90 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 9, 1886. 
luxuriance. As we saw the garden in August, it must 
be honestly said that it displays high-class cultivation, 
and reflects the highest credit upon Mr. Bowerman. 
On the walls Pears and Plums do-well, Apricots and 
Peaches do unsatisfactorily, owing to the nature of the 
soil ; whilst the best aspects are monopolised by the 
glass houses. 
There is a fine collection of Plums, and grand crops 
of Greengage, Brahy’s Greengage (a later ripener), 
"Washington; Jefferson’s, Golden Drop, Victoria, 
Magnum Bonum, and other good kinds. There are 
several trees of a seedling Plum raised some years since 
by one of the former Iiackwood gardeners, and which 
fruits wonderfully ; the fruits resemble the Diamond. 
Of Pears, Marie Louise is fruiting finely. The trees 
are chiefly horizontally trained, and in good seasons 
produce heavy crops. 
That Mr. Bowerman grows good Grapes is self- 
evident, although his houses are terribly heavily 
timbered, and at the moment of our visit undergoing 
a thorough repair, which was sadly needed. ■ His Black 
Hamburghs enabled him to take the first prize recently 
at Reading easily, and were far better than any shown 
the other day at South Kensington—firm, good-shaped 
bunches, with berries even in size and black as Sloes ; 
these, too, from Vines planted in 1870. One Vine 
carrying two rods had sixteen bunches, in all some 30 
lbs. of Grapes, and finely coloured—not a bad crop 
relatively. Gros Maroc, Alicante, Lady Downes, and 
Muscat of Alexandria are the chief kinds grown with 
Hamburghs, and are all good. Melons are largely 
grown in frames ; Blenheim Orange, Hero of Lockinge, 
High Cross, and Read’s Scarlet Flesh are the most 
favoured. A new range of pit-houses is being built, 
and others thoroughly repaired ; and during the coming 
winter advantages long wanted, and not before supplied, 
will (thanks to Mr. Hoare’s liberality) presently be 
forthcoming. 
There is a large Peach-house filled with fine trees of 
good kinds ; but more house-room for these fruits is 
much needed, especially as they thrive so indifferently 
outdoors. Several houses are devoted to the growth of 
decorative plants and the production of cut flowers, of 
which great quantities are needed. In one of these, 
growing in pots, Hackwood Park Tomato, the fine kind 
raised here, is fruiting wonderfully—the sample hand¬ 
some and rich-coloured. 
We had omitted in the proper place to mention that 
in the woods is one of the finest Abies Douglasii in the 
kingdom, and in another place is a brace of truly grand 
Hemlock Spruce. 
-->V<-- 
AN EVENING- WITH PERNS.* 
In coming before the members of this society and 
reading a paper on the subject of Ferns, I am not 
unmindful of the fact that there are present many who 
have had this class of plants under their charge for 
many years, and have attained to considerable perfection 
in their culture. The results of their labour and the 
excellent manner in which the plants have been dis¬ 
played on our exhibition stages, have added much to 
the beauty and interest of our shows, whilst in private 
gardens where such plants are grown, increasing 
pleasure is experienced by those wealthy patrons, and 
others of more limited means, who are charmed by 
gazing upon these light feathery products of nature, at 
once elegant and graceful. That Ferns are favourites 
with most people, whether cultivators or otherwise, is 
a fact that must be patent to all ; and that they are 
becoming more continually sought after and admired 
by increasing numbers will be as readily admitted. If 
we take a stroll in our markets, or more leisurely stand 
in the immediate neighbourhood of the flower stalls, we 
cannot but notice that many are particularly anxious 
that some fronds of Ferns may be mixed up with the 
flowers they purchase, special request being made that 
some sprays of Maidenhair may be included in the 
posy. Anon we observe others of a more venturesome 
disposition who will purchase plants of Adiantum 
cuneatum and Pteris serrulata and its varieties; whilst 
early in the season large quantities of hardy Ferns, such 
as Lastnea in variety, Scolopendriums, Polypodiums, 
Atliyriums and Osmundas are quickly purchased, and 
find a resting place either in the cottage garden of the 
artisan, the broad and expansive borders of our public 
*A paper read by Mr. W. Swan, Howiek House Gardens, 
Preston, at a meeting of the Preston and Fulwood Horticultural 
Society on October 2nd. 
parks, or in the neat and well-kept gardens of the 
wealthy. 
