Oct. 11th, 1884. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
85 
for the growth of any of the numerous Cabbage tribe, 
or dug into the ground in the autumn for the sowing 
of Onions in the following spring. 
Horse-dung is more valuable than the excrements 
of cows. It contains less water and is not so co¬ 
herent. For this reason it may be readily distributed, 
and as its nature is to decompose very rapidly it is 
termed a “ hot manure.” It will be found a useful 
addition to cow-dung, as it renders the latter more 
friable, whereby it can be more equably distributed 
through the soil. In consequence of this facility 
of decomposition in horse-droppings, the fertilizing 
elements become sooner fit for absorption and digestion 
by plants, and therefore their effect is shown at a 
comparatively early period after apjjlication. 
A word must be said with respect to the quantity 
and kind of litter employed in the stable or feeding- 
shed. Straw contains far fewer manuring ingredients 
than the excrements of animals. But, on the other 
hand, it importantly assists in forming a very energetic 
fertilizer from these excretions, because it absorbs and 
retains the urine—the more valuable part. Hence the 
manure will be strong or weak, in exact proportion to 
the quantity of liquid absorbed. Stable-dung rich in 
urine will pass more rapidly into fermentation, and 
become more quickly available as plant-food, than 
when poor in that constituent. When made from oat- 
straw, the manure will have a greater value than when 
wheat or barley-straw has been employed as litter, and 
wheat-straw stands before barley-straw in the amount 
of potash and nitrogen it will yield to the growing 
plant. 
Gardeners who cart horse-manure upon their land 
in a fresh, unfermented, strawy state, just as under 
ordinary treatment it leaves the stable, turn it to a 
better account than by leaving it without further 
attention to rot or ferment upion the dung-clamp. 
When it is introduced fresh beneath the soil, decom¬ 
position takes place under a protecting cover, which 
like all porous bodies has the power of absorbing and 
retaining the gases thereby set at liberty, until they 
are taken up by the roots of plants. In this manner 
those manuring elements are placed at the disposal of 
plants which in the common dung-heap fly off during 
fermentation into the air, and are often lost in large 
quantity by being washed away. 
(To be continued.) 
LEGENDS OF THE BRACKEN. 
In Russia the belief in the midsummer-flowering of 
the fern is in full force, as may be seen in Professor 
He Gubernatis’s Mythologie des Plantes. It is said 
that the man who finds the flower will acquire 
boundless wisdom, but the flower is only to be found 
for a single instant at midnight, and it is necessary to 
conquer the evil one himself before the blossom can 
be seen. This must be done in the following manner : 
on the appointed night he who dares to attempt the 
enterprise must select the particular fern which he 
desires to see flower, and must place near it the towel 
which he used on Easter-day. He must then, with a 
knife which he used on the same feast, trace a circle 
round the fern and round himself. At nine o’clock 
in the evening the devil will attempt to terrify the 
Christian, throwing at him stones, wood, and other 
heavy missiles ; but the watcher is exhorted to remain 
calm and to show no symptom of terror, as the evil 
one has no power to enter the magic circle traced by 
the knife. At the hour of midnight the fern blossoms, 
and the flower falls upon the towel, which the 
Christian must instantly seize and conceal in his 
bosom. The fortunate possessor, thanks to this 
possession, will know things present and things to 
come, and will be able to discover hidden treasures or 
lost cattle. 
In illustration of this belief a story is told in Russia 
of a countryman who had lost his oxen upon the eve 
St. John. In prosecuting his search for them he 
crossed a wood, and passed close to a fern at the very 
moment of its flowering, and the blossom fell into his 
shoes. He immediately became acquainted with the 
place where the cattle were hidden, and, going to it, 
recovered them, and took them with him. The fern- 
blossom still remaining in his shoes, he became aware 
of a certain place where a treasure was hidden, and 
told his wife that he would go and find it. “ Change 
your shoes,” said the good woman, seeing that his 
stockings were damp ; he unfortunately followed this 
advice and took off his shoes; at the same moment 
the flower of the fern fell to the ground, and he forgot 
all about the discovery of the treasure! In another 
version of the same story it is stated that the devil, in 
order to deceive the peasant, offered to give his boots 
in exchange for the wretched shoes of the countryman ; 
the latter consented to the bargain, and, giving up his 
shoes, lost all knowledge of the treasure he was about 
to seek.— European Ferns. 
-—- 
A TREE STUMP LIFTER. 
The Stump Lifter, illustrated below, and which 
with the descriptive note we have copied from The 
Scientific American, is the invention of Mr. Charles 
A. Blume, of Union City, Indiana. The rear end 
of a strong frame is mounted upon two legs that are 
provided with caster wheels which shift up and down, 
in order that the legs may rest upon the ground while 
the stump is being pulled, and upon the wheels when 
the machine is to be drawn over the ground. The 
front of the frame is supported upon an axle furnished 
with wheels. Extending across the top of the rear 
end part, is a beam from which hang stirrups to 
support the centre of an axle having pivot bearings at 
the end of the side timbers. Resting on this axle is 
the pulling lever, which has a semi-circular block to 
A TREE STUMP LIFTER. 
