Septamber 1, 1904 
- 
THH AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
— 
FERNS. 
Ferns present an immensely long lineage, 
longer by far than the oldest of the flower- 
ing plants. They form an important por- 
tion of the present vegetation of the elobe, 
mumbering, at a low compntation, 3,000. 
species, belonging to about 60 genera. At- 
taining their fullest development in the hot, 
damp, carboniferous forests, they have ever 
since maintained their preference for heat 
and moisture. The vast bulk of the 3,000 
existing species, says ‘‘ Knowledge,” cling 
to the tropics, and among the 47 species 
which are found in Great Britain, hardly 
one but seeks a damp and shady situation. 
Ferns are essentially hygrophiles—moisture 
flovers—and the student of botanical geo- 
graphy will note how they increase in num- 
ber as one pa3ses from dry to wet regions. 
In the much divided nature of their fronds, 
ferns also show the character of a damp- 
loving and shade-seeking ancestry, where 
compactness of growth to prevent excessive 
transpiration was unnecessary, and a spread- 
ing out to catch the maximum of light an 
advantage. 
PLANT GROWTH. 
Plants are not favorably circumstanced 
for growth when thirsty, as water comprises 
three-fourths to seven-eights of their total 
weight. Through water plants get all 
their nourishment, and when the supply of 
water is limited the growth ig slow. After 
a good rain following a period of dry 
weather, it has been demonstrated by Pro- 
fessor Roberts that a crop of potatoes will 
make a gain of 7 bushels of tubers per acre 
each day, without the addition of any 
pliant food, only water. The finer the soil 
is divided, up to a certain point, the more 
water it willhold. One acre of soil 1 ft. 
deep weiglis about 1,800 tons, and contains 
about 20 per cent. of water, except In a 
period of drought. 
Lime tends to flocculate or bind the 
smaller particles of soil into larger ones, and 
anakes it of great: porosity. In clay soils 
Yime lightens it, while in sandy soils the 
lime tends to bind the coarser particles of 
sand together, and allows the finer particles 
of silt to settle between, them, and make 
the soil firmer and heavier. 
Seeds which are small require shallow 
eovering with soil, hence they demand a 
seed-bed made extremely fine, and which 
may be compacted with the roller, or, if 
a small area, the back of a shovel may be 
used to prevent too free circulation of air, 
‘and to bring moisture to the surface ; ini 
the case of large seeds, which require deep 
covering with soil, the surface need be only 
fine enough to induce capillarity to bring 
water near the surface. Plants which 
throw out roots near the surface of the soil 
should receive shallow surface tillage, while 
those which root deeply may have deep til- 
lage. The aim should be to prevent the. 
water from rising above the earth in, which 
the roots are feeding. 
N- ~ , 
_ Surface tillage may be made not only to 
«onserve moisture, but to set free plant 
dood; if the plants are deep-rooted, they 
_ deep 
may secure only a small part of the food 
liberated by tillage. This emphasises the 
need of deep cultivation of the land for all 
tap-rooted plants—carrots and parsnips, for 
example—while for shallow-rooted ones 
tillage is not so imperative. 
Too much stress cannot be laid 
on the necessity of superior surface 
tillage for the purpose of providing 
a mulch of fine earth to conserve moisture, 
promote filtration, and the easy passage of 
moisture upwards. Whenever heavy rains 
have produced a crust on the surface of the 
soil it should be broken up by tillage as 
soon as the ground is in a suitable condi- 
tion, that the earth-mulch may be restored, 
and evaporation arrested. 
Tons of plant food frequently remain un- 
used in a garden soil, and utterly useless, 
for lack of moisture, to transport the wait- 
ing nourishment into the living plants. 
Harpenden. J.J. Wins. 
THE WILD CHINA ASTER. 
CALLISTEPHUS HORTENSIS. 