I am not unmindful either of those dwellers in our 
towns and cities where the atmosphere is inimical to 
the successful culture of many flowering plants that 
charm the eye and delight the heart, who, nevertheless, 
have an ardent desire to come into closer contact with 
the more lovely and retiring of the forms of the 
vegetable kingdom, and set their heart upon the adorn¬ 
ment of a window with baskets of Ferns, or a single 
piece of rockery covered with moss and dwarf-growing 
plants, who, by a wise selection and careful treatment, 
succeed in rearing a beautiful case of Ferns, ever fresh, 
ever adding to their beauty and attractiveness. These 
arc a source of pleasure to the careful cultivator, whose 
labour can only be given during spare moments, early 
in the morning, or on the return home after the toils 
and anxieties of a day’s engagements. They are at the 
same time a monument of perseverance and attention, 
and withal, an admonition to those who, with more 
spare time and greater opportunities, permit their 
moments to pass away without having anything as a 
reward for their efforts, or the result of their attention 
and skill. I may hope, ere I close, to make a remark 
or two upon this branch of my subject; but in truth 
Ferns can be used in such a variety of ways, and may 
be grown under such a number of conditions, that the 
limits of one paper will only permit me to touch very 
lightly on some of the phases of this interesting subject. 
I might speak of stove Ferns, greeenhouse Ferns, or 
hardy species ; or I might dilate upon tree Ferns, 
basket Ferns, Ferns for blocks, Ferns for cutting, Ferns 
suitable for pot culture, or those that succeed best when 
planted out in a natural manner among rocks and moss. 
I might speak of Ferns for exhibition, for the market, 
or for the dinner-table ; of filmy Ferns, or give some 
directions for drying Ferns, for all these matters may 
be embraced under the subject of this paper ; and when 
all had been mentioned or dilated upon, there would 
still be a large sphere spread out before us on which 
individually we mighttry our skill—namely, the putting 
into practice the suggestions we may have gathered, 
and endeavour to cause two fronds to grow where 
hitherto we have only secured one. Me must tend, 
and watch, and cultivate our plants so that we get finer 
crowns, better fronds, and a greater number of them 
than we have ever succeeded in growing before. During 
the past ten or a dozen years the taste for cut flowers 
for the adornment of the dwelling-house or the em¬ 
bellishment of the dinner-table, for button-holes for 
gentlemen and sprays for ladies, has increased at a very 
great rate, and with the'arrangement of the flowers, cut 
fronds of Ferns have been called into greater requisition 
than has hitherto been the case, and so when the 
former are expected to be supplied in considerable 
quantity, the latter must not, under any conditions, be 
presented with a slack or stinted hand. I do not pro¬ 
pose to-night treating upon any class of flowering 
plants. I trust some members present during this 
coming winter will see their way to the introduction in 
an essay of such subjects as zonal and show Pelar¬ 
goniums, Fuchsias, Gloxinias, Camellias, Cinerarias, 
Calceolarias, Azaleas, Begonias, &c. There are yet 
many subjects, and volunteers are assured of a hearty 
welcome. 
It would be a matter of considerable difficulty to 
enumerate the many species that are now known to 
science ; it would still be more onerous to attempt to 
mention and describe the large number of varieties into 
which many species may be divided ; since species, 
varieties, and the endless sports that are continually 
appearing, would be distressingly wearisome to present 
to you on this occasion. So, too, I think, would be 
the attempt to describe the many conditions under 
which Ferns are found in a state of nature in our own 
land, in other temperate regions, and in the more 
luxuriant and glorious stretches of country that are to 
be met with in the tropics. In passing, however, I 
may say our own islands can boast of only from forty 
to fifty species. These are represented by a large 
number of varieties—as witness, Scolopendrium vul- 
gare. This species, I doubt not, is known to all 
present. The common Hart’s-tongue Fern is so much in 
request for outside planting, that most probably every¬ 
one present has had at one time or another the pleasure 
of building a rockery, and planting this and other 
forms, so that in a very short time a rustic piece of 
rock and Ferns has become established. This one 
species is described in a standard work as having no 
less than sixty-three varieties, each sufficiently distinct 
to have a separate name. I question whether even 
this number would now be sufficient, as there is every 
reason to believe that many fresh forms have appeared ; 
for if the seed spores of a distinctly created form are 
sown and well cared for, the result will be that not 
only will the tufted form appear exactly similar to 
the parent plant, but many others beautiful and 
distinct will also present themselves, each deserving of 
culture, and sure to give pleasure to the cultivator. 
