418 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
November  7,  1901. 
Many  of  his  letters  are  preserved  in  Boyle’s  works.  That 
philosopher  thus  speaks  of  him :  “  There  is  not  in  life,  a 
man  in  this  whole  island,  nor  on  the  continents  beyond  the 
seas,  that  could  be  made  more  universally  useful  to  do  good 
to  all.”  He  was  in  the  Church,  was  a  member  of  Corpus 
Christi  College,  Oxford,  and  had  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinitv  conferred  upon  him  in  1683  by  that  University. 
It  is  stated  that  the  same  year  was  that  of  his  death,  and 
that  he  was  then  of  the  full  age  of  eighty.  Speaking  of 
himself,  he  says,  “  My  education  was  amongst  scholars  in 
academies,  where  I  spent  many  years  in  conversing  with 
books  only.  A  little  before  our  wars  began  I  spent  two  sum¬ 
mers  in  travelling  towards  the  south,  with  purpose  to  learn 
to  know  men  and  foreign  manners.  Since  my  return  I  have 
been  constantly  employed  in  a  weighty  office,  by  which  I  am 
not  disengaged  from  the  care  of  our  public  welfare.”  What 
“  weighty  office  ”  he  filled,  we  know  not ;  but  it  is  certain 
that  he  devoted  himself  to  other  sciences  besides  those  con- 
Filmy  Ferns  and  Jet  ci’Eau. 
nected  with  the  culture  of  the  soil,  for  a  letter  has  been 
published  written  to  him  by  Mr.  Evelyn,  relative  to  his 
(Dr.  B.’s)  discoveries  in  optical  glasses. 
Filmy  Ferns:  Todeas, 
The  illustrations  given  above  shows  part  of  the  Todea  house 
at  Malmains,  Frenchay,  near  Bristol.  The  Ferns  are  in  a  care¬ 
fully  shaded  lean-to  house,  and  are  about  fifty  in  number.  They 
are  the  property  of  Captain  Belfield,  and  were  collected  by  him 
many  years  ago  in  New  Zealand.  Principally  they  include  three 
species,  T.  superba,  T.  barbara,  and  T.  pellucida.  The  last 
named  kind  is  represented  by  some  magnificent  specimens.  The 
one  shown  on  page  419  measures  over  8ft  across,  and  the  rhizome 
or  stem  is  over  3ft  in  circumference.  The  age  is  known  by  this 
stem,  and  Mr.  Rye  estimates  the  longevity  of  the  larger  ones  at 
Malmains  at  over  100  years. 
On  entering  the  house,  even  the  unskilled  in  horticulture 
cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  pretty  spectacle  which  meets 
the  eye.  A  winding  path  runs  the  length  of  the  house,  on 
either  side  the  Ferns  are  placed  on  rustic  moss-covered  stands, 
the  water  dripping  from  the  delicate  dark  green  fronds,  com¬ 
pletes  a  picture  to  which  no  photograph  can  do  justice.  The 
atmosphere  has  to  be  kept  damp,  and  the  Ferns  frequently 
sprinkled  with  water.  In  winter  it  is  not  unusual  to  see  icicles 
hanging  from  the  fronds  without  the  slightest  injury  to  the 
plants'. 
I  was  privileged  to  see  the  fernery  by  candle-light  in  winter. 
It  was  like  stepping  into  fairyland  ;  the  long  icicles  hanging  from 
the  dark  green  fronds  ( ?)  sparkled  like  diamonds,  and  presented 
a  wreird  and  enchanting  appearance.  The  Ferns  are  a  remark¬ 
ably  healthy  and  thriving  lot,  and  their  excellence  may  be 
judged  from  the  number  of  silver  cups  Captain  Belfield  has  won 
with  them.  Owing  to  the  weak  light  I  could  not  get  a  photo¬ 
graph  of  the  other  part  of  the  house  where  the  larger  specimens 
were.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Rye,  the  head  gardener,  for  bis 
courtesy,  which  will  no  doubt  be  extended  to  any  of  your  readers 
should  they  visit  Frenchay. — E.  E.  W. 
Plants  Worthy  of  Improvement." 
( Concluded  from  page  3  74). 
Wild  Vegetables,  Salad,  and  Pot  Herbs. 
