150 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
August  14,  1902. 
Revolvers  or  bowie-knives  were  regarded  with  detestation 
by  him. 
The  squirrels,  the  woodpeckers,  and  the  magpies 
chattered  in  the  hazel  and  birch  trees,  'the  frequent  report  of 
the  blasting  that  the  railroad  men  and  stump  clearers  were 
carrying  on,  and  the  ordinary  farm  sounds  reminded  me  on 
my  way  home  that  it  was  springtime,  and  that  thousands 
besides  myself  might  make  a  beginning  in  this  lovely  land 
and  found  homes,  possess  farms,  enjoy  magnificent  scenery, 
and  never  be  “  out  of  work.”  And  so  I  sat  me  down  and 
tried  to  tell  the  perplexed  home  seeker  in  far  away  England 
what  I  saw  on  a  spring  day  in  British  Columbia. — (“  The 
Outlook.”) 
Fern  Fronds. 
Wh  en  we  consider  the  practical  identity  of  purpose  of  the 
Fern  frond,  viz.,  to  bear  the  spores  which  are  necessary  to 
reproduction,  and  by  that  interaction*  between  leaf  and  root, 
common  to  all  plants,  to  propagate  the  individual  plants  by 
offsets,  we  can  hardly  fail  to  be  amazed  at  the  marvellous  diversity 
of  form  which  has  been  evolved.  In  size  alone,  the  extremes 
extend  from  small,  almost  grass-like,  plants — Asplenium 
septentrionale  to  wit — to  tree-like  growths  which  rival  the  Palms 
and  bear  circlets  of  fronds  many  feet  in  length,  such  as  the 
Dicksonias. 
It  is,  however,  in  the  direction  of  diversity  of  cutting  and 
make  that  wonder  is  mainly  felt.  In  one  direction,  namely,  that 
of  mere  division  and  subdivision,  we  have  Ferns  like  the  native 
Hart’s-tongue  and  various  exotics  which  are  simply  strapshaped, 
without  any  tendency  to  division  at  all.  Next  we  have  the  once 
divided  ones,  like  the  common  Polypody,  which  may  be  roughly 
compared  to  a  double  broad-toothed  comb,  tapered  to  a  blunt 
point ;  or,  in  another  family  (the  Shield  Ferns)  we  have  the  Holly 
Fem  with  a  row  of  undivided  prickly  Holly-like  pinnae  set  on 
each  side  of  a  midrib.  In  its  relatives,  the  soft  and  hard  Shield 
Ferns,  the  frond  consists  of  a  double  row  of  pinnae,  each  of 
which  is  divided  like  a  Holly  Fern  frond,  i.e.,  bipinnate;  while 
in  the  Lady  Fern  we  get  even  in  the  normal  growth  a  still  further 
division,  i.e.,  tripinnate  with  the  ultimate  division  saw-toothed, 
indicating  a  step  towards  further  division.  A  very  large  number 
of  Ferns,  embracing  all  the  Tree  Ferns,  build  up  their  broad 
spreading  fronds  on  these  fundamentally  simple  lines  of  division 
and  redivision,  the  extent  depending  largely  on  relative  freedom 
of  growth. 
A  further  study  of  this  divisional  system  will  show  that  a.s 
a  rule  the  same  plan  prevails  throughout,  i.e.,  the  inner  divisions 
are  replicas  of  the  entire  frond,  just  as  small  crystals  are  built  up 
on  the  same  plan  as  larger  ones.  In  watching,  indeed,  the 
development  of  a  Fern  frond,  especially  the  angles  assumed  by  the 
veins,  the  idea  of  vegetable  crystallisation  is  strongly  borne  in 
upon  the  mind,  certain  geometrical  laws  being  as  closely  followed 
in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other.  Outside,  however,  of  this  general 
inode  of  construction,  we  find  on  the  one  hand  such  curiosities  a.s 
the  Platyceriums  or  Elk-horn  Ferns,  and  the  Adiantums,  the 
former  characterised  by  huge,  leathery,  forked  fertile  fronds,  and 
almost  circular  barren  ones,  and  the  latter,  by  having  the  minor 
divisions  shaped  variously,  but  usually  like  fans,  and  attached  to 
shining  black  stalks.  How  much  variation  may  be  infused  into 
this  plan  is  seen  by  comparing  the  lovely  Adiantum  farleyense 
with  A.  cuneatum  gracillimum ;  or,  lower  down  in  the  scale,  with 
A.  reniforme.  On  the  one  hand  there  are  huge,  pendulous  masses 
of  delicate  plumage  with  fringed  divisions!  an  inch  across,  and  on 
the  other  a  more  or  less  dense  mass  of  tiny  divisions  on  a  little 
stiff  growing  plant,  each  frond  a  mere  stalked  Fem  a  few  inches 
high. 