Until a few years ago the type from 
which the numerous annuals known in gar- 
dens as China Asters were raised was 
known from dried specimens only, for al- 
though it had been introduced it had been 
lost. Now, however, it is becoming fairly 
common, and is recognised as a useful 
annual, and for some purposes it is quite as 
good as, if not better than, the popular 
garden varieties. It is found both in 
China and Siberia, and under cultivation 
attains to a height of nearly 2 feet. It 
branches freely from near the base, and a 
dozen or more flower heads are borne by 
each plant. The inflorescences are from 3 
to 4 inches across, the ray florets being 
large and deep mauve in color, the disc 
florets being yellow. As the stalks to the 
flower heads are from 12 to 15 inches long, 
it makes a useful subject for cutting. Seeds 
may either be sown indoors or out, and the 
flowering period is late summer and early 
autumn. Some idea may be gathered of 
its tendency to sport by the fact of twelve 
distinct shades of color being produced in a 
patch of several hundred plants, the seeds 
for which had been gathered from true © 
colored specimens which showed not the 
slightest break.—D. 1. Morr. 
ROSES. 
——_o——_ 
THE CULTURE OF ROSES. 
The following paper on ‘‘ The Culture of 
Roses” was read by Mr. W. Brunning at a 
meeting of the National Rose Society of 
Victoria:—Among Rose growers it is a 
recognised fact that all Roses must be 
pruned, whether wanted for exhibition pur- 
poses or the ordinary decoration of the 
flower garden ; if the object in view is to 
be the production of show blooms, then the 
pruning will take a more severe form than — 
would be the case if ordinary cut flowers 
are all that is desired. 
Everyone who has studied the growth of 
a.Rose, I presume, knows that it is not a 
tree to grow outwards and upwards con- 
tinuously ; but from year to year forms fresh 
channels in the way of new and vigorous 
shoots, for the flow of the sap; that being 
so, the older growths become almost dor- 
mant and useless, hence the necessity for 
their removal. The object of pruning then 
should be to try and maintaia an equal 
supply of sap to each shoot, at the same 
time moulding and preserving the shape of 
the plant. The golden rule, as applied to 
pruning, is that the stronger a- plant or 
shoot the greater number of buds to be 
left; and conversely, the weaker a plant or 
variety, the fewer its buds for future 
growths, the object being to increase the 
sap flow to a limited number of buds, and 
so ensure more vigorous shoots and blooms. 
A weakly grower (for exhibition blooms) 
should not be allowed to carry more than 
two shoots, and double that number of 
buds, or even less, to ensure good flowers. 
My own experience is that July is quite 
early enough to commence pruning the ma- 
jority of sorts; should it be done earlier in 
the season, and warm weather set in, as has 
been the case the last year or two, the buds 
break into growth some 2 or 3 in., and are 
immediately attacked by green fly, and the 
frosts following on, the young growths have 
to contend against the two evils, with the 
result that the greater number are stunted 
and receive a check which is detrimental to 
their future well doing. 
Should the pruning take place as here 
advocated, say from the middle of July, I 
think these disadvantages are to a great ex- 
tent obviated. Some experience is necessary 
in dealing with certain varieties to enable 
us to know which shoots to retain and 
which to remove; the object at all times 
being to secure a renewal of wood from 
year to year, and as all classes cannot suc- 
cessfully be treated alike, growers should 
carefully note the results which follow their 
treatment, and the experience thus gained 
will be available for their future guidance. © 
Rose plants, particularly old ones, are very 
liable to be attacked by disease, their prin- 
cipal enemy being Apidiotus rosae, com- 
monly called white scale, and to combat 
this, after they have received their winter 
overhaul, I would advocate a spraying of 
kerosine emulsion, best done on a dull day, 
made as follows:—Dissolve 3 oz. of lotus 
soap in one and a half gallons of boiling 
water, and when thoroughly dissolved add 
half a gallon of the best kerosine, and 
churn thoroughly with a force pump or 
syringe for at least ten minutes, pumping 
out of and into a bucket through a rose 
nozzle until completely emulsified. If the 
mixture is sufficiently hot it will thicken in 
from five to ten minutes, and will be when 
cold of the consistency of butter or soft- 
soap, and will adhere without oiliness to 
the surface of glass. For use, dilute with 
from 15 to 16 parts of rain water, The 
emulsion should not be diluted until imme- 
diately before it is used. 
The other pests Roses are most troubled 
with are aphis, or green fly, and mildew, 
the former making its appearance in early 
spring, but if taken in time is easily re- 
moved by eareful hosing, or, if more con- 
venient, dust the- plants occasionally with 
insectibane, allowing it to remain on fora 
few hours, after which it may be washed off 
with a garden syringe. Where Roses are 
largely grown this treatment would become 
