394 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Mav  5.  1898. 
FERN  NOTES. 
At  all  seasons  of  the  year  we  admire  the  grace  and  elegance  of  our 
hardy  and  exotic  Ferns.  There  are  very  few  gardens  in  which  they  do 
not  find  a  place,  and  where  their  culture  is  not  attempted  with  more  or 
less  success.  Year  hy  year  they  are  increasingly  cultivated,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  continued  efforts  are  made  to  obtain  new  species  and  new 
forms  'o  supply  the  demand.  Some  exceedingly  handsome  species  have 
been  introduced  within  the  last  few  years,  and  many  elegant  and  hand¬ 
some  forms  of  the  old  species  have  been  selected. 
Perhaps  the.most  graceful,  or  at  least  the  most  useful,  of  all  Ferns  is 
Adiantum  cuneatum.  It  is  very  easily  cultivated,  the  mature  fronds  keep 
well  after  they  are  cut,  and  there  is  none  more  useful  for  buttonhole 
flowers,  bouquets,  or  to  mix  with  cut  flowers  for  any  decorative  purposes 
— indeed,  seldom  is  any  other  species  used  for  the  best  bouquets  in 
Covent  Garden  ;  but  the  mature  fronds  ought  only  to  he  used,  as  young 
foliage  very  quickly  shrivels.  The  true  British  Maidenhair  is  much 
like  A.  cuneatum,  but  it  has  larger  pinnules,  and  does  not  grow  so  freely  ; 
it  requires  similar  treatment  to  A.  cuneatum  when  under  cultivation,  and 
is  most  at  home  in  a  cool  stove.  Several  distinct  forms  of  this  have 
been  raised.  A.  capillus-Veneris  admirabile  has  fronds  more  wavy  and 
graceful  than  the  original.  A.  capillus-Veneris  daphnites  is  a  more 
dwarf  form  of  the  species,  and  the  fronds  have  larger  pinnules. 
A.  capillus-Veneris  magnificum  and  undulatum  are  also  very  desirable, 
and  should  be  in  all  large  collections. 
Of  exotic  species  of  Adiantum  some  have  the  young  fronds  tinged 
of  a  deep  red  colour.  A  small-growing  very  neat  species  is  A.  tinctum, 
but  it  is  not  of  free  growth.  A.  Veitchianum  has  fronds  of  the  deepest 
red,  and  is  very  free.  Adiantum  asarlfolium  is  a  very  novel  species  with 
simple  orbicular  fronds,  when  full  grown  about  3  inches  across.  It  should 
be  grown  for  its  distinct  character.  A.  concinnum  latum  is  a  charming 
form  of  the  species  ;  the  fronds  are  more  erect  in  growth.  A.  farleyense 
is  the  most  magnificent  of  all,  but  as  it  does  noc  produce  fertile  fronds 
it  can  only  be  increased  by  division.  It  is  not  so  easily  grown  as  most 
of  the  other  species,  and  requires  rather  different  treatment.  Most  of 
the  Adiantums  thrive  with  a  fair  supply  of  air,  and  should  get  a  little  sun¬ 
shine  ;  while  A.  farleyense  is  much  affected  by  draughts,  and  the  fragile 
delicate  pinnules  are  injured  by  sunshine. 