It  is  curious  how  some  of  our  most  important  native 
vegetables  are  found  near  the  sea.  Of  these  are  Cabbage, 
Seakale,  Beet,  Celery,  Carrot,  and  Asparagus.  Horseradish 
and  Smyrnium  (Alexanders)  also  show  a  liking  for  the  shore, 
as  also  “  scurvy  grass,”  which  is  an  excellent  salad  when 
young  as  raised  from  seeds  like  Mustard  and  Cress.  It  was 
the  great  anti-scorbutic,  and  much  sought  after  and  eaten  by 
sailors  as  a  preventive  or  remedy  for  scurvy  before  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  lime  juice,  the  specific  now  so  extensively  and 
widely  used.  The  wild  Radish  is  also  a  sea-shore  plant,  and 
its  seeds,  like  those  of  Charlock  or  Turnip,  yield  excellent 
salading  as  quickly  grown  under  glass.  Chicory  (Endive), 
Lettuce,  Dandelion  (forced  and  blanched)  and  Watercress 
are  all  well-known  and  excellent  salads  or  vegetables  raw  or 
cooked.  Asparagus,  Seakale,  Watercress,  Horseradish,  and 
Dandelion  have  been  very  little  improved  by  cultivation  or 
by  seminal  selection,  and  experiments  on  each  and  all  would 
be  likely  to  yield  valuable  results. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  meadow  mushrooms 
(Agaricus  campestris  and  A.  arvensis),  and  there  seems  no 
reason  why  “  virgin  spawn,”  or  spawn  made  direct  from  the 
spores,  of  fifteen  or  twenty  other  edible  fungi  should  not  be 
made  and  cultivated  for  food.  The  most  delicious  and 
valuable  of  all  fungi,  viz.,  the  best  edible  kinds  of  truffles, 
certainly  deserve  more  attention  as  to  culture  and  discovery 
than  they  have  yet  received.  The  chances  are  that  many 
tons  of  the  edible  fungi  of  our  woods  and  meadows  are  lost 
Oak  and  Beech  woods  and  copses  or  on  the  downs  of  South 
England  every  year.  One  great  difficulty  is  to  find  them, 
growing  as  they  do  underground.  Both  dogs  and  pigs  have 
been  trained  to  hunt  and  find  them,  and  if  the  best  French 
and  Italian  kinds  could  be  introduced  and  grown  in  England, 
a  not  unimportant  industry  might  be  again  revived.  Many 
tons  of  the  edible  fungi  of  our  woods  and  meadows  are  lost 
every  year,  mainly  owing  to  vulgar  prejudice  and  ignorance 
as  to  the  difference  between  good  and  bad  kinds.  It  is  not 
generally  known  how  easily  the  meadow  mushroom  may  be 
grown  in  paddocks  or  meadows  or  in  orchards  near  the  house, 
by  simply  planting  lumps  of  spawn  in  the  grass  in  June  or 
July;  old  Cucumber,  Melon,  or  Marrow  beds  “inoculated” 
with  spawn  in  lumps  the  size  of  hens’  eggs  also  prove  very 
productive. 
If  children  were  taught  by  actual  experience  afield  and  in 
the  kitchen  how  delicious  many  of  our  common  fungi  really 
are  they  would  be  much  more  often  gathered  and  used.  One 
of  the  earliest  to  appear  is  the  St.  George’s  mushroom 
(Agaricus  gambosus),  so  called  because  it  often  appears  as 
early  as  on  St.  George’s  Day.  It  is  the  “  mousceron,”  or 
“  mousseron,”  of  the  French,  the  moss  champignon,  why  so 
called  no  one  knows,  because  it  is  a  meadow  or  pasture 
growing  species.  From  April  until  November,  when  the 
“  blewits  ”  appear,  we  have  a  constant  succession  of  good 
and  edible  kinds — those  interested  may  consult  Cooke’s 
“  British  Edible  Fungi  ”  for  figures  and  other  details. 
The  seaweeds  of  our  coast  lines  have  not  had  much  atten¬ 
tion  s-iven  them  since  kelp-burning  has  been  superseded  by 
chemical  products  or  by  barilla.  Algin  is  a  product  of  some 
importance,  useful  for  size,  as  a  mordaunt  in  dyeing,  and  it 
is  valuable  for  preventing  the  incrustation  of  boiler  tubes, 
&c.  Algic  cellulose  is  also  valuable,  and  can  be  bleached, 
turned  and  polished,  or  made  into  paper,  and  in  combination 
with  shellac  forms  a  cheap  non-conductor  of  electricity  of 
great  value.  Algin,  as  combined  with  seaweed  charcoal,  is 
called  “  Carbon  Cement,”  and  is  used  in  covering  boilers  and 
exposed  steampipes,  being  one  of  the  best  of  solid  non-con¬ 
ductors  of  heat  at  present  known.  As  food  plants  some  sea¬ 
weeds  deserve  attention.  Green  and  pink  laver  .may  be 
eaten  in  soups,  and  dulse  as  boiled  in  milk  is  a  noted 
Scotch  delicacy,  as  is  “  sloke  ”  in  Ireland.  Glue  and 
jellies  of  various  kinds  are  made  from  seaweed,  as  also  an 
excellent  substitute  for  isinglass.  Carrageen,  or  Irish  moss, 
has  long  been  used  as  food,  and  as  boiled  for  cattle  feeding. 
It  consists  of  Chondrus  crispus  and  other  species.  It  is  well 
to  know  that  the  more  tender  of  all  seaweeds,  like  the  young 
fronds  and  stipes  of  all  ferns,  ma~  be  boiled  and  eaten  in 
all  cases  of  emergency.  We  have  no  true  moss  of  any  value 
*  An  essay  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  F  W.  Burbidge  M.A.,  F.L.  S. 