Despite,  however,  the  wonderful  diversity  which  Nature  has 
managed  to  introduce  in  this  way  with  the  normal  or  specific 
types,  she  is  by  no  means  content  therewith,  and  has  invented, 
and  indeed  is  constantly  inventing,  variations  upon  them  in  the 
form  of  “  sports,”  some  of  which  differ  by  going  a  step  or  steps 
farther  in  the  direction  of  finer  cutting,  associated  it  may  be  with 
additional  leafiness,  to  others  she  attaches  more  or  less  ornate 
tassels  to  all  the  tips;  varying  this  again  by  the  extent  to  which 
she  carries  out  the  idea  ;  while  in  other  cases  she  varies  the  make 
and  shape  of  the  parts  in  infinite  ways,  altering  the  habits  of  the 
plants  concerned  into  gigantic  or  dwarf  types,  or  on  more 
eccentric  lines.  In  this  peculiar  faculty,  the  Fein  frond,  as  distinct 
from  the  leaf  of  the  flowering  plant,  “sports”  to  a  far  greater 
extent,  the  former  assuming  eccentricities  which  are  never  seen  in 
the  latter.  The  only  flowering  plant  which  has  tasselled  leaves  is 
a  crested  form  of  Asparagus  plumosus,  and  even  in  this,  the 
tasselling  is  associated  with  foliage  almost  identical  in  type  with 
Fern  Bondage ;  while  a  very  large  number  of  Fern  species  have 
yielded  tasselled  forms,  and  some  a  greater  number. 
Perhaps,  however,  the  most  curious  fact  connected  with  the 
Fern  frond,  the  association  of  which  into  a  Fern  plant  constitutes 
the  entire  popular  conception  of  a  Fern  as  a  Fern,  is  that  Ferns 
might  exist  without  them,  since  all  their  vital  functions  of 
existence,  including  reproduction,  may  take  place  on  a  micro¬ 
scopic  scale  in  a  phase  of  existence  which  precedes  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  fronds.  During  this  phase  the  Fern  exists  in  the  shape  of 
a  tiny,  flattish  green  disc,  attached  to  the  soil  by  root  hairs,  and 
rarely  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  across.  On  the  under  side 
of  this  disc,  called  the  “  prothallus,”  the  equivalent  of  male  and 
female  flowers  bud  out  from  its  surface,  and  in  the  normal  course, 
produce  between  them  a  fertilised  seed,  from  which  the  frond¬ 
bearing  Fern  subsequently  springs.  This  almost  invariably 
happens,  but  it  has  been  found  that  spores  may  be  produced  on 
this  disc  itself,  and  it  is  only  necessary  to  assume  that  these  spores 
would  again  produce  spore-bearing  discs  to  see  that  fronds  need 
never  appear;  existence  would  continue  from  generation  to 
generation  as  a  mere  green  coating  to  the  soil,  like  a  small  Liver¬ 
wort,  and  all  the  myriad  lovely  forms  with  which  we  are  familiar 
in  the  Fern  world  would  be  non-existent. 