The  potting  materials  for  Adiantums  should  be  about  equal  parts  of 
tough  fibrous  peat  and  turfy  loam  ;  a  little  silver  sand  and  a  few  pieces  of 
charcoal  ought  to  be  added  to  keep  the  whole  porous.  The  repotting  of 
Ferns  should  be  done  with  care  ;  if  the  ball  has  become  matted 
with  roots  prick  amongst  them  with  a  pointed  stick  until  they  are 
loosened  out,  but  do  not  break  the  ball  of  earth.  Some  of  the  old  spent 
mould  may  be  removed  from  the  surface.  The  pots  to  be  used  must  be 
clean,  and  they  should  be  one  or  two  sizes  larger,  according  to  the  vigour 
and  species  to  be  potted.  One  large  potsherd  should  be  placed  at  the 
bottom  of  the  pot,  and  the  smaller  pieces,  which  should  be  quite  free  from 
dirt,  placed  over  it  in  a  careful  manner.  The  compost  should  be  packed 
round  the  ball  rather  firmly,  but  not  quite  so  firmly  as  is  done  with  hard- 
wooded  stove  or  greenhouse  plants.  Do  not  water  the  plants  immediately 
after  they  are  repotted.  Experienced  cultivators  of  pot  plants  do  not 
require  to  be  told  about  it ;  but  I  have  seen  expensive  plants  taken  to  the 
potting  shed,  shifted  into  another  pot,  and  watered  on  the  hand-barrow 
before  being  removed  to  the  stove  or  greenhouse,  which  is  barbarous 
treatment,  and  highly  injurious  to  delicate  plants.  Frequently  I  do  not 
water  plants  for  a  week  or  ten  days  after  they  are  repotted  (when  the 
operation  is  performed  early  in  the  season),  and  by  that  time  fresh  rootlets 
are  formed  and  ready  to  take  up  the  water  when  it  reaches  them.  The 
same  treatment  applies  to  all  classes  of  pot  plants. 
The  Davallia  is  a  useful  genus  of  Ferns,  and  nearly  all  of  them  are 
adapted  for  small  houses.  D.  Mooreana  is  a  noble  and  very  handsome 
species.  Its  broad  arching  fronds  are  between  2  and  3  feet  in  length.  It 
is  a  stove  Fern,  having  been  introduced  to  this  country  from  Borneo. 
D.  parvula  is  one  of  the  smallest  of  the  species  ;  the  fronds  are  only  a 
few  inches  high,  but  are  finely  divided  and  very  neat.  D.  Tyermani  is 
very  distinct,  and  similar  in  size  to  the  last.  It  is  well  adapted  for  basket- 
work,  and  was  introduced  from  the  west  coast  of  Africa. 
The  Gold  and  Silver  Gymnogrammas  should  be  grown  in  all  plant 
stoves,  but  they  ought  to  be  placed  in  a  part  of  the  house  where  they 
are  out  of  the  reach  of  the  syringe,  as  sprinkling  sadly  disfigures 
them.  G.  Laucheana  makes  a  neat  medium-sized  specimen,  and  the 
gold  powder  underneath  the  fronds  is  of  the  deepest  yellow.  G.  chryso- 
phylla  is  also  a  very  desirable  species,  slightly  powdered  on  the  upper 
surface  and  golden  yellow  underneath.  Of  the  silvery  species,  G.  tartarea 
and  G.  argyrophylla  peruviana  are  good.  A  very  elegant  species  named 
G.  decomposita,  the  fronds  of  which  are  finely  divided,  has  a  very  graceful 
appearance. 
The  Lomarias  are  an  easily  cultivated  class,  and  some  of  the  species 
are  very  pretttj'.  Lomaria  gibba  is  very  easily  produced  from  spores, 
and  in  a  small  state  it  is  very  pretty  as  a  table  plant.  L.  gibba  crispa  is 
a  small-growing  form,  which  is  also  very  pretty  in  small  plants,  but  it 
does  not  make  a  handsome  specimen.  L.  gibba  Belli  is  well  deserving  of 
notice,  as  it  makes  a  handsome  specimen,  and  very  seldom  produces  fertile 
fronds.  The  fronds  are  similar  to  those  of  the  species,  except  that  the 
ends  are  singularly  tasselled. 
It  would  occupy  too  much  space  to  describe  half  what  ought  to  be 
grown  in  collections.  A  few  more  remarks  on  culture  may  be  added. 
Except  Maidenhairs,  already  mentioned,  most  stove  Ferns  thrive  in  turfy 
peat,  with  a  very  little  loam  added  to  it,  and  when  the  pots  are  well  filled 
with  roots  a  good  supply  of  water  is  required.  Too  much  water  before 
the  pots  are  tolerably  well  filled  with  roots,  and  overpotting,  will  cause 
the  soil  in  the  pots  to  become  sour,  after  which  the  plant  will  not  thrive,. 
