June 27,1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
691 
FLORAL NOTES. 
Pansies and Violas never flowered more freely than 
this season, and the flowers are larger than usual. 
Ground trenched and manure of good quality put 
under the top spit is a good preparation and one 
followed by many of the leading Pansy fanciers in 
the North. Some competitors have varieties already 
in full flower, and many of the fancy kinds are 3 in. 
across. All herbaceous plants are doing extra well ; 
Aquilegias, Delphiniums, and Paeonies are very 
floriferous. The latter were lifted and divided, to 
reduce them, which has increased their vigour. A 
good collection of Paeonies is a valuable class of 
plants where cut flowers are required in quantity. 
Dahlias grown on steadily and established in pots, 
coming into flower at end of May, are valuable for 
cutting. We planted out our stock during the first 
week in June and cutting was going on at the same 
time. Planted carefully out of pots, tied to stakes, 
and watered, they go on freely into growth. Cactus 
and Pompon Dahlias are very good.— M. Temple, 
Carron, N.B. 
-- 
GARDENIAS. 
Last year I sent an account of the quantity of bloom 
cut from one old plant, or rather I sent an account 
of the first crop of blooms cut, and promised to send 
the number that was cut up to Christmas. I was 
prevented from doing so. Altogether I cut 300 
blooms from January, 1895, to December 1895. 
This year, from January 1896 to the present time, 
I have cut 414. That number has been cut and 
received by my employer and her friends, and it is 
my employer’s wish that I send an account up to the 
gardening papers, and enquire if either you, Mr. 
Editor, or any reader of this paper have ever known 
such a number to be cut off one plant in such a 
short time before. One gentleman who was visiting 
here said that he had never seen such blooms before ; 
they were more like Camellias.— Thos. Cockerill, The 
Gate House, Wirksworth, Derbyshire. 
[We do not remember seeing a plant large enough, 
in our opinion, to supply such a quantity of flowers, 
in so short a period of time. We understood the 
plant you mention has been in your possession for 
the last four years ; but as far as we recollect, you 
never told us what were the dimensions of the plant. 
In any case it must be exceptionally healthy. Is it 
planted out in a bed of loam ? Gardenias in gardens 
are usually so small, that the counting of the flowers 
from one plant, does not interest anyone.— Ed.] 
-- 
BRITISH FERNS. 
The monthly meeting of the National Amateur 
Gardeners’ Society was held at the Memorial Hall, 
Farringdon Street, City, on Tuesday evening, 
9th inst., when Mr. George Gordon, one of the vice- 
presidents, gave a lecture on British Ferns, with 
special reference to their cultivation in gardens of 
limited dimensions. Mr. T. W. Sanders, president, 
occupied the chair, and there was a large attendance 
of members, and an extensive exhibition of British 
Ferns, Mr. Vokes, of Southampton, Mr. Leonard 
Brown, Mr. Sinclair, and Mr. Harrison staging 
collections of splendidly-developed specimens. 
Mr. Gordon, in his opening remarks, said he did 
not intend in the comparatively short space of time 
at his disposal, to speak of the life-history of Ferns, 
or discuss the marvellous process by which their 
multiplication is effected, and new and beautiful 
forms created. He should, in compliance with the 
request that had been made to him, confine himself 
to their cultivation, in which, he was pleased to learn, 
the members were much interested. He was glad of 
this, because it justified the hope that the Ferns 
indigenous to the United Kingdom would at no 
distant date receive the attention from the general 
body of amateurs they so well merited, and that 
some, at least, of the many beautiful forms of the 
principal species would be represented in all gardens 
where beauty of form, as well as attractive colours, 
were appreciated. He should not attempt to exalt 
the native Ferns at the expense of those from other 
parts of the world, or, indeed, at that of other classes 
of plants; but he would claim for them that they 
would afford unbounded pleasure to those who gave 
them the attention necessary to the full development 
of their manifold charms. Upon this point he could 
speak from experience. It was now many years 
since he turned his attention to British Ferns, and, 
although he had not made a fad of them to the 
exclusion of other plants, he had from the first grown 
a representative collection, and had annually 
obtained from it many useful object lessons in plant 
life, and an immense amount of pleasure. The 
enjoyment he had derived from the culture of British 
Ferns was within the reach of the humblest amateur, 
for the possession of a large collection, or rare 
forms, was not essential. 
