April  9,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
317 
cultivation.  The  circumstances  of  the  times  need  that  this  should 
be  so,  and  future  emergencies  may  cause  poignant  regret  if  nothing 
is  done  in  this  direction.  We  live  in  times  of  peace  and  homely 
plenty  now  for  most  men  who  are  willing  to  labour,  but  crucial 
times  may  come  when  we  shall  be  more  or  less  fully  thrown  on  our 
home  resources.  It  is  prudent,  then,  to  be  prepared,  and  if 
calamitous  days  do  not  come  all  the  better,  for  our  land  will  surely 
benefit  by  being  made  to  yield  the  more  by  the  knowledge  and 
industry  of  its  workers.  We  have  also  to  remember  that  these 
will  increase,  not  only  by  the  natural  increase  of  population,  but 
by  the  greater  demand  for  plots  of  varying  sizes,  and  the  greater 
readiness  that  is,  we  suspect,  bound  to  increase  on  the  part  of 
proprietors  to  supply  them.  It  does  not  follow  that  it  may  be  so 
everywhere.  There  are  happy  localities  in  which  men  are  content 
with  their  present  possessions  ;  but  there  are  others  in  which  a  good 
deal  seems  to  be  needed  for  local  requirements. 
A  stray  observation — the  casual  dropping  of  a  word — is  some¬ 
times  suggestive,  such  as  90  acres  of  land  devoted  to  allotments  at 
Swanmore.  If  this  area  i3  needed  on  one  estate  in  a  strictly  rural 
district,  either  the  Swanmore  men  are  more  earnest  than  others, 
or  there  are  thousands  more  wanting  a  bit  o’  land.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  the  men  are  better  employed  in  wresting  Potatoes  and  bacon 
out  of  the  soil  at  home  than  wandering  no  one  knows  where — 
perhaps  into  densely  crowded  cities  to  subsist  as  well  as  they  can, 
largely  on  foreign  food,  for  which  they  would  of  course  have  to 
pay  their  share  towards  the  cost  of  growing.  The  suggestion  may 
seem  very  absurd,  but  it  is  all  the  same  founded  on  economic  fact, 
and  may  afford  food  for  reflection. 
With  other  aspects  of  the  education  question  we  have  nothing 
to  do,  and  in  no  other  respect  than  its  bearing  strictly  on  the 
art  of  land  cultivation  will  it  be  discussed  in  the  pages  of  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture. 
GARDENIAS. 
At  one  time  these  were  popular  flowers  in  the  market,  but  the 
price  they  now  realise  leaves  only  a  very  small  margin  of  profit 
for  the  grower.  Flowers  that  are  produced  with  less  heat  and 
trouble  have  to  some  extent  displaced  them.  In  private  gardening 
establishments  they  are  still  popular,  but  unfortunately  they  are 
not  grown  so  well  as  they  should  be.  This  is  often  due  to  having 
to  grow  the  plants  in  pots  and  subject  them  to  treatment  that  is 
anything  but  suitable.  If  young,  clean,  healthy  stock  can  be 
planted  in  well-drained  and  well-prepared  shallow  borders  where 
full  sunshine  can  be  given  and  plenty  of  heat  and  moisture  main¬ 
tained  they  grow  luxuriantly.  Strong  bushy  specimens  planted  in 
the  spring  about  2  feet  apart  will  meet  by  the  autumn  ;  in  fact, 
the  bed  in  which  they  are  planted  will  be  one  mass  of  growth,  and 
large  flowers  with  bright  bold  foliage  will  be  the  result,  which  in  a 
cut  state  are  handsome  for  the  adornment  of  the  dining  table.  To 
keep  plants  in  good  health  during  the  following  year  the  growths 
must  be  cut  back,  a  rich  top-dressing  given,  and  be  liberally  fed 
with  chemical  manure  at  intervals  afterwards.  It  is  then  wise  to 
have  a  young  stock  to  displace  them,  throwing  out  the  old  plants 
after  flowering  and  renewing  the  soil. 