During  winter  a  high  night  temperature  is  not  desirable,  55°  will  be 
quite  sufficient ;  nor  should  they  be  syringed  at  this  season,  although 
the  atmosphere  must  be  pretty  well  charged  with  moisture  derived  from 
water  scattered  about  the  floors  and  stages.  If  the  weather  is  flne 
the  plants  may  be  syringed  during  the  spring  and  summer,  except 
the  Gymnogrammas,  which  are  disfigured  by  the  syringe  being  used 
upon  them ;  and  as  young  fronds  will  now  freely  be  produced  by 
increased  warmth,  the  house  will  be  required  to  be  shaded  during  hot 
weather.  Ventilation  requires,  perhaps,  more  attention  during  this  than 
'any  other  month  of  the  3ear.  Unless  great  care  be  taken  vegetation 
suffers  from  the  drying  winds  which  we  have,  often  accompanied  by  frost.. 
Admit  very  little  air  at  such  a  time,  as  it  will  be  better  to  shade  to  keep 
down  the  temperature. 
Ferns  are  subject  to  the  attacks  of  various  insect  enemies.  Where 
mealy  bug  is  plentiful  it  gets  upon  the  fronds  of  some  of  the  -species,  and 
can  seldom  be  dislodged  without  injury  to  the  plant.  Others  are  attacked 
by  thrips,  while  green  fly  will  also  attack  the  j’oung  fronds  of  Lomarias 
and  check  their  growth.  These  must  be  destroyed  promptly. — Geowek. 
BALDRY’S  SCARLET  DEFIANCE  RHUBARB. 
The  note  of  “  N.  N.”  on  this  Ehubarb  (page  376),  your  editorial 
comment,  with  its  complimentary  finale,  and  the  arrival  here  of  a  box  of 
stalks  from  “  N.  N.,”  have  made  it  necessary  that  I  should  say  a  few  words 
on  the  subject.  First,  however,  let  me  thank  you  for  putting  “  N.  N.”  in 
communication  with  myself,  and  then  thank  him  for  his  kindness  in 
sending  some  of  his  Rhubarb  to  me  for  comparison,  and  still  more  for 
the  very  friendly  letter  which  accompanied  it.  It  was  a  true  brother 
gardener’s  epistle,  and  it  is  needless  to  say,  I  hope,  that  I  replied  to  it 
with  becoming  friendliness. 
Now  for  a  word  on  Baldry’s  Scarlet  Defiance  Ehubarb,  and  its  com¬ 
parative  state  of  unknownness — if  I  may  coin  a  word  to  express  its  small 
area  of  cultivation.  My  great  experiments  were  made  in  the  late  seventies 
and  early  eighties,  and  I  have  to  fall  back  on  my  memory,  which,  as  we 
old  people  know,  is  not  so  alert  or  retentive  as  it  was  in  the  first  four 
decades  of  life.  This  Rhubarb,  Baldry’s  Scarlet  Defiance,  Salts’ 
Crimson  Perfection,  Reading  Rub^',  and  one  or  two  others,  were  dropped 
out  of  the  competition,  I  know,  because  they  proved  “  too  slow,”  or,  in 
other  words,  they  did  not  satisfy  the  requirements  as  to  earliness,  pro¬ 
ductiveness,  colour,  and  flavour. 
Those  four  points  were  the  criteria  of  judgment,  and,  though  each 
variety  might  have  some  one  point  or  more  excellent,  as  Baldfy’s  for 
colour  and  flavour  for  instance,  the  other  points  were  not  fulfilled  in 
some  way  or  other.  Time  is  the  great  factor  in  life  generally,  and  time, 
or  earliness,  is  an  important  desideratum  in  a  small-growing  Rhubarb  in 
a  private  establishment,  and  small-growing  Rhubarbs  are  of  no  use  in 
market  gardens,  unless  they  are  exceptionally  early.  Our  friend  “N.  N.” 
seems  to  have  a  very  good  healthy  form  of  Baldry’s  Scarlet  Defiance, 
and,  another  important  matter,  his  soil  and  climate  appear  to  suit  it. 
