November 10, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
165 
BYSTOCK, EXMOUTH. 
When visiting Bystock recently I was pleased to find 
in flower a quantity of seedling Cypripediums of the 
C. Leeanum, C. radiosum, and C. Pitcherianum 
types, and others distinct and beautiful which make 
a most interesting display in the Orchid house. 
There are altogether some 500 seedlings, Mr. Swan 
having raised a quantity since he entered on his 
present service. Besides Cypripediums I noticed 
some seedling Dendrobes, Phaius, and Calanthes in 
various stages of development. 
In one of the divisions I also observed a batch of 
Gardenias planted out and yielding a quantity of 
blooms of delicious fragrance. Hanging over them 
were some flowering plants of Dendrobium Phalae- 
nopsis, while the other side of the house was almost 
entirely taken up with Dendrobium nobile, the growths 
of which are remarkably stout and firm. No shade is 
given to this house with the exception of a sprinkling 
of lime once in the season. The night blooming 
Cereus was also growing freely. 
In a warm house there was also a fine batch of 
fruiting Tomatos. The plants were raised in spring, 
potted, and plunged outside, where they grew freely 
and set a few fruits; but about the end of August 
Mr. Swan lifted them and plunged them again in a 
spent tan bed in a stove, and although only in 7 in. 
pots they have set a fine crop of fruits, which are 
now ripening well. Bananas and Granadillas are 
well grown at Bystock, some hundreds of fruits of 
the latter having ripened again this season, and they 
are much in request as a dessert fruit.— Rover. 
PATENT GLAZING. 
When Mr. H. Parke, C.C., of Withnell, Cborley, 
commenced to put up some glass in his garden, 
about three years ago, he was induced to give the 
method of glazing with lead strips a trial. Those 
who have had experience with this kind of glazing 
are aware that at all times there is drip in the house, 
and under certain atmospheric conditions a perfect 
shower of drops ensues. During hard frost I have 
seen a late vinery in December with masses of ice 
all along the purlins, which melted during the day, 
drenching the bunches of Grapes and saturating the 
floors, and I have seen the same occur in plant 
stoves with much higher temperature than a late 
vinery. 
Mr. Parke's stove is a spacious house, and the drip 
was intolerable until steps were taken to rectify 
matters. This has been done by fixing neat copper 
troughs under all the purlins that conduct the 
water into mains, which may empty themselves into 
a drain or on the ground at the back of the pipes, 
just as it may be convenient. Very few employers, 
however, would care to incur this second expense, 
and to save any trouble or friction gardeners should 
not have these kind of structures erected with their 
consent, but if they are forced upon them by their 
employers they can only make the best of them. I 
noticed a remarkable lot of healthy, well-grown 
plants in the house at Withnell, such as Crotons, 
Dracaenas, Caladiums, and [the usual run of stove 
plants, with which Mr. Drinkwater, the gardener, 
has more than once taken first honours in the group 
classes at the leading local shows. At one end there 
was a fine cluster of Bananas on a plant growing in 
a 15-in. pot, and covering part of the roof was 
Aristolochia Sipho in full flower. 
At the time of my visit Messrs. Halliday, of 
Middleton, near Manchester, had just completed the 
erection of a number of neat well-built houses for 
Grapes, Peaches, Tomatos, Orchids, and other 
piants; and Mr. Drinkwater must have followed 
closely on their heels, for all, except the fruit 
houses, were respectably furnished. One span- 
roofed bouse contained well-grown plants of good 
strains of Begonias and Gloxinias, and the Orchids 
which had been quartered in some old houses as 
they had been got together had just been staged in 
their new home. Other houses were occupied by a 
promising lot of Tomatos. Orchids are represented 
by Cypripediums in variety, Epidendrums, Vandas, 
Phalaenopsis, Laelias, Cattleyas, Coelogynes, and 
Odontoglossums.— W. P. R. 
CENTROPOGON LUCYANUS. 
High up among the list of indispensable subjects for 
late autumn and winter flowering comes the name of 
this beautiful plant. It is of hybrid origin and was 
raised by M. Desponds, of Marseilles, in the year 
1856, as the result of a cross between Centropogon 
fastuosus and C. Siphocamphylus betulaefolius. 
