April 12, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
505 
thoroughly clean. If new pots are used they must be 
previously soaked and allowed to dry. The compost 
should consist of two parts good fibrous peat (broken 
to pieces by the hand), one part good fibrous loam, a 
little leaf-soil and silver sand, and some powdered 
charcoal. This should be sifted, and the coarse used 
to put over the drainage, as perfect drainage is an 
important matter. The charcoal will keep the soil 
open and sweet, which is also another important point 
in the cultivation of Ferns. Water should be applied 
sparingly until the plants have commenced to root into 
the new soil, but when fairly established they should, 
while growing, never know the want of it. In fact, 
any of the large plants which have not been re-potted, 
especially tree Ferns, will require water twice a day 
during the summer, for it is marvellous how quickly a 
Fern will collapse when neglected in the matter of 
watering. 
Tree Ferns are benefited by syringing the stems once 
or even twice a day during the summer, and over¬ 
head ; but for all Ferns that are of a soft nature, 
such as Adiantum Farleyense, A. Facottii, A. 
Legrandii, and the Gymnogrammas, I would not 
advocate syringing overhead daily ; a sufficiently moist 
atmosphere can be obtained by sprinkling the floors 
and slabs two or three times daily. 
Shading. —Ferns require to be shaded from brilliant 
sunshine, and it is desirable to have moveable blinds, 
so as to use them only when necessary. They are far 
preferable to a permanent shading, for although Ferns 
like a certain amount of shade, to grow them in a 
densely-shaded house will do them more harm than 
good. They will not look so well, nor their fronds 
keep so well when excessively shaded, for with proper 
light we secure a firm texture. They are of necessity 
subjected to a lower temperature during winter, so as 
to give them that one thing needful—rest, as on the 
little word “rest” depends our future success, To 
keep Ferns growing all the year round is a mistake and 
contrary to nature. In speaking of rest, I do not 
advocate the drying off of the Ferns, or the placing of 
them in any out-of-the-way corner, but that they should 
have a lower temperature, and have the water given 
them more sparingly, as they will not require it so 
often during winter. 
Temperature. —Most ot the Ferns I shall name in 
my selection are those from tropical countries, requiring 
a stove temperature during winter of 60° at night to 
65°, and 70° in the day, rising as the days lengthen to 
70° at night, and from 80° to 90° in the day during the 
summer, again declining as the days shorten. 
Selection.— In giving a selection of Ferns, I shall 
mention only those I have successfully grown. Of 
Adiantums, Farleyense, Baiisei, concinnum latum, 
dolabriforme, trapeziforme, Williamsi, Lathomi; of 
Aspleniums, nidus, alatum, viviparum ; Cheilanthes 
elegans, Davallia Fijiensis, Gleichenia dichotoma; 
Gymnogramma Peruviana argyrophylla, G. decom- 
posita, G. schizophylla gloriosa ; Nephrolepis daval- 
lioides, 1ST. d. furcans, N. Duffi, Pteris tricolor. Some 
of the sorts I have mentioned will grow in a green¬ 
house temperature ; but I have found them to grow 
more freely in a stove temperature. Gymnogrammas 
will require to be placed at the warmest end of the 
house during winter, as they do not thrive in a low 
temperature, and they must also be carefully attended 
to in the matter of watering. 
Insects that infest Ferns are aphides, scale, and 
thrips. I have found for aphides and thrips nothing 
better in the way of destruction than occasionally 
slightly fumigating with tobacco paper. If the Ferns 
have not been grown in too high a temperature, and 
not too densely shaded, the fronds will be better able 
to stand slight fumigation without injury. Scale must 
be destroyed by lightly sponging with warm water in 
which a little Fir Tree Oil has been mixed. I have 
found this safe and effectual. 
[To be continued). 
RHODODENDRON, COUNTESS 
OF HADDINGTON. 
Amongst first hybrids from two species of Rhododen- 
dron, few have given such wide satisfaction in gardens 
as Countess of Haddington. It was raised from Pi. 