As it is with our better known British species, so, 
too, we find that many of the forms from the tropics 
will divide into beautiful varieties, some crested, others 
bifurcated, all having a beauty peculiar to themselves. 
The conditions under which Ferns are found in the 
tropics or in the British Isles are very various. They 
grow in rich profusion along the shady sides of old 
water courses, on the cliffs, the rocks and hills. The 
common brake Fern, Pteris aquilina, is met with in 
wild luxuriance in the open spaces in our woods and 
forests where the fronds attain a length of 4 ft. to 5 ft.; 
and just at the present season when the fronds are 
■ changing from their usual green colour to the many 
shades of red, brown, and yellow, there are few scenes 
in a country landscape more beautiful than trees and 
Ferns on hill and dale with a glorious sunset wrapping 
the whole in ever changing and continually bewitching 
scenes of beauty. 
I may here just mention that the peat we are so par¬ 
ticular in choosing and anxious to secure for the choice 
occupants of our stoves is just the roots and underground 
stems of this common species ; and the more our 
samples of peat are ramified with roots and fibre, to the 
exclusion of those of heather, grass, gorse, or other 
extraneous matter, so much better will they be for such 
things as Cattleyas, Dendrobiums, Anthuriums and 
other stout rooting plants that prefer a loose, light, 
open soil. In the tropics many of the forms that have 
creeping, running rhizomes are found growing upon 
trees where the roots run and ramify in many directions. 
Associated with Ferns in these positions are many of 
the epiphytal forms of Orchids, such stove plants as 
Bilbergias, Nidulariums, many climbing stove plants, 
&c. Iu cases such as these, which are very numerous, 
the falling leaves are caught in the tangled 
roots of the Ferns and Orchids, which in their 
turn catch the falling rain, and retain the moisture so 
needful for the support of the vegetable life we have 
just alluded to. The Ferns supplying the peaty soil, 
upon which the Orchids thrive open and free, permit 
the vast quantities of water that fall in some districts 
to pass very quickly from the crowns and rhizomes of 
many tender subjects. Ferns having fixed crowns are 
more often met with growing upon the ground in shady 
places, where the soil is moist and the flickering shade 
of the' leaves overhead break the intensity of the sun’s 
rays, and cause the atmosphere to retain a considerable 
amount of humidity. Bearing in mind, then, the 
conditions under which Ferns grow in a state of nature, 
we should endeavour, as far as it lays in our power, to 
assimilate our methods of treatment, and the whole 
range of our practice in regard to these plants, to a 
natural state—to the habitats and environment of the 
plants we have to cultivate. I, however, am far from 
saying that such knowledge is an absolute essential to 
success, as many fine plants are grown without the 
cultivator having any acquaintance with the countries 
or districts whence they come. Still, the practice is 
pursued, and fair results follow simply because earlier 
acquaintance with the plants was thus formed, and had 
been followed ever since. I think it would be well if 
we all had a better acquaintance with the native 
habitats, conditions, temperatures, and degrees of 
humidity the plants are subject to ere we have them to 
cultivate in our stoves or Ferneries, 
( To be continued.) 
-- 
JUDGING CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
As I have several times thought of writing a few 
notes on the above subject, and each time neglected 
doing it, I will now follow the lead of “ A Gardener ” 
and do so. It may, in some respects, be desirable to 
make separate divisions for the kinds of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums classed as incurved, but I do not consider it an 
absolute necessity to do so, simply for the sake of 
obtaining justice in competition. It rarely happens 
that competent judges place large blooms before small 
ones on the ground of size alone, for if they were to do 
