252 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
March 21. 1903, 
posed of and disabused him of that notion by slowly launching: 
out with : “ Anyhows, the ’arth in this parish be so pood as 
any in Norfolk, and Norfolk soil be the best in the British 
dom in-ions.” Trying- to hold his ground, the master said: 
“ It grows weeds certainly,” but Tho-mas was equal to that by 
saying : “ The better the soil, the higher the weeds. It took 
nigh on three years to grow that lumber; ’t ’ull take ten, I 
reck’n, ta get it out. I knew this soil, and this soil know me.” 
The master, after a time, found himself fairly beaten, for, on 
suggesting that the gardener needed repose, the latter merely 
turned a deaf ear, and imperturbably resumed his mowing, 
having no intention of being dislodged. 
The mistress of the house next- went out, but she soon re¬ 
turned, and a. telegram stoooed that, London gardener from 
turning up. Thomas Matt, gained the victory, and casually 
announced one morning that he had “ a sort of a. boy ” who 
was coming to assist. This was after feeling himself un¬ 
doubtedly reinstated. The boy, or, rather, young man, came, 
and half the village amused themselves outside the earden 
hedge, making remarks about the, rummage of weeds and 
Turnip as big as a horse, and so forth, most of the exclama¬ 
tions being in the end in Thomas Matt’s favour. The owner 
of the garden inadvertently dropped a remark about a harvest 
home, on seeing a pile of weeds 15 ft. bv 30 ft,, and Thomas., 
being all ears, readily caught un the idea in a twinkling, which 
resulted in the mistress of the house having to, give somethin" 
towards a “ sing-song.” which was celebrated in the village by 
Thomas and bis friends. 
"Moreover, bv the first week in -Tulv the gardens were clouded 
with Roses, and all da.v Thomas Matt circulated amongst them, 
“ the clumsv angel of this Paradise, his lips portentouslv stuck 
out, and a knife the size: of a, small cutlass in bis band.” It 
seems that, Thomas stuck to the more ornamental part of the 
garden himself, being of an artistic turn of mind, and sent his 
assistant to do the kitchen garden, where splendid crops of 
Peas, salads, etc., were coming along for November. It- may 
be said, then, in Thomas’ own words, “that he know the soil 
and the soil knew him ” in this Norfolk garden ; but it may 
make some gardeners envious, to know how independent a 
gardener may be, and yet so successful in a Norfolk garden, 
at least in fiction. 
Eve’s (the mistress of the house) garden in the time of Roses 
had reached that state of perfection of colour and fragrance 
that she had been dreaming of by night, and paying for by 
day. She was, to be early astir one morning as the “ Rouge- 
et-noir ” was to be fully out, but morning found her still asleep 
when an unearthly noise in the garden woke the whole house. 
It proved to be merely Diogenes, the ass of the establishment, 
enjoying himself in the pergola, munching the Roses, with a 
beatic foolishness on his face. While voices were shouting and 
aims waving from every window in the house, Thomas Matt , in 
his shirt-sleeves and bare-headed, as his custom always was, 
arrived upon the scene, calmly inspecting the edge of liis hoe. 
As soon as he saw the donkey amongst the Roses- he “ came to- 
a full stop, seized evidently with a paralytic calm.” While 
this lasted the master of the house “ was afraid for the man’s 
reason. Then, heaven—heaven be praised, he spat! Firmly 
grasping his hoe, lie uttered a base, deliberate roar, and bore 
down upon Diogenes.” The latter philosopher, being a bit, of 
a, wag, led Thomas Matt round the garden a, time or two, during 
which more Roses were smashed than, the ass was blameworthy 
of, though the mischief was all laid to his charge. During the 
chase Thomas himself was, stopped by one of the domestics 
and soundly rated—in French—for abusing the donkey, which 
had to, he secured by the garden boy, who, knew best how to- 
deal with asses. Thomas, fought in his own dialect and re¬ 
mained master of the field. 
