264 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Dec. 27th, 1884. 
Tie Jlmatmis’ tom. 
Window Fern Cases. —I cannot help thinking 
that a brief note of my experience in this direction 
will prove useful to many ; certainly if it but spares 
one individual a tithe of the trouble and expense it has 
cost me it will not have been done in vain. Well, 
then, about four years ago I took a great fancy for 
one of those pretty window fern rockeries and desired 
to have one fitted up outside a large window in one of 
my rooms. I at once sent for one who I had heard men¬ 
tioned as being clever at such work in order to consult 
him about it. In due time drawings were furnished and 
agreed to, and thew'orkwas speedily executed, leaving 
me in possession of a very nice, roomy case (unheated, 
of course), with prettily arranged Tufa rockery, 
with water dripping over it into the miniature lake 
beneath. 
So far, so good ; but now the trouble begins. The 
maker of the case planted it in due time, and very 
pretty it looked when just finished, but in less than 
a week the greater part of the plants had died or 
withered. Summoned to explain the cause, the artist 
floundered through a number of vague explanations, 
and wound up by saying that the things would no doubt 
pick up in a short time. But they did not “ pick up,” 
and, on the contrary, more followed the lead of their 
departed companions. I again sent for the maker, and 
finding that he knew even less about ferns than I did, 
I ventured to suggest that the plants were not suitable, 
and that in my opinion gold and silver ferns and 
such like were not suitable subjects for the work. At 
length we agreed that it should be planted again, more 
care in the selection being taken. The second planting 
was done, but a similarly melancholy result took place, 
and renovation after renovation had to be made. I 
was heartily weary of it, and my costly fernery in place 
of being a pleasure was a sort of standing joke 
against me among my friends. Had it not been for an 
unconquerable dislike to being beaten I would gladly 
have had the thing removed. 
But as I went on I perforce gained some experience, 
and as I generally touched on the topic of ferns when¬ 
ever I got in company with any one likely to know 
about them, I got, with the aid of books, a little know¬ 
ledge about, and a great love for, those charming plants. 
In time, too, by finding the continued good health of a 
few ferns, I got to know that it only remained to make 
a proper selection and the object for which I longed 
would be attained. Meanwhile my fernery was always 
a source of trouble and annoyance, always costly, and 
at best but a shabby affair. I consulted one authority 
after another, but only succeeded in finding out two 
or three good plants, until in a lucky moment I put 
the question to one who not only knows plants well, 
but combines with that knowledge a thoughtful study 
of Nature’s ways. To my question, “ What shall I 
plant in my window fernery in order to keep it pretty 
all the year round ?” his few words of reply, “Plant 
principally Japanese ferns, adding only such others as 
you have proved to be suitable and you will have no 
trouble wdth it in future,” was oracular, and as I now 
know it furnished me with that key to the situation 
which I had long thought to exist. 
My friend further gave me a list of plants, most of 
which I soon obtained at a very reasonable rate, as I 
found that they were many of them largely cultivated 
by the market growers. My window 7 fernery was again 
replanted in April, 1883, those of the plants only being 
retained which had proved by their good behaviour 
that they were worthy of it, and with the finish of that 
work all my troubles with my window fernery ended. 
Since that time it has been nothing but a pleasure to 
me and to my friends, and instead of being the frequent 
tax on my purse which it formerly was, it has not 
since cost me a shilling, except for a desirable plant or 
so added. Thus proving the difference which exists 
even in such small matters between doing things on 
right instead of on wrong principles. 
Apart from the constant trouble and expense conse¬ 
quent on frequent replantings, nothing like the perfect 
grace which the plants gain in time by their own 
natural growth and mingling can ever be attained 
where they are frequently disturbed. Nothing can 
exceedthe beauty of the climbing Lygodium japonicum, 
with its flat finely cut barren fronds, and its curiously 
crimped and notched spore-bearing ones, as they twine 
all over the sides and top of the case, hanging down 
gracefully here and there among those planted beneath. 
Before getting this fern no plant of any kind could be 
got to go over the tops, and now its beauty is such 
that the whole case might better be devoted to this 
one plant than filled with the things which occupied it 
before. 
For brevity sake I may as well enumerate the best 
plants in my window fernery, as to them neither hot 
weather nor cold seems to come amiss, and to advise 
all who are troubled in this matter to try them. They 
are :—Onyehium japonicum, Cyrtomium falcatum, 
C. earyotideum, C. Fortunei, Lastrea opaca, L. aris- 
tata variegata, L. Sieboldii, L. erythrosora, Pteris 
serrulata, and Polystichum setosum are the very best 
things ; they are all Japanese, and w 7 ith them I have 
used the Japanese Aspidistra, Cordyline vivipara, 
which sends out its growths on gracefully hanging 
twigs; the variegated Ophiopogon, and the green and 
coloured forms of the creeping Tradescantia. Also 
thriving well and without giving trouble are Pteris 
cretica, Davallia canariensis, Pteris longifolia, the 
British Maiden-hair, Adiantum Capillus-Veneris, the 
British Hart’s Tongue, Scolopendrium vulgare (which 
I find does best when seedlings are planted), and 
several other ferns whose names I do not know, and 
which I have selected on account of their fronds 
resembling in texture those of my favourite Japanese 
varieties; indeed I believe them to be natives of that 
country. Clinging over the rock, too, are the Ficus 
repens and F. minima. 
Had I but received in the first place that informa¬ 
tion which ultimately brought me such a cheap and 
perfect success, I should have been saved no end of 
trouble and disappointment; I am therefore sure that 
many of your readers will be benefited by my encroach¬ 
ment on your valuable space. I may say that my 
window case is open to the room, and receives no more 
heat than what it gets from it.— Madeline. 