Propagation may be readily and expeditiously 
effected by means of cuttings taken in spring, 
inserted in small pots in light sandy soil, and given 
a place in a propagating box, or underneath a bell 
glass, with a temperature of not less than from 65° 
to 70° Fahr. 
They should be potted off singly into small pots in 
light soil as soon as they have made sufficient roots. 
Subsequent pottings should be conducted as required, 
the soil in all cases being light and rich in character. 
Efficient drainage too is an important item in their 
successful cultivation, for while, like many other 
things, they like abundance of water during the 
growing period, they detest a sour and overwet soil, 
which must inevitably be the result if the water is 
not allowed free egress. Stove treatment must be 
accorded them right through the summer, liberal 
syringings being given them regularly. 
Towards the end of the summer, however, more 
air may be given with advantage, as this serves to 
harden and mature the growths, which, owing to 
their rapid production, cannot fail to be of a very 
tender and succulent character. The rosy-carmine 
flowers are profusely produced after such treatment, 
and the touch of colour they impart to the all too 
sombre appearance of our plant houses during the 
dullest months of the year render them useful 
as well as conspicuous objects. If desired, the old 
plants after being cut down when the flowering 
season is past, may be grown on again the second 
year. They bloom just as freely as do the young 
plants, and larger specimens may be obtained in this 
way.— A. S. G. 
--9--— 
BASKET FERNS. 
I do not know whether you will consider it advis¬ 
able to insert anything further in the Gardening 
World concerning the Basket Ferns about which I 
sent you a few remarks recently, to which " Filices ” 
replied in your issue of Oct. 20th. However, I 
would like to say there can be no question as to the 
Ferns known as Adiantum caudatum and Adiantum 
ciliatum being quite distinct. 
The one which has been in cultivation so long as 
Adiantum caudatum is well known to Fern growers. 
Its fronds are usually rather erect though of arching 
habit, the colour is a distinct grey-green. " Filices ” 
says they are about a foot long ; tnis is correct, but 
they sometimes grow rather longer. The Fern now 
in commerce as A. ciliatum was sent out some years 
ago by Messrs. Backhouse & Son. Compared with 
A. caudatum, the fronds are longer, much more pen¬ 
dent, far more proliferous; the pinnules are further 
apart, larger, more deeply cut, the lower edge is 
nearly straight while those of caudatum are more 
curved, the colour is a more decided green. 
Almost every frond produces at its tip a bud ; this 
invariably produces three fronds, which in their turn 
produce a bud at each tip from each of which three 
fronds are produced and so on. It is not at all an 
uncommon sight to see a parent plant with three 
generations of progeny hanging two feet or more 
below it. I send you fronds of caudatum and 
ciliatum, the later 2 ft. long, being much longer than 
I ever saw caudatum. I still think I am justified in 
.maintaining there is quite as much difference 
between these as there is between A. cuneatum and 
A. gracillimum. 
1 apologize to “ Filices ” for saying Asplenium 
foeniculaceum is not a variety of Asplenium fragrans. 
There is certainly a variety of A. fragrans called 
foeniculaceum. In my note to you on the subject I 
ought to have said “the Asplenium foeniculaceum 
which is in commerce is not a variety of A. fragrans.’’ 
There is a great difference between the two. I have 
never come across Asplenium fragrans var. foenicu¬ 
laceum in a nursery, and probably very few Fern 
growers know it. On the other hand, the Asplenium 
foeniculaceum of commerce is grown in thousands, 
sometimes under this name and at others under the 
name of A. fabianum. So far as can be gathered 
from authorities A. fragrans var. foeniculaceum 
grows only about a foot long and is much like an en¬ 
larged British Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum. Smith 
in his British and Foreign Ferns classes it in the 
Asplenium A.-nigrum section; Synopsis Filicum and 
Species Filicum also class it along with A. A.-nigrum. 
On the other hand Asplenium foeniculaceum of gar¬ 
dens according to Moore in Index Filicum and Smith 
in Ferns, British and Foreign is synony mous with A. 
fabianum, and appears to be a form of A. bulbiferum. 
This is a very handsome Fern, its large fronds 24 in. 
to 30 in. in length, with long narrow pinnae heavily 
loaded with countless young plants growing from 
bulbils produced on their upper surface have a 
remarkably elegant appearance. It is well suited 
for baskets and makes a very beautiful object. This, 
however, is not a variety of A. fragrans and this 
was the one I had in mind when writing before. 
