December 15, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
247 
Such are frequently getting into trouble with the 
heads of other departments, not being able to keep 
them supplied. 
Those who cannot command hot-beds may sow 
Radishes in a cold frame at the present time,or in a shel¬ 
tered position at the foot of a south wall, covering with 
straw mats, which should be removed in favourable 
weather when the plants appear above the surface, to 
prevent them becomiug drawn. Cold frames are also 
useful for bringing forward early-sown Peas, for 
propagating various herbs, and for the protection of 
Parsley. There is much skill required to manage 
them properly; therefore, he who looks after them 
should not be despised, for I have always found that 
those who take the most interest in the frame 
ground always make the best gardeners. This is a 
good beginning for youths ; they should be taught to 
know that this is the most important department in 
the whole establishment, as the occupants are of 
such a varied character, there is so much to be 
learned before they are thoroughly understood. It is 
from the frame ground that all the early vegetables 
emanate, that many of the half hardy plants are kept 
through the winter, and most of those that supply 
the flower garden in the summer find a temporary 
home, so that he who is an experienced hand 
amongst these may well be fitted to take charge of a 
higher post .—Kitchen Gardener. 
* 
Vines. —As soon as desirable preparations may be 
made for the pruning of the canes in the later houses 
so as to allow the work of cleaning and painting them, 
and the washing of the glass and woodwork of the 
houses to be carried on when a spell of wet or wintry 
weather puts a stop in a great measure to work 
outside. The cleaning of the fruit houses generally 
forms a great part of the winter’s work in the under 
glass department, and upon the proper performance 
of this duty the success in the cultivation of next 
year’s crop in a great measure depends. In a large 
number of establishments the fruit houses have to be 
utilised for the sheltering of the next season's supply 
of bedding stuff. Where this is the case a great deal 
of shifting is entailed, and this, of course, takes up a 
lot of time. Until the houses are started and a 
higher temperature is thus rendered necessary, air 
should be given freely as often as circumstances 
permit. 
The canes in the earlier houses that were bent 
down horizontally with a view to insure their break¬ 
ing equally should be raised, and securely tied in 
their several positions as soon as the buds begin to 
expand. It is not wise to defer this operation too 
long, or the buds are very likely to be injured, and 
in many cases knocked off altogether. A minimum 
night temperature of 57 s Fahr. must be maintained 
with a substantial rise during bright days. The 
walls, floors, and pipes, or flues, must be frequently 
sprinkled with water, and the canes themselves 
syringed as before recommended. 
Peaches and Nectarines.— Anything like hard 
forcing in dealing with these subjects is a mistake. 
The application of a gentle heat so as to cause a 
gradual and progressive vegetation is at once the 
best and safest method of treating early Peaches and 
Nectarines. The minimum night temperature here 
should be about 47° Fahr., the syringing of the 
trees being regularly practised as advised in the 
previous calendar. Air may be given during bright 
days as freely as the state of the weather will allow, 
although the house must be closed early in the after¬ 
noon. 
Strawberries. —Where early supplies of this 
much esteemed fruit are in request preparations may 
be made for forcing. The plants should be lifted 
from the plunging ground, the pots washed and all 
dead leaves removed. In many establishments 
where large quantities of plants are forced, a Straw¬ 
berry house, properly fitted with shelves so as to lift 
the plants as near the glass as possible, is well nigh 
a necessity for the bringing on of succession batches. 
If such a convenience does not exist, a number of 
plants may be taken into the early Peach house for 
the present, the temperature prevailing there being 
just the one needed by the Strawberry. Among the 
varieties most suitable for early forcing, Keens’ 
Seedling and Viscomtesse Hericart De Thury may 
be mentioned as being likely to give every satisfac¬ 
tion 
Figs. —Plants in pots that were plunged in 
fermenting materials in the early vinery must be 
carefully watched with regard to the water supply, 
for although they will not require a great deal of this, 
care should be taken that they are not allowed to get 
too dry or they will suffer. 
The mild weather that we have up to the present 
experienced has been all in the favour of the 
gardener who believes in getting as forward with the 
work as possible. If advantage has been taken of 
this unusually favourable season, things in the 
flower garden should be looking ship-shape by this 
time, excepting of course in cases where extensive 
alterations have been the order of the day. These 
should be prosecuted as vigorously as possible for 
the weather often does queer things about the 
middle and towards the end of December. 
Thinly planted shrubberies should be roughly dug 
over and left to the pulverizing and mellowing 
influences of the weather. When doing this, care 
must be taken that all fallen leaves are dug in, for if 
left upon the surface a few dry winds will carry them 
all over the lawns and pleasure grounds. A pro¬ 
ceeding which is not calculated to enhance the tidy 
appearance of the flower garden. Similarly, leaves 
in woods or clumps not far from the mansion, 
which, owing to lack of time have been left where 
they fell, should be raked up and carted away as 
soon as possible. The pruning of hardy deciduous 
trees and shrubs that have become straggling in 
habit or have overgrown the bounds allotted them, 
may be forwarded with all speed. 
Hedges, too, which are formed of the deciduous 
element may now be operated on. An important 
point to be noticed when conducting this is, that the 
hedge should always taper upwards, that is to say, 
the broadest part should be at the base, the 
narrowest at the top. This will necessitate the 
growths being shortened back to different lengths, 
as the laterals always break out strongest at the point 
immediately below the place to which the shoot is cut 
back. By this means the growths are more evenly 
distributed and the hedge is kept in better condition. 
Continue the pruning of Roses and those hardy 
climbers which have not been covered up may, in 
southern localities, be pruned and nailed, or tied, as 
the case may be. In northern districts, however, all 
the tenderer subjects have to be protected in the 
manner described in a previous calendar, and this of 
course, renders their pruning out of the question at 
present. 
