia attached to this transverse vein, and sometimes to 
the bases of the outer free venules. Sori naked—that is, without 
an indusium. Stipes short, clothed with hairs similar to those 
on the stwn. 
This curious Fern has all the appearance of a Cycad at the 
first glance, the fronds being thrown out from the top of a short 
thick stem. It is a native of Eastern Bengal and China. It was 
introduced from Hong Kong by Dr. Bowring in 1852. It has 
up to the present time been very rare; but having been raised 
from spores by one or two of the Belgian nurserymen within the 
last year or two, it is to be hoped that it will soon become more 
common. It is very distinct, and well worthy of general culti¬ 
vation. It appears to succeed better in a stove than in a cooler 
house. 
AsrEENiTTM Hemionitis, Linn. (Synonyme, A. palmatum, 
Lam.) Fronds occasionally tliree-lobed, but more generally 
palmate or five-lobed, the middle lobe being the largest, acute, 
cordate at the base, coriaceous, glabrous ; while in a young state 
dotted with minute scales, which drop off before the fronds 
attain their full size. Five principal veins from which the others 
fork. Sori produced along the upper side of the venules, covered 
by a narrow indusium. Stipes six inches long, purplish at the 
base. Rhizome thick, creeping or erect. 
This very distinct Fern (of which the fronds are shaped like the 
leaves of the Ivy, and like them are of a glossy green), is a native 
of the European and African shores of the Mediterranean ; it 
occurs also in Madeira, Teneriffe, and the Cape de Vjerd islands. 
A friend writing from Madeira says, “ I could never find this 
Fern on the south side of the island : indeed, all Ferns are more 
rare there than on the north side. In the forests at the head of 
the Serra d’Agoa valley it is very common. It is seldom seen at 
places with an elevation of more than 1000 feet. We saw it 
growing on the roofs of some of the cottages mixed with a bluish- 
