566 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
Jdne  18,  L89S 
Sheffield  Chrysanthemum  Society. 
The  above  Society  held  its  monthly  meeting  on  Wednesday, 
June  10th.  Mr.  W.  Hannah  occupied  the  chair.  The  exhibits  for  the 
evening  were  Pelargoniums,  but  owing  to  the  heavy  rain  only  one  plant 
was  shown.  Mr.  C.  Scott  was  the  exhibitor. 
Mr.  John  Haigh  read  a  very  interesting  and  instructive  essay, 
entitled,  “How  Dame  Nature  Sows  her  Seeds.”  He  briefly  referred  to 
the  different  methods  used  by  Nature  to  perpetuate  her  species,  such  as 
seeds  of  the  Thistle  and  Dandelion,  being  very  light,  are  carried  from 
place  to  place  by  the  wind.  Others,  such  as  Burd  ck  burrs  and  the 
Cleaver  family  are  covered  with  fine  spines,  which  stick  to  the  coats  of 
sheep,  goats,  and  other  animals.  Some  plants  sow  their  own  seeds.  For 
instance,  the  Impatiens,  as  soon  as  the  pods  are  ready  for  bursting  the 
slightest  touch  will  make  them  open  with  a  spring,  causing  the  seed  to 
be  thrown  to  some  distance.  Fruit  seeds  and  berries  are  generally 
distributed  by  birds  aod  animals.  Attention  was  called  to  the  length  of 
ti  ne  that  seeds  would  remain  dormant  in  the  ground,  and  when  brought 
to  the  surface  under  the  influence  of  light,  heat,  and  moisture  will 
germinate  after  hundreds  of  years.  As  proof  of  this  instances  were 
quoted  such  as  railway  embankments  and  cuttings,  where  quite  a 
different  class  of  plants  are  to  be  seen,  such  as  have  not  been  seen 
in  thesame  locality  for  generations  in  some  instances.  Animated 
discussion  followed,  and  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  was  accorded  the 
essayist, — M.  H.  W. 
Certificated  Chrysanthemums  in  Australia, 
After  the  experience  of  the  past  season  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  Colonial  seedlings  will  not  be  long  before  they  will  have  to  be 
taken  into  account  by  those  home  growers  who  desire  to  keep  abreast 
with  the  times.  At  the  N.C.S.  Floral  meetings  last  autumn,  we  had 
several  very  fine  examples  of  new  Chrysanthemums  introduced  from 
Australia,  the  best,  perhaps,  being  Australie,  Oceana,  and  Pride  of 
Madford,  although  others  were  at  that  time  in  the  hands  of  the  trade 
and  may  be  seen  in  good  form  during  the  Jubilee  year. 
About  this  time  last  year  I  gave  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture 
a  list  of  novelties  that  had  received  certificates  at  the  Sydney  show,  and 
it  may  be  useful,  so  far  as  possible,  to  continue  the  information.  ’  The 
fc  1  lowing  is,  then,  a  list  of  those  varieties  which  were  certificated  at 
the  Sydney  show  last  April  : — 
Wallaroo. — A  large,  rosy  lilac  Japanese,  exhibited  by  Mr.  S.  B. 
Levick. 
J.  R,  Upton. — A  bloom  of  similar  habit,  colour  bright  golden 
yellow,  staged  by  Mrs.  J.  Upton. 
Mrs.  J.  Upton.— A  lilac  incurved  Japanese  of  great  size  and  depth, 
shown  by  the  Jady  whose  name  it  bears. 
R.  Forsyth.— A  dark  lilac  incurved  Japanese  of  great  size,  staged 
by  Mr.  T.  W.  Gates.  ° 
The  Sydney  (N.S.W.)  Chrysanthemum  Show, 
a  he  Australian  mail  just  to  hand  brings  a  bundle  of  newspapers 
containing  the  somewhat  lengthy  account  of  the  New  South  Wales 
Horticultural  Society’s  recent  Chrysanthemum  show.  The  show  was 
held  at  the  Oddfellows’  Temple,  Elizabeth  Street,  Sydney,  on  the 
22nd  April,  and  was  opened  by  Lady  Hampden.  The  “  Sydney  Daily 
Telegraph  ”  says  : — 
“  Compared  with  previous  years,  the  exhibits  are  fewer  in  number 
but  better  in  quality.  The  slight  falling  off  in  number  is  due  largely  to  the 
death  of  Mr.  Von  der  Heyde,  in  consequence  of  which  his  gardener, 
Mr.  G.  Kerslake  has  not  sent  in  the  very  large  number  of  blooms  he  had 
intended.  Mr,  Kerslake  would  have  been  one  of  the  largest  exhibitors, 
The  quality  of  the  blooms  still  shows  steady  advance,  and  the  season 
having  been  a  good  one  very  fine  form  and  great  purity  of  colour  are 
characteristic  of  the  leading  exhibits,  especially  in  the  Japanese  varieties. 