The  best  method  of  propagating  these  plants  is  to  root  cuttings 
in  the  autumn,  and  keep  them  in  3-inch  pots  throughout  the  winter. 
In  the  spring  place  these  in  5-inch  pots,  and  where  practicable  give 
them  gentle  bottom  heat.  They  push  freely  from  the  base  and 
are  soon  ready  for  7-inch,  in  which  they  can  grow  and  flower.  The 
following  season  they  are  transferred  to  10  inch  pots,  and  on  an 
average  by  the  end  of  the  growing  season  are  plants  3  feet 
through. 
Cuttings  of  soft  shoots  may  be  rooted  now  in  brisk  heat  in 
thumb  pots,  and  if  well  looked  after  will  be  capital  plants  by  the 
autumn,  and  in  the  spring  will  produce  a  good  number  of  blooms. 
The  second  season  they  make  plants  large  enough  for  any  purpose 
and  yield  abundance  of  flowers.  Careful  watering  must  be 
accorded  at  all  stages,  thorough  drainage  being  equally  as 
important. 
The  plants  should  have  full  sunshine  from  the  time  they  are 
well  rooted.  Pinching  of  the  shoots  mast  be  resorted  to  from  time 
to  time  to  induce  the  plants  to  branch  in  their  early  stages,  but 
when  once  fairly  bushy  plants  are  produced  we  allow  them  to  grow 
and  branch  naturally.  The  second  season — -that  is,  after  flowering — 
the  strongest  shoots  are  cut  back,  while  all  the  weaker  ones  are  left. 
The  plants  must  be  liberally  syringed  throughout  the  year,  which 
assists  wonderfully  in  keeping  them  clean. 
During  part  of  August  and  September  a  little  more  air  should 
be  given  to  harden  and  mature  the  wood,  but  it  must  be  done  with¬ 
out  checking  the  plants.  The  summer  night  temperature  should 
not  fall  below  70°,  while  with  sun  heat  in  the  day  the  temperature 
may  range  from  80°  to  85°,  and  be  allowed  to  run  up  after  the  house 
has  been  closed  to  90°  and  95°.  The  night  winter  temperature  may 
be  60°  to  65°.  With  increased  moisture  and  warmth  during 
February  and  March  the  flower  buds  swell  rapidly  and  the  flowers 
quickly  expand. 
The  soil  in  the  early  stages  of  growth  may  consist  of  equal  parts 
of  good  loam  and  peat,  with  coarse  sand  added.  Good  leaf  mould 
may  be  substituted  for  the  peat.  In  the  last  pottings  good  fibrous 
loam,  one-seventh  of  decayed  manure,  with  the  addition  of  coarse 
sand,  will  be  found  admirable.  The  soil  should  be  pressed  firmly 
into  the  pots.  The  best  method  of  feeding  is  to  sprinkle  chemical 
manure  on  the  surface. 
Insects  are  kept  down  by  frequent  syringiug  with  petroleum 
and  water,  the  sun  being  kept  off  the  plants  for  a  time  afterwards. 
Any  insects  left  that  the  petroleum  will  not  reach  may  be 
touched  with  methylated  spirits,  which  soon  destroys  them.  This 
spirit  does  no  harm,  provided  the  leaves  or  stems  are  not  bruised. 
Success  depends  in  no  small  degree  on  keeping  the  plants  perfectly 
free  from  mealy  bug  and  scale.  Young,  free-growing,  healthy 
plants  are  not  half  so  liable  to  their  attacks  as  old  and  stunted 
examples. — W.  Bardney. 
A  HARDY  FERNERY. 