The Management of Plant-houses in 
■Winter.- — I once heard an old gardener say that as 
a rule “ fire to exclude frost should not be started till it 
is actually freezing.” He held that the object should 
be just to keep pace with the frost, and not to drive 
the thermometer up to 55 degs. and 60 degs. 
Further, he contended that the highest point at which 
the thermometer should be kept when the fire is 
banked up for the night is 42 degs. or 40 degs., or 
even 38 degs. is a better standard, and which the 
practical cultivator might be pretty certain to adopt; 
but at 42 degs. no positive injury can be done, and 
will, perhaps, all things considered, be safer for the 
amateur gardener. But many amateur gardeners 
act differently to this : they, on the first indications of 
frost, get up a brisk heat early in the evening, say 
GO degs., by seven o’clock ; then they bank off the 
fire for the night, leaving the internal atmosphere to 
go down to freezing point by the morning. Those 
who do this can readily understand, if they reflect 
upon their acts, why it is their Cinerarias are infested 
with fly, and the Camellia buds fall from their stems, 
and they are made to suffer other perplexing losses. 
Fire heat is of great value for the purposes of 
excluding frost and drying up damp; but it is 
injurious to apply it when it is not wanted, and this 
not a few amateurs are apt to do. Really, a house is 
better without it than with it, except in the case of 
frost, or a prolonged interval of wet damp w T eather. 
A writer whose testimony is at least worthy of 
respect has stated that it “ should be remembered that 
from 6 degs. to 10 degs. of frost outside will do little 
harm to the occupants of the greenhouse; in fact, 
they would endure the thermometer going down to 
freezing point in the house better than they would a 
sudden rise in the heat, as the latter calls into action 
many important organs of the plants, and which 
are as suddenly arrested in their progress by the fire 
being left to go out early, and so they get a chill, which, 
if frequently repeated, must tend to weaken them, 
and may sometimes kill them outright.” It is, no 
doubt, very comfortable for the amateur gardener to 
make up a fire every afternoon when the w 7 ind blows 
from the east, because he can then go to his own 
fireside, and feel safe if frost should come. But what 
if no frost should come ? Would not the plants in the 
house have been better without the fire ? and ought 
there not to be in the morning something like regret 
that he did not wait till eight or nine o’clock in the 
evening to see what the weather was likely to be ? 
for the results are that firing has been needlessly 
consumed, and the plants positively injured. 
There is the not less important matter of the 
employment of fire heat for the exclusion of damp; 
we may say that when it is judiciously applied it 
helps much to keep the occupants of the house in 
a healthy condition. As a general rule, once a 
week will be enough for the purpose, and there are 
many fine dry weeks through the winter that would 
not require it, if only an ordinary amount of care be 
used in the watering. When the fire is lighted for the 
purpose, the day should be fine, that all ventilators 
may be opened, so as to admit a free circulation of air 
among the plants. Such, then, are a few suggestions 
and words of advice for amateur gardeners. That 
The Gardening World may become a means of 
adding to the successes and pleasures of this very 
numerous class of plant-lovers, is the earnest Christ¬ 
mas wish of Quo. 
Chrysanthemum Culture : The Single 
Varieties. —Having on p. 248 given directions for 
striking cuttings, I will now give a few hints upon the 
culture of the single varieties. These are without 
doubt a most useful addition to the varieties of 
Chrysanthemum, and being easier to grow than the 
large flowering sorts, they should become great 
favourites with all who grow Chrysanthemums for cut 
blooms or other decorative purposes. They possess a 
good variety of colour, they are the most free blooming 
varieties we have, and can be had in flower from 
October to January. 
If large plants are wanted for supplying a quantity 
of cut blooms, the cuttings should by February be 
ready for potting, and this should be done as follows:— 
Shake them out of the cutting-pots, and repot them 
singly into 3-in. pots, returning them again to the 
frame and keeping them shut up close for a few days, 
after which air should be given on every favourable 
occasion. The soil for this potting should contain 
a larger proportion of loam and less sand than before. 
In a few weeks the roots will be seen to have taken to 
the new soil, and as soon as the young plants are 
established in these pots they should be pinched to 
induce them to throw out side shoots. As soon as these 
appear they should be potted into 6-in. pots and again 
be returned to the frame for a few days, when, if the 
weather is favourable, they should be placedin a sheltered 
position out-of-doors. When the shoots are about 
4 ins. long, they should be again stopped, and if the 
plants from this last stopping produce enough breaks, 
they should not be again pinched, and in any case 
those required to bloom early should not be pinched 
after the beginning of June. Those required to bloom 
later may be pinched until the last week in June. 
These early-flowering plants should receive their 
final potting early in June, and the remainder be 
potted by the first week in July. The size of pots 
should be 24’s or 8J-in., which size will be found 
quite large enough to bloom them in. When potting, 
the soil should be pressed down very firmly, and a 
stick should at once be put to each plant, to which 
they should be firmly secured to keep them from 
being broken by the wind or rough weather. Nothing 
further will be required, except to keep them con¬ 
stantly supplied with water, and to syringe them 
overhead on hot days. 
Single Chrysanthemums also make good plants for 
borders, as they flower well out-of-doors. For this 
purpose they should be planted out-of-doors early in 
April, but they should first be potted singly, according 
to the directions above given. They will require due 
attention as to stopping, as directed for those to be 
grown in pots ; but as they derive a large amount of 
moisture from the ground, a great saving of time is 
gained when they are planted out. They can, if 
desired, be taken up and potted in October; a good 
watering should then be given, and they can be taken 
into the greenhouse or wherever they are to bloom. 
Good plants can also be had for ordinary decorative 
purposes from cuttings struck from February to May, 
if they are grown on as above described. They can 
then be had in bloom in 6-in. pots, which is a very 