A  gratifying  feature  is  the  increase  in  the  number  of  country  exhibits, 
which  practically  began  to  come  in  last  year,  and  is  indicative  both  of 
the  spread  of  the  cult  in  the  country  districts  and  the  fact  that  growers 
out  of  the  metropolitan  area  are  attaining  skill  and  consequent  success 
which  is  bringing  them  up  to  show  standards.  Mr.  Mann  of  Mittagong’ 
was  the  most  successful  of  the  country  exhibitors.  There  are  some 
remarkably  fine  seedlings  shown,  and  it  is  evident  that  our  growers 
will  soon  have  some  specially  good  native  varieties.  The  old  gold  and 
salmon  incurved  Jap  ,  Mrs.  -T.  H.  Horton  (grown  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Horton), 
which  attracted  much  attention  last  year,  fully  maintains  its  quality 
and  of  seedlings  first  shown  this  year  a  considerable  number  were 
submitted  to  the  Floral  Committee. 
“Amongst  comparatively  new  imported  varieties  The  Queen,  a  pure 
white  incurved  Jap.,  of  lovely  colour,  which  was  so  much  admired  at 
previous  shows,  again  came  in  for  general  admiration. 
“  Amongst  the  competitive  exhibits  those  of  Messrs.  A.  Lee,  R.  Forsyth, 
J.  Upton,  and  J.  A.  Shaw  were  particularly  noticeable.  The  intercolonial 
element  was  supplied  by  Mr.  Bidencope,  a  well-known  Tasmanian 
grower,  who  showed  some  very  fine  blooms.” — P. 
BRITISH  FERNS. 
At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  National  Amateur  Gardeners’  Society  held 
at  the  Memorial  Hall,  Farringdon  Street,  Mr.  George  Gordon,  one  of  the 
Vice-Presidents,  gave  an  interesting  lecture  on  British  Ferns,  with 
special  reference  to  their  cultivation  in  gardens  of  limited  dimensions. 
Mr.  T.  W.  Sanders,  President,  occupied  the  chair,  and  there  was  a  large 
attendance  of  members,  and  an  extensive  exhibition  of  British  Ferns, 
Mr,  Vokes  of  Southampton,  Mr,  Leonard  Brown,  Mr.  Sinclair,  and  Mr. 
Harrison  Btagiug  collections  of  splendidly  developed  specimens. 
Mr.  Gordon,  in  his  opening  remarks,  said  he  did  not  intend  in  the 
comparatively  short  space  of  time  at  his  d’sposal,  to  speak  of  the  life- 
history  of  Ferns,  or  discuss  the  marvellous  processes  by  which  the't 
multiplication  is  effected,  and  new  and  beautiful  forms  created.  He 
should,  in  compliance  with  the  request  that  had  been  made  to  him, 
confine  himself  to  their  cultivation,  in  which,  he  was  pleased  to  learn, 
the  members  were  much  interested.  He  was  glad  of  this,  because  it 
justified  the  hope  that  the  Ferns  indigenous  to  the  United  Kingdom 
would  at  no  distant  date  receive  the  attention  from  the  general  body  of 
amateurs  they  so  well  merited,  and  that  some  at  least  of  the  many  beau¬ 
tiful  forms  of  the  principal  species  would  be  represented  in  all  gardens 
where  beauty  of  form,  as  well  as  attractive  colours,  were  appreciated. 
He  should  not  attempt  to  exalt  the  native  Ferns  at  the  expense  of  those 
from  other  parts  of  the  world,  or  indeed  at  that  of  other  classes  of 
plants  ;  but  he  would  claim  for  them  that  they  would  afford  unbounded 
pleasure  to  those  who  gave  them  the  attention  necessary  to  the  full 
development  of  their  manifold  charms.  Upon  this  point  he  could  speak 
from  experience.  It  was  now  many  years  since  he  turned  his  attention 
to  British  Ferns,  and  although  he  had  not  made  a  fad  of  them  to  the 
exclusion  of  other  plants,  he  had  from  the  first  grown  a  representative 
collection,  and  had  annually  obtained  from  it  many  useful  object  lessons 
in  plant  life  and  an  immense  amount  of  pleasure.  The  enjoyment  he 
had  derived  from  the  culture  of  British  Ferns  was  within  the  reach  of 
the  humblest  amateur,  for  the  possession  of  a  large  collection  or  rare 
forms  was  not  essential. 