The gravel walks will need rolling at intervals for, 
during a thaw after a few hard frosts they become 
terribly rotten and spongy, and decidedly unpleasant 
to walk upon, unless steps are taken to remedy the 
evil. In such cases the necessity for having the 
walks well made in the first instance is sufficiently 
illustrated. Ill-drained and badly made paths cause 
an infinite amount of trouble during the winter 
months. 
THE MBIT FRUIT GARDEN. 
The pruning and nailing of all kinds of hardy fruit 
trees may be pushed on as rapidly as circumstances 
will permit. The effect of the past wet sunless 
season and the mild autumn is pretty evident upon 
fruit trees generally, Apples and Pears in particular, 
in fact these latter have in some instances not yet 
completed the shedding of the leaves, and the wood 
is green and unripened in very many cases. Where 
the walls are fitted with galvanised wires it is 
advisable to untie the trees from them, for the wood 
of fruit trees very often sustains considerable injury 
by continual contact with wires of this kind, 
especially if we are favoured with a protracted spsl! 
of wintry weather. 
Where the stems and larger branches of trees have 
become covered with moss it is advisable to clean 
them. This is an operation that may be easily per¬ 
formed, for after wet weather the moss may be 
readily removed by scraping. 
The fruit room will also need a considerable share 
of attention with regard to the removal of all decay¬ 
ing or unsound fruit, for the mild damp weather that 
has so considerably prevailed during the last few 
weeks has undoubtedly tended not a little to the 
rapid decay of many of our Apples and Pears.— 
A.S.G. 
©leanings fttorn tfj$ IDoilti 
of Science 
Apospory in British Ferns. —The meaning of 
apospory, as applied to Ferns is that the fronds of 
certain kinds occasionally develop prothalli on the 
fronds without the intervention of spores. In the 
normal course of things the spores are produced in 
cases arranged in clusters on some part of the fronds, 
and the spores on coming in contact with a damp 
surface germinate in due time, giving rise to a pro- 
thallus which bears the sexual generation, and then 
the young Fern plant. Any deparature from the 
natural method of reproduction is of course inter¬ 
esting, and by the indefatigable observations of 
certain Fern growers and pteridologists, instances of 
apospory have now been discovered in four widely 
distinct species of British Ferns. One of the most 
diligent in this line of observation is Mr. C. T. 
Druery, F.L.S., who read a paper about a year ago 
before the Linnean Society, and the text of his com¬ 
munication has been published in the Journal of the 
Society, Vol xxx., No. 209. On this occasion, the 
most important of his discoveries was the finding of 
what appeared to be incipient prothalli on the 
apices of the furcations of the fronds of a variety of 
the common Hart's-tongue named Scolopendrium 
vulgare crispum Drummondae. The fronds of this 
form are much fimbriated at the margins, and 
heavily crested at the apex. These apical furca¬ 
tions were cut off with a portion of frond attached, 
and laid upon sterilised soil kept in a moist condi¬ 
tion. They commenced to grow in a few days, and 
in a fortnight or so had well developed prothalli, 
which, however, developed root-hairs very slowly. 
From some of the blunt out-growths of the frond 
thick fleshy prothalli of another form were pro¬ 
duced. The finding of archegonia in abundance 
upon these out-growths showed that they were true 
prothalli. Later on, upon one of the latter, arche¬ 
gonia were found in great abundance, both upon the 
upper and lower surface, in company with root-hairs. 
Under normal conditions, however, no prothalli 
would be produced, so that reproduction would not 
take place in this way. 
Apospory in a wild species of Fern. —The 
first instance of this peculiar mode of reproduction 
was discovered in the case of Athyrium Filix-foemina 
clarissima found in North Devon. Since then, a 
closely allied but distinct form differing chiefly by 
having the terminal portions of the frond curled in a 
spiral manner, turned up with Mr. T. Bolton, of 
Lancaster. Instead of the normal sori, dense 
masses of stalked outgrowths are produced on the 
under-surface, and under favourable conditions 
develop small prothalli. These stalked outgrowths 
arise by the arrest of growth of the spore cases, and 
are therefore different from the marginal outgrowths 
of the Scolopendrium. Occasionally, however, even 
here prothalli arise very close to the apex of the 
segments, as recorded by Dr. F. W. Stansfield, and 
Mr. Druery found a truly apical one. 
An interesting study.—Those who grow Ferns 
for the love of the same, and can spare the time to 
study them will find much of interest to absorb their 
attention in the raising of seedlings, but particularly 
those abnormal forms which exhibit branching, 
cresting, proliferation and other characteristics of 
that kind, which some cultivators take great delight 
in attributing to cross breeding and hybridisation. 
Cases of apogamy and apospory are of equal, if not 
greater scientific interest. The four instances of 
apospory already discovered amongst British Ferns 
are, Athyrium Filix-foemina clarissima, Lastrea 
Filix-mas cristata, several forms of Aspidium 
angulare pulcherrimum, and Scolopendrium vulgare 
crispum Drummondae. Those having cool, moist 
greenhouses and wardian cases should always be on 
the outlook for fresh instances of abnormal reproduc¬ 
tion amongst other British species, much given to 
variation. Ferns under cultivation are more liable 
as a rule, to give rise to fresh forms than in the wild 
state. The moisture of Fern houses, aided in some 
cases by heat, induces vegetative reproduction 
occasionally, and which, moreover, would not occur 
under drier conditions of the atmosphere. The cases 
of apospory above mentioned, have, however, 
occured upon ferns in a wild state, and have not 
been induced though largely developed by 
cultivation. 