The  frond,  however,  is  a  great  aid  to  the  Fern  plants  by 
presenting  an  infinitely  larger  area  for  spore  production,  as¬ 
sociated  with  a  better  chance  of  these  spreading  by  wind  or  other 
agencies.  The  attendant  formation  of  deeply  penetrating  roots 
in  lieu  of  the  purely  superficial  roothairs  of  the  prothallus,  afford 
also  a  much  greater  range  of  environment.  Every  Fern,  it  is 
true,  must  pass  through  the  small  disc  stage  at  the  outset,  but 
a  short  rainy  period  would  enable  it  to  establish  itself  as  a  frond, 
and  root  bearer,  and  thus  survive  a  subsequent  drought  which 
would  inevitably  shrivel  and  kill  the  disc.  The  advantage  afforded 
by  the  fronds  and  roots  is  therefore  manifest,  and  the  acquisition 
and  development  of  these  have,  doubtless,  been  the  evolutional 
factors  which  have  lifted  the  Ferns  so  far  above  their  lowly  cousins' 
the  Liverworts,  in  the  scale  of  plant-life,  while  their  diversity 
has  to  a  certain  extent  been  the  outcome  of  adaptation  to  various 
environments,  plus  determining  forces  in  the  sportive  direction, 
which  as  yet  completely  baffle  the  biologist’s  research  so  far  as  the 
cause  is  concerned  or  anv  law  regulating  their  appearance. — 
Chas.  T.  Druery,  F.L.S.,  V.M.H. 
Melons  at  Barford  Hill,  Warwick. 
During  a  season  like  the  present,  when  these  showy  fruits 
are  in  many  instances  unsatisfactory,  and  when  complaints 
about  canker  in  the  stems  and  rotting  in  the  fruits  are 
numerous,  it  is  pleasant  to  record  a  distinct  cultural  success. 
During  a  recent  visit  to  Mr.  R.  Jones,  the  well-known 
gardener  to  C.  A.  Smith-Ryland,  Esq.,  I  was  greatly  im¬ 
pressed  with  a  splendid  crop  growing  in  a  span-roofed 
structure.  The  plants  were  arranged  2ft  apart  and  they 
only  extended  up  the  roof  a  distance  of  4ft  or  5ft,  yet  in  no 
case  did  I  notice  less  than  four  Melons  on  a  plant.  In  one 
instance  I  counted  six,  and  in  several  five.  All  these  were 
fruits  which  had  swelled  simultaneously,  and  were  netting 
beautifully.  Experienced  cultivators  know  that  it  is  not  an 
easy  matter  to  get  so  many  fruits  per  plant  to  swell  satis¬ 
factorily  at  the  same  time.  The  varieties  were  Lockinge  and 
Frogmore  Scarlet.  During  the  recent  dull  weather  Mr.  Jones 
has  not  been  sparing  with  fire  heat,  and  no  doubt  to  some 
extent  this  explains  the  freedom  of  the  plants  from  canker 
or  decay.  During  seasons  like  the  present  we  should  hear 
far  fewer  complaints  about  mysterious  diseases  among  both 
Melons  and  Cucumbers,  if  cultivators  generally  would  use 
more  fire  heat,  as  a  low  temperature  and  too  moist  an 
atmosphere  bring  ruin  to  thousands  of  plants. 
The  use  of  suitable  soil  is  another  point  which  requires 
more  attention  than  it  often  gets.  During  dull  weather  the 
roots  of  plants  necessarily  get  somewhat  sluggish,  even  when 
surrounded  by  congenial  conditions  in  regard  to  soil  and 
temperature,  and  Avhen  the  soil  is  too  close  in  texture  root 
action  is  still  further  lessened,  even  if  decay — with  its  inevit¬ 
able  result,  disease  and  collapse — does  not  set  in.  At  Barford 
Hill,  after  a  good  deal  of  searching,  good  soil  has  been 
obtained,  nice  brown  turfy  loam,  “  springy  ”  to  the  touch 
and  full  of  fibre.  This  is  packed  firmly  on  the  hard  bottom 
which  forms  the  raised  bed,  nothing  is  added  to  the  soil, 
and  white  active  roots  quickly  find  their  way  to  the  edges  ol 
the  turf.  When  the  fruits  begin  to  swell,  top-dressings  of 
chemical  manures  are  given,  stopping  and  tying  of  course 
regularly  attended  to,  so  as  to  keep  the  reserved  shoots  and 
leaves  thinly  disposed,  and  at  the  same  time  to  have  a  little 
young  growth  constantly  going  on.  In  an  early  house  where 
the  crop  was  cut  some  time  ago,  a-  second  batch  of  fruits 
were  swelling  rapidly  on  the  old  plants,  wThich  were  as 
healthy  and  vigorous  as  one  could  wish.— H.  D. 