The  stalks  sent,  on  being  cooked,  were  in  every  way  excellent — composi¬ 
tion,  colour,  and  flavour  ;  colour  and  flavour  being  particularly  good. 
The  reason  why  it  is  not  catalogued  by  traders  may  be  inferred  from 
the  reasons  I  have  now  given.  As  far  as  my  memory  serves  me  it  was- 
catalogued  about  the  time  I  was  in  the  thick  of  my  experiments,  but  it 
has  fallen  out  lately.  By  the  kindness  of  “  N.  N.,”  who  offers  me  roots, 
I  hope  to  renew  acquaintance  with  it,  and,  on  trial,  if  all  goes  well  with 
us,  I  may  have  something  to  say  at  a  future  day. 
I  have  reduced  my  varieties  to  the  following  on  the  common  sense 
principle  that  every  gardener  acts  upon,  to  grow  only  the  best  of  every¬ 
thing  that  fulfils  the  requirements  of  the  establishment  which  he  serves  : — 
1,  Chiswick  Early  Red,  which,  after  all  is  said,  is  the  very  earliest  to 
come  naturally  in  the  open  ground.  It,  however,  is  very  closely  run  by 
(2)  Hawkes’  Champagne,  which  is  mj'  mainstay.  Here,  however,  I  may 
give  a  very  curious  instance  of  a  sort  of  race  between  this  and  Chiswick 
Early  Red.  They  grow  almost  side  by  side,  and  under  the  same  condi¬ 
tions,  or  nearly  so,  and  in  some  years  thej’  are  so  close  together  in  coming 
in  that  I  have  pulled  them  on  the  same  date,  but  as  a  rule  Early  Red  has 
the  first  honours  as  to  earliness.  3,  Lister’s  Cherry  Red,  once  sent  out  by 
Messrs.  Fisher  &  Holmes  of  Sheffield  as  Prima  Donna.  This  is  a  little 
later  than  Hawkes’,  but  is  as  red,  and  has  a  more  refined  and  more 
delicate  flavour.  When  the  cook  wants  anything  special  as  to  refinement 
in  Rhubarb,  then  Lister’s  is  pulled  for  the  purpose.  4,  Salts’  Crimson 
Perfection. — This  is  grown  only  in  small  quantity,  and  that  to  satisfy  a 
certain  lady,  who  admires  its  colour  ;  and  then  5,  and  last,  Victoria,  grown 
almost  on  purpose  for  forcing  in  the  Mushroom  house  and  for  the  making 
of  jam. 
All  of  the  Linnaeus  breed  of  Rhubarb  I  have  let  go,  though  I  kept 
Johnstone’s  St.  Martin  for  a  long  time.  It  was  such  a  good  summer  sort, 
but  its  lack  of  colour  was  against  it.  The  giant  sorts,  as  Stott’s  Monarch, 
are  of  no  use  in  a  gentleman’s  garden  ;  they  are  too  large  and  coarse,  and 
lack  colour.  When  I  was  working  my  Rhubarbs,  Messrs  Stuart  &  Mein 
of  Kelso  told  me  that  they  had  a  variety  coming  on  which  was  a  cross 
between  Stott’s  Monarch  and  Victoria,  with  the  size  of  the  fir.st  variety 
and  the  colour  of  the  latter,  but  I  have  not  heard  anything  more  about 
it  ;  otherwise,  with  size  and  colour,  it  would  do  for  market  work,  and 
perhaps  to  gro  v  for  forcing  in  private  gardens. 
I  think  I  have  indulged  myself  enough  now,  but  have  much  enjoyed 
the  reopening  of  what  has  been,  and  is,  to  me  a  very  interesting  subject, 
and  my  thanks  are  due  all  round,  but  especially  to  the  Editor  and  to 
“  N.  N.” — N.  H.  POWNALL,  Lenton  Hall  Gardens,  Nottingham. 