Davallia parvula no doubt grows well in a basket 
suspended, but in view of its minute fronds, 1 in. 
10 ij in. only in length (oftener under than over the 
inch) I should not myself recommend it as a basket 
Fern. According to European Ferns, Woodwardia 
radicans grows 8 ft. to 10 ft. in length of frond. 
Should “ Filices ’’ be in the neighbourhood of Sale, 
I should have much pleasure in tak'ng him to see 
several specimens of this Fern which some time ago 
had, and I still believe have, fronds 10 ft. in length. 
— J. Birkenhead, Sale. 
[The specimens sent by our correspondent agree 
admirably with the description he gives of them, and 
no observant man, whether cultivator or otherwise 
would be in doubt as to their varietal distinctness if 
the specimens to be seen in cultivation were always 
so markedly distinct; but unfortunately such is not 
the case. The plants we have frequently seen under 
the names of A. ciliatum and A. Edgeworthii showed 
no appreciable difference from A. caudatum, by 
which they could be distinguished. The question is 
whether the one varies into the other, that is, 
whether A, ciliatum reverts to A. caudatum, or 
whether many cultivators have received the latter 
under the two names This is a point concerning 
which there should be no difficulty in coming to an 
agreement by a frank confession of facts on the part 
of those who know. That there is as much distinc¬ 
tion between the specimens sent us of A. caudatum 
and A. ciliatum, as there is between A. cuneatum 
and A. gracillimum or between A. tenerum and A. 
Farleyense we have no doubt, and hope that the 
differences are as constant. Asplenium fragrans 
foeniculaceum may be seen in some of the London 
nurseries, although not particularlv common.— 
Ed.] 
--*-- 
STORING OF VEGETABLES. 
At no season of the year is storing space more 
valuable or so much in request as it is at present. 
Crops of Carrots, Beet, Onions, etc., all call for room, 
and the gardener is often at his wits’ end with regard 
to the most economical plan of working. In the 
majority of gardens the want of sufficient space is 
severely felt. Where the dried stems of Onions are 
long enough and strong enough the bulbs may be 
roped, the ropes being hung upon the walls or roof 
of the storehouse. Carrots, Beetroot, etc., must be 
neatly stacked, a layer of dry soil or sand being 
placed upon each layer of roots. The bulk of the 
Parsnips may be left in the ground all the winter, a 
sufficient quantity for use in frosty weather only 
being lifted, for as a rule they keep in a much 
sweeter and fresher condition outside until March, 
after which as a rule they are no longer needed. 
Potatos should be spread upon the shelves as 
thinly as space will permit, in such a way that they 
can be frequently looked over, and diseased tubers 
promptly removed. Needless to say, the light 
should be excluded. For this purpose the windows 
of the storeroom should be furnished with close- 
fitting wooden shutters, which will help to exclude 
the frost as well as the light. With regard to tem¬ 
perature, the storeroom should be kept as cool as 
possible, frost only being excluded, for if kept too 
warm the quality of the roots must inevitably suffer. 
During wet or snowy days the contents may be 
looked over. Nothing, I conceive, gives greater 
pleasure to a gardener than to look round a well 
filled storeroom in which everything is in good 
order, where everything is in its place, and an air of 
consistent tidyness prevails. Where such is the case, 
it is astonishing to see the quantity of matter a com¬ 
paratively small room will contain. There can be 
no doubt at all that tidiness in this department is 
the essence of economy with regard to space.— G. 
The Amateur Orchid Grower’s Guide Book. By H. A. 
Burberry (Orchid Grower to the Rt Hon. J. Chamberlain, 
M.P.). Containing sound, practical information and advice 
for Amateurs, giving a List with Cultural Descriptions ot 
those most suitable for Cool-house, Intermediate-house, and 
Warm-house Culture, together with a Calendar of Operations 
and Treatment for each Month of the Year. In Cloth (Crown 
8vo. 5 by 7^), price 2s. 6d.; post free, 2s. gd. Publisher, Garden¬ 
ing World, i, Clement’s Inn, Strand, London, W.C. 