The cultivation of British Ferns had not during 
the past thirty years extended so rapidly as could 
have been desired, and for this there could hardly be 
any doubt the Fern specialists were in the main 
responsible. From thirty to forty years ago there 
was almost, if not quite, a mania for British Ferns, 
and a brisk demand sprang up for the forms of the 
principal species. To satisfy this demand plants 
were raised in large numbers from spores, and 
seedlings showing a slight difference in the size and 
form of the frond, no matter whether the difference 
contributed to or detracted from the beauty of the 
plant, were distributed under long, cumbrous, and 
unpronounceable names. In time cultivators grew 
tired of adding varieties showing trifling variations 
to their collection, and also of the frightful names 
inflicted upon them. He had no sympathy with 
those who objected to scientific names of all kinds, 
but in the case of varietal forms of British Ferns, as 
of other plants, the names should be simple and 
appropriate. Happily, there had of late years been 
a change for the better ; raisers had recognised the 
importance of new varieties possessing both distinct¬ 
ness and beauty, and that cumbrous names are not 
desirable. 
There were, it was pointed out, several ways of 
commencing the cultivation of British Ferns. If the 
cultivator is satisfied with the specific forms, and has 
access to woodlands and hedge-rows where Ferns 
are abundant, he can make a beginning by trans¬ 
ferring the requisite number of plants from their 
native haunts to his garden; if he has no such access 
it will be open to him to purchase the plants from a 
nursery or the coster’s barrow. But no one should, 
except in one or two instances, be satisfied with the 
species, with such a wealth of beautiful forms. The 
Male Fern, the Lady Fern, and Broad Fern, and the 
Hart’s-tongue, when growing luxuriantly in great 
masses, as they may be seen in Devonshire, Somerset, 
Cumberland, Yorkshire, and some other counties 
that were mentioned, were singularly beautiful ; but 
their places are the woodland, the hedge-row, and 
the shady lane, and not the garden. Especially was 
it desirable that those who had but little space in 
which to indulge their taste for plant culture should 
take advantage of the most beautiful forms Nature 
had provided for the embellishment of their gardens. 
The practice, which obtains of purchasing Ferns that 
have been dug up after they have commenced to 
make new growth and hawked about the streets, was 
very strongly condemned. In the first place, plants 
that had been so dealt with seldom survived, even 
with the greatest care, and in the second place, those 
who bought the plants assisted and encouraged those 
who were engaged in stripping some of the most 
beautiful parts of one of their greatest charms. Few, 
said Mr. Gordon, had an adequate idea of the rate 
at which the country is being despoiled of its beauty 
for the purpose of supplying the demand for Fern 
roots during the spring months, and he earnestly 
hoped that all who were in any way interested in the 
rural aspects of the country would do their best to 
discourage this vandalism. Some objection to the 
practice would be removed if the plants were utilised 
in beautifying town gardens, but of the thousands 
that were annually sold not more than five per cent, 
survived. 
The proper, aDd indeed the only course that 
should be taken in beginning Fern culture was to 
purchase nicely-established plants from a nursery in 
which a representative collection is grown. The 
varieties of the several species were stated to be so 
numerous, and to evince so great a diversity in 
character, as to afford a wide range for selection. 