The  earlier — even  the  earliest — impressions  of  a  gardener’s 
life  are,  I  think,  very  lasting  ones.  Neither  time,  nor  place,  nor 
circumstance  effaces  them — that  is,  so  far  as  they  pertain  to  the 
agreeable.  More  unpleasant  memories  are  lost  sight  of  or  are 
toned  down  to  all  but  the  vanishing  point,  hence  “  The  most  toil¬ 
some  journey  often  makes  the  most  delightful  retrospect.”  I  am 
looking  back  over  many  years  to  an  old-fashioned  Kentish  garden, 
and  to  one  corner  of  that  garden  devoted  to  this  subject  a  hardy 
fernery,  wherein  were  many  things  appropriate  to  the  position — 
many  varieties  not  often  met  with  now,  and  some  that  I,  at  least, 
have  not  seen  since.  Yet,  I  think,  could  descriptive  powers  do 
justice  in  the  representation  of  that  hardy  fernery  of  the  long  ago, 
the  subject  might  possibly  receive  more  attention  than  appears  to 
be  given  to  it  at  present. 
So  well  designed  was  this  hardy  fernery  that  but  little  design 
was  apparent ;  but,  so  far  as  I  recollect,  it  was  of  nearly  circular 
formation,  enclosed  by  informal  banks  of  soil  confined  within 
bounds  by  rough  logs  and  heavy  limbs  of  timber.  These  banks 
were  planted  on  the  outside  with  Laurels,  and  the  whole  was  more 
or  less  shaded  and  sheltered  by  the  contiguity  of  some  large 
deciduous  trees,  the  position  of  which  had  probably  some  relation 
to  the  outline,  for  no  unnecessary  labour  had  entered  into  the 
making.  An  informal  walk  divided  the  banks  from  the  central 
portion,  which  was  flat,  perhaps  a  little  below  the  level  of  the  path, 
and  roughly  outlined  with  timber  similar  to  that  supporting  the 
banks. 
Low-growing  Ferns  consisting  of  Polypodies  in  variety, 
Adiantum  pedatum,  and  others,  principally  those  with  creeping 
rhizomatous  stems,  made  a  fringe  for  taller  kinds  in  the  central  bed . 
The  most  notable  feature  of  the  latter  was  an  extensive  group  of 
the  noble  Ostrich-plume  Fern,  Struthiopteris  germanica  and  S. 
pennsylvariica.  These  divided  the  honour  of  the  position  with  a 
regal  clump  of  Osmundas,  of  which  some  of  the  rarer  North 
American  kinds  were  also  represented.  Adiantum  pedatum  is  a 
plant  so  seldom  met  with  or  so  poorly  represented  in  British 
gardens  that  it  appears  to  be  worthy  of  note  that  the  proprietor  of 
this  Kentish  garden  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving  cases  of  this  Fern 
from  a  friend  in  Canada,  and  as  testimony  to  its  hardy  character  it 
may  also  be  worth  recording  that  it  was  dug  out  in  blocks  from  its 
native  habitat  as  soon  as  the  rigours  of  a  Canadian  winter  permitted 
of  its  being  done.  If  I  mistake  not  these  importations  came  from 
a  cemetery  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Montreal,  and  the  pleasure 
and  interest  attached  to  the  arrival  of  one  of  these  cases  was 
augmented  by  a  liberal  contribution  of  Cypripedium  spectabile 
from  the  same  locality.  Rarer  Orchids  have  been  common  to  me 
since,  but  I  doubt  if  the  pleasure  of  watching  developing  blooms 
has  ever  equalled  that  surrounding  these  charming  plants  of 
boyhood’s  days.  Before  dismissing  this  phase,  the  only  difficulty  I 
know  of  in  establishing  Adiantum  pedatum  is  the  care  necessary 
to  protect  the  rising  fronds  from  the  depredations  of  slugs. 
To  enumerate  the  choice  varieties  of  British  Ferns  planted  on 
the  banks  or  in  nooks  formed  by  the  logs  would  be  as  impossible 
as  it  is  perhaps  unnecessary  ;  but  I  believe  it  was  then  the  riches* 