Later on, the gardener was asked to dig a bed 4 ft. deep to 
plant, Acer Negundo, but failed to understand anything about- 
“ Hazer Begumto-,” until it was named variegated Maple. 
“ Them spotty Maples,” he declared, would do no pood with the 
Norfolk winds ; hut be obeyed orders, and the foliage of the 
Acer was shrivelled un in the course of a week by the east 
winds. Here we must leave Thomas again triumphant. 
A Group of Davallias. 
(See Supplement.) 
Over seventy-five species, of Davallia are known to science, 
and include a great range of variation in form from those that 
are entirely simple (that is, without division or serratures to 
the fronds) to, those that are highly decompound, with verv 
finely-cut final divisions. In this latter respect they seem to 
approach the Filmy Ferns with which they, indeed, have some¬ 
thing more than a casual or superficial connection. The genus 
includes several sub-genera,, known respectively as Humata, 
Leucostegia, Odontoloma,, Microlepia, Loxoscaphe, and Steno- 
loma, besides the Davallias proper. Many of these sub-genera 
or sections are represented in garden collections, hut they have 
all been relegated to Davallia,, because the distinctions which 
separate them are too fine for retention ; that is, may he de¬ 
scribed as hair-splitting, though the distinctions in some cases 
are fairly obvious,. 
All of them are worthy of cultivation by anyone who cares 
to make a speciality of the genus, and a specialist could, no 
doubt, contrive to make a charming fernery if confined bv 
choice or obligation to this genus alone. Albeit be would have 
to construct his, fernery so as to have a hot and a cold division 
to accommodate the several likings of the different types, some 
of them being relatively hardy or amenable for culture in a 
cool house only. 
For instance, we have successfully cultivated D. Nova Ze- 
landiae in a cool fernery from which frost was merely excluded. 
That popularly known as the Hare’s-foot Fern (D. canariensis) 
and D. elegans, may be successfully cultivated in veiy little 
more warmth, practically that of a, greenhouse ; and we believe 
there are several others which would prove equally tractable 
were they properly tried. On the other hand, many of them 
are distinctly tropical in. their likings and require a high stove 
temperature to make them perfectly happy, while there are 
others which would thrive in all intermediate temperatures. 
Two different houses, or compartments of one, would, how¬ 
ever, serve to house and grow the greater number of known 
species. A few of the more delicate could be protected by 
means of a, bell-glass or Wardian case, and are so finely and 
beautifully divided as, to be worthy of this special attention. 
With such additional protection they may be grown in the 
warm division of the house just indicated. 
Most of the species are evergreen, with a beauty varying in 
degree at different seasons, according to the awe- and develop¬ 
ment of the fronds. Some are decidedly deciduous, however— 
at least, when grown in a, low temperature—including D. im- 
mersa and D. elegans, but with such exceptions the- species 
have a, distinct decorative value at all seasons of the year. 
The strong or tall-growing species afford that diversity of 
form and appearance that supplies the features, with which a 
specialist could furnish a fernery entirely devoted to, this class 
of plants. Far-creeping types grown upon oillars, consisting: 
of Tree Fern stems or artificially-constructed supports#' afford¬ 
ing the requisite supply of moisture and means of subsistence 
would serve to break the monotony that would attach to dwarf- 
growing forms alone. 
Our Supplement in this week’s issue shows a grouo of 
Davallias photrv,n-rar«bed on the' premises of Messrs. ,T. Hill « 
Son, Barrowfield Nurseries, Lower Edmonton. A large collec¬ 
tion is grown here, and the picture shows some of the- uses to 
which thev c«u be nut. In private establishments a lover of 
D availias eeiiiq find other attractive methods of growing and 
arranging them. 
A cash prize of one guinea unit be awarded to the person,wlw sends 
the greatest number of original neics items, particulars of trade and 
professional changes, notices of novelties, etc., during the quarter 
ending March 31st, 1903. Letters marled “News” should be 
addressed to The Editor as early in the week as possible. 