To show the wonderful variation of the British 
Ferns, it was mentioned that Mr. E. J. Lowe 
described, in a small work entitled “ British Ferns,” 
1,859 varieties, of which 34 were forms of Adiantum 
Capillus-Veneris, 16 of Asplenium Adiantum 
nigrum, 313 of Athyrium Filix-foemina, 75 of 
Polypodium vulgare, 394 of Polystichum aDgulare, 
34 of A. aculeatum, and 450 of Scolopendrium 
vulgare. The diversity of character afforded by the 
varieties was shown by specimens of about fifty of 
the finest forms brought by the lecturer to illustrate 
his remarks. It was, of course, not necessary the 
cultivator should commence with any considerable 
proportion of the immense number of varieties. So 
far from this being the case, he advised the beginner 
to be satisfied with a few only at the first, and to 
increase his collection as opportunities offered. He 
suggested the following as comprising the best for 
forming the nucleus of a collection: Applebyanum, 
corymbiferum, cruciato cristatum, curtum multi- 
fidum, Elworthi, Frizelliae cristatum, glomeratum, 
plumosum, plumosum multifidum, plumosum 
elegans, ramo-cristatum, setigerum, Vernoniae and 
Victoriae, of the varieties of the Lady Fern, 
(Athyrium Filix-foemina) ; crispalo-cristata, folioso- 
digitata, and grandiceps, of the Broad Buckler Fern 
(Lastrea dilatata); Bollandiae, digitato-Jonesi, 
fluctuosa and grandiceps, of the forms of the Male 
Fern (Lastrea Filix-mas); cristata and grandiceps of 
the forms of L. propinqua; and cristata angustata, 
cristata and ramo-cristata of the forms of L. pseudo- 
mas ; bifido-cristatum, cambricum, trichomanoides, 
cristatum, grandiceps, pulcherrimum, and semi- 
lacerum of the varieties of the common Polypody 
(Polypodium vulgare) ; Bayliae, cristato-Jonesi, 
divisilobum plumosum, folioso-multifidum, gran¬ 
diceps, remoto-decurrens, and tripinnatum elegans 
of the forms of the Prickly Shield Fern (Polystichum 
angulare); and coDglomeratum, crispum majus, 
crispum Stablerae, cristatum, cristatulatum, digita- 
tum majus, grandiceps, laceratum, and ramo-mar- 
ginatum of the forms of Hart’s-tongue(Scolopendrium 
vulgare). The cultivator who had made consider¬ 
able progress with British Ferns would not be 
satisfied with the varieties of the species he had 
mentioned, but would include in his collection the 
various Spleenworts, the Hard Ferns or Blechnums, 
and the Bladder Ferns or Cystopteris, of which there 
were many beautiful forms, and the Oak, the Beech, 
and Royal Ferns, the last named being especially 
useful for planting in moist positions. 
Proceeding to speak of the cultural requirements of 
British Ferns, it was pointed out that the Athyriums, 
Lastreas, Polystichums and Scolopendriums thrive 
in any good garden soil, and that the Polypodiums 
make the most satisfactory growth in peat. When 
the soil is close in texture a liberal addition of grit, 
decayed vegetable refuse, and charred rubbish would 
be advantageous; but maiden loam, so frequently 
recommended for Ferns to be grown in the open, 
was an expensive luxury that could well be dispensed 
with. An ideal position for Ferns in the open was 
said to be a border on the north side of a wall, fence, 
or hedge, where the Ferns would be screened 
from the direct rays of the sun, and not be exposed 
to sharp currents of air. It was strongly advised 
that when Ferns are planted above the level, the 
mound or bank should be of sufficient depth to 
contain a good body of soil, so that it may not dry 
so quickly as to expose the plants to the risk of 
injury from a few days’ drought. With reference to 
the formation of rockeries for Ferns, it was suggested 
that the best results would be obtained by forming 
an irregular bank of soil of the desired length and 
depth, and then with burrs, tufa, sandstone, or other 
available material, arrange a series of ledges and 
plant the Ferns in their positions. When this is 
done it was pointed out the soil, plants, and rock- 
work sink together. It would, after a little practice, 
be found a simple matter to so arrange the material 
used for facing the bank as to give it much the aspect 
of a natural rockery, and prevent the water running 
away down the slope instead of soaking into the 
ground. One of the most important points in the 
cultivation of British Ferns in the open was to keep 
them well supplied with w^ter during periods of dry 
weather early in the season. Speaking generally, 
overhead sprinklings were described as of but little 
value as compared with copious root waterings. It 
was advised that while the soil must not be main¬ 
tained in a saturated state sufficient water should be 
applied to thoroughly moisten it to the depth to 
which the roots have extended. 
The cultivation of British Ferns in pots was lightly 
touched upon, and it was suggested that by the aid 
of a good selection many greenhouses and converva= 
tories occupying shaded positions in town gardens, 
and now bare and desolate, might be converted into 
a veritable Fern paradise. The essential conditions 
of success were said to be well-drained pots, a sub¬ 
stantial compost, careful watering, and shade during 
bright weather. With reference to the compost, one 