■work the chain—the block being placed a little eccen¬ 
tric to the axle for drawing up the chain quickly at 
the beginning, and for increasing the pulling effect 
when the greatest resistance occurs. The free end of 
the lever is suspended by a cord and pulley from a 
derrick mounted on the frame for raising the lever to 
lower the chain for hooking on to the stump. A strong 
rope, secured to the lever, extends down around a 
pulley in the end of the lever, then under a roller 
supported in the frame, and then around the axle of 
a powerful windlass. On this axle is a drum about 
which is wound the rope to which the horses are 
attached. The axle is also provided with a hand 
crank for unwinding the main rope, and winding up 
the other when the lever is to be set again. This 
construction gives great pulling power, since the force 
applied passes through, first, the windlass, second the 
cord and pulleys, and then the lever. 
CANDYTUFTS. 
The perennial types are best known under the name 
of Iberis, and the generic name comes from Iberia, the 
ancient name of Spain, wdiere the species abound. 
The common name for the Iberis is Candytuft; it is 
also known as the Candy Mustard, a tufted flower 
brought from the Island of Candy or Crete, and 
named Iberis umbellata. This is the botanical name 
of the annual Candytufts, of which there is now a 
large group, some of them very handsome indeed. 
We may say of all of them that they are well worthy 
of a place in the garden, especially Dunnett’s Dark 
Crimson, the Purple, the Giant White, and the giant 
flesh-coloured varieties sent out by Messrs. Vilmorin 
& Co., of Paris ; the White Rocket, with its long 
white, rocket-like spikes of flower; and that great 
improvement upon it, Dobbies’ Giant Rocket Candy¬ 
tuft, or as it is also known as Iberis umbellata 
Empress. The foregoing varieties are among the 
most showy and useful of hardy annuals; they have 
a compact, yet free-branching habit of growth and 
bloom profusely. In light free ground, if some of 
the annual Candytufts are sown in autumn they do 
surprisingly well in early spring, and flower more 
finely than when sown in spring. They are generally 
sown too thickly in spring, if gardeners would sow the 
seeds thinly in good soil, and then pull out superfluous 
plants, leaving the remaining ones 4ins. or G ins. apart, 
they would be much finer in every respect. 
Of the perennial or evergreen Candytufts there are 
many, and not a few of them are most useful, 
especially for covering rock-work and such places. A 
few of them are particularly well adapted for this, 
having a free-spreading growth which soon covers a 
large space of ground. One of the best is I. corifolia, 
a dwarf-growing kind, hardy, evergreen, and flowering 
profusely, producing handsome trusses of large, round 
stout flowers of snowy whiteness. Few Alpine plants 
are more worthy of general culture, either on rock-work 
or in the mixed border. It is a native of Sicily, easily 
propagated by seeds, cuttings, or division, and thriv¬ 
ing in any soil, doing well in open sunny spots. 
I. Gibraltariea is the Gibraltar Candytuft, a native 
of the south of Spain, the largest and showiest 
of the genus, growing 12 ins. or so in height, 
vigorously and erect, large flowers, often reddish- 
lilac, arranged in close heads, and appearing in spring 
and early summer. If planted out-of-doors it must 
be in a warm and sheltered situation, as it is not 
hardy enough to stand exposure to the open-air; it is 
a good subject for culture in pots. 
I. Gibraltariea hybrida is a beautiful garden variety 
raised by the late Rev. J. G. Nelson from I. Gibraltariea, 
and, it is said, one of the annual varieties. It has a 
close compact growth, and produces in early spring 
large symmetrical heads of sometimes white and 
sometimes pale purple flowers. It is a biennial, 
having to be renewed from seeds every year, and it 
does well in pots or in the open-air. I. Tenoreana is 
a good species not much grown in consequence of not 
being perfectly hardy, it should be planted on light, 
sandy soils, or in well-drained positions on rock-work, 
it has a neat habit of growth, and produces neat 
trusses of flowers, white changing to pale purple. It is 
a native of Naples, and can be increased by seeds and 
division. The old I. sempervirens—the evergreen 
Candytuft—-is the common rock or perennial Candy¬ 
tuft of our gardens, it has a half-shrubby, dwarf-spread¬ 
ing evergreen habit, is perfectly hardy, and in April 
and May its neat tufts of dark green are transformed 
into masses of snowy-white ; it is one of the best 
plants in the country for growing on the margins of 
the mixed border or properly finished off shrubbery, 
the rock-work, or for naturalization on bare rocky 
places and slippery banks. Like all its relatives it 
should be exposed to the full sun rather than shaded. 
It is a native of Greece, Asia Minor, Italy, and other 
places, and is readily increased by seeds, cuttings or 
division. 
There is a very dwarf and early-flowered perennial 
Candytuft named I. Pruiti, a charming thing for 
cultivating in pots, and suitable also for rock-work ; it 
bears white flowers. One named I. Garrexiana is but 
a variety of I. sempervirens, not sufficiently distinct, 
in fact this and several others prove to be mere 
varieties, and very slight ones, of the old evergreen 
Candytuft. While the perennial Candytufts do well 
in almost any soil that is fairly open, they like grit, 
and thus it is that they are so well adapted for rock- 
work. Their roots will travel for long distances, and 
it is of the greatest importance that the plants have 
ample space in which to root. We have seen the 
common evergreen Candytuft used with great effect in 
Lancashire, planted between large stones set one 
upon another in the form of upright rock-work, and 
the plants placed in good soil between the stones. 
Here they form dense, symmetrical, hanging tufts, 
looking like huge green tortoises, clothing bare places 
in winter and flowering in the most charming manner 
in spring. 