The  cultivation  of  British  Ferns  had  not  during  the  past  thirty  years 
extended  so  rapidly  as  could  have  been  desired,  and  for  this  there  could 
hardly  be  any  doubt  the  Fern  specialists  were  in  the  main  responsible. 
From  thirty  to  forty  years  ago  there  was  almost,  if  not  quite,  a  mania 
for  British  Ferns,  and  a  brisk  demand  sprang  up  for  the  forms  of  the 
principal  species.  To  satisfy  this  demand  plants  were  raised  in  large 
numbers  from  spores,  and  seedlings  showing  a  slight  difference  in  the 
size  and  form  of  the  frond,  no  matter  whether  the  difference  contributed 
to  or  detracted  from  the  beauty  of  the  plant,  were  distributed  under  long, 
cumbrous,  and  unpronounceable  names.  In  time  cultivators  grew  tired 
of  adding  varieties  showing  trifling  variations  to  their  collection,  and 
also  of  the  frightful  names  inflicted  upon  them.  He  had  no  sympathy 
with  those  who  objected  to  scientific  names  of  all  kinds,  but  in  the  case 
of  varietal  forms  of  British  Ferns,  as  of  other  plants,  the  names  should 
be  simple  and  appropriate.  Happily,  there  had  of  late  years  been  a 
change  for  the  better  ;  raisers  had  recognised  the  importance  of  new 
varieties  possessing  both  distinctness  and  beauty,  and  that  cumbrous 
names  are  not  desirable. 
There  were,  it  was  pointed  out,  several  ways  of  commencing  the 
cultivation  of  British  Ferns.  If  the  cultivator  is  satisfied  with  the 
specific  forms,  and  has  access  to  woodlands  and  hedgerows  where  Ferns 
are  abundant,  he  can  make  a  beginning  by  transferring  the  requisite 
number  of  plants  from  their  native  haun's  to  his  garden  ;  if  he  has  no 
such  access  it  will  be  open  to  him  to  purchase  the  plants  from  a  nursery 
or  the  coster’s  barrow.  But  no  one  should,  except  in  one  or  two 
instances,  be  satisfied  with  the  species,  with  such  a  wealth  of  beautiful 
forms.  The  Male  Fern,  the  Lady  Fern,  and  Broad  Fern,  and  the  Hart’s 
Tongue,  when  growing  luxuriantly  in  great  masses,  as  they  may  be  seen 
in  Devonshire,  Somerset,  Cumberland,  Yorkshire,  and  some  other 
counties  that  were  mentioned,  were  singularly  beautiful  ;  but  their 
places  are  the  woodland,  the  hedgerow,  and  the  shady  lane,  and  not  the 
garden.  Especially  was  it  desirable  that  those  who  had  but  little  space 
in  which  to  indulge  their  taste  for  plant  culture  should  take  advantage 
of  the  most  beautiful  forms  Nature  had  provided  for  the  embellishment 
of  their  gardens. 
The  practice  which  obtains  of  purchasing  Ferns  that  have  been  dug 
up  after  they  have  commenced  to  make  new  growth  and  hawked  about 
the  streets  was  very  strongly  condemned.  In  the  first  place,  plants  that 
had  been  so  dealt  with  seldom  survived  even  with  the  greatest  care,  and 
in  the  second  place,  those  who  bought  the  plants  assisted  and  encouraged 
those  who  were  engaged  in  stripping  some  of  the  most  beautiful  parts 
of  one  of  their  greatest  charms.  Few,  said  Mr.  Gordon,  had  an  adequate 
idea  of  the  rate  at  which  the  country  is  being  despoiled  of  its  beauty  for 
the  purpose  of  supplying  the  demand  for  Fern  roots  during  the  spring 
months,  and  he  earnestly  hoped  that  all  who  were  in  any  way  interested 
in  the  rural  aspects  of  the  country  would  do  their  best  to  discourage 
this  vandalism.  Some  objection  to  the  practice  would  be  removed  if 
the  plants  were  utilised  in  beautifying  town  gardens,  but  of  the 
thousands  that  were  annually  sold  not  more  than  5  per  cent,  survived. 
The  proper,  and  indeed  the  only  course  that  should  be  taken  in 
beginning  Fern  culture  was  to  purchase  nicely  established  plants  from 
a  nursery  in  which  a  representative  collection  is  grown.  The  varieties 
of  the  several  species  were  stated  to  be  so  numerous,  and  to  evince  ao 
great  a  diversity  in  character,  as  to  afford  a  wide  range  for  selection. 
To  show  the  wonderful  variation  of  the  British  Ferns,  it  was  mentioned 
that  Mr.  E.  J.  Lowe  described,  in  his  small  work,  entitled  “  British 