Dalhousire, fertilised with pollen from R. formosum, 
both Himalayan species. The former is remarkable 
for its epiphytical habit, and in its native habitat in the 
Sikkim Himalayas it grows chiefly on the stems of 
Oaks and Magnolias. The hybrid under notice, 
however, takes kindly to cultivation, and never fails 
to flower under moderately fair treatment. Our 
illustration will serve to give an idea of a well-flowered 
untrained specimen. Our attention was again called 
to this useful garden plant on seeing a smaller specimen 
grown in a pot and stood upon the central stage of a 
greenhouse in the nursery of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, 
Forest Hill. It bears sixty-seven trusses of bloom, of 
which about half were expanded. The flowers are 
tubularly-campanulate, of great size, deeply tinted with 
pink in bud and for some time after expansion, but 
they change to a blush-white while still in perfection. 
The flowers of its parents show similar colours. The 
habit of the hybrid takes considerably after that of 
R. formosum, as it branches freely, while R. Dalhousiae 
in a wild state is somewhat straggling, with the leaves 
mostly confined to the tips of the shoots. 
- ~>X<~ - 
BOUQUET MAKING.* 
The art of bouquet-making at the present time is pretty 
well understood by our decorative florists, as also by 
many gardeners. This, no doubt, is owing in the 
main to the ever-growing love of flowers in our island, 
and the many prizes offered in competition every year 
at our various horticultural exhibitions. It may 
perhaps be going too far to say that in the matter of 
arrangement we have reached the climax : that we have 
in point of size there is not the slightest doubt. In 
fact, I think we have passed the boundary line, in¬ 
asmuch as a great many of the bouquets which we see 
at the present time are far too large and cumbersome 
for what they are intended, viz., to grace our ladies’ 
hands, for we must admit there are not many 
Samsons amongst them, even at the present. A 
great deal of the weight, no doubt, has been dispensed 
with to what it was formerly, in the manipulation of 
the stems from the flowers, and using light wires 
instead; this also has the additional advantage of 
keeping the flowers in any particular position. A 
cardinal point in bouquet making is to show every 
flower distinct without undue crowding, and, when 
possible, in a natural manner. Apropos to the weight 
of bouquets, I am glad to see the Royal Botanic 
Society has taken the initiative, and empowered the 
judges to decide against heavy arrangements. 
In regard to the arrangement of colours, this must 
depend almost entirely on the lady’s dress to be worn 
on any particular occasion, but as we have such an 
endless variety of shades and colours in our flowers, 
little difficulty should be experienced in making a 
selection. Our foliage plants, too, yield us an abundant 
supply, and if well arranged, it is difficult to decide 
which is the most beautiful. Simplicity should be 
aimed at in any arrangement; more than two or three 
shades are sure to clash and kill each other. Some 
bouquets look very well made of one particular kind of 
flower only, such, for instance, as Lily of the Valley 
and its own foliage, Heliotrope, Mignonette, Roses in 
many shades, also Tulips. Roses may be used with 
their own buds and high-coloured foliage surmounting 
and standing out boldly from the whole arrangement : 
this at once breaks up the formal character and heavy 
nature which it would otherwise possess. Then, again, 
we have in two shades a lovely combination. Take, 
for instance, a pink shade and a deep crimson or maroon 
which we get in Rose La France and Prince Camille de 
Rohan, using buds of each, surmounting the ivhole and 
edged with either Rose foliage and buds or some of the 
numerous Maidenhair Ferns. In preference for such a 
bouquet I should use Adiantum Farleyense or A. 
Williamsii for an edging, and for the surface a few 
light fronds of A. cuneatum or A. gracillimum. The 
top Fern may be dispensed with if sufficient buds and 
light pieces of foliage are introduced. Ball bouquets 
may include with advantage a few not too highly per¬ 
fumed flowers, and for colour use, when possible, those 
*A paper read by Mr. Prewet, of Hammersmith, before the 
Ealing and District Gardeners' Mutual Improvement Society, 
March 26th. 
Rhododendron, Countess of Haddington. 
