Bridport, Beaminster, and Lyme Regis Telegram and Dorset, Somerset, and Devon Advertiser. — 1865-06-22 (Bridport, Dorset, England)

CHAPTER ON CURIOUS FERNS.  A. great many of my friends are partial to Ferns, and whenever 1 see any of these plants in an unhealthy condition, and am led to. make enquiries, I find that the misfortune has been caused either by a want of proper attention to re-potting, watering, or the former home of the Ferns—which, somehow or other, seems to be a matter they seldom think about at all. I sometimes see a plant which grows in its natural state in the clefts of the rocks, or on the open shore, planted in a close moist place, and a Fern whose wild home is in a shady damp wood, expected to thrive well in a dry, fully exposed situation ; now the folly and bad management of such a want of consideration on the part of the cultivators is very evident; no plant will grow luxuriantly in an unfavourable, unnatural situation,soil or atmosphere ; and we should always remember that although some of our Ferns prosper in a hot house, no foreign Fern will thrive, even in the warmest summer weather, out of doors in ngland. The " Asplerrium Marinum" and the " Adiantum Veneris" are the only British Ferns I know that if grown inland require heat to flourish in conijineittent=but 1 must proceed to describe a few foreign stove Ferns.  There is a very pretty, singular little Pern from the West Indies called the " Bird's foot," the fronds of which, divided into five parts, are somewhat like birds claws, each division being pinnated, and droop. ing very gracefully—the stems are perfectly black. This plant requires a mixture of charcoal in the soil in which it is grown to enable it to thrive well in this country, and it is increased by its creeping root.  Are your readers acquainted with the " Oemtopteris Thaltctrtodes," a annual aquatic Fern 1 It is a very singular plant, and very common in hot climates where it is found in nearly every pond. in this country it must be raised from teed, Which should be sown in a shallow pan, filled With light soil and water. I  The young plants come up vaidkly, their ilt seed leaves send up small fronds from the base, and then you will know that the proper time bas arrived for removing them into small thumb pots which should immediately be placed in water—immerse the pot leaving the young frond above the water. As the Ferns grow, shift into larger pots, but never allow the water to be more than two inches above the soil in any sized pot, or else the Fern will die.  An eatable Fern, introduced into this country from Ceylon some twenty years ago, is curious on account of its root, which is the proper part of the plant to eat. It should be peeled and stewed. This Fern requires a stove, is increased by division, and must be often syringed. The edible Fern of New Zealand has been celebrated in song. "What," chant the young maidens, "shall be our food? Shell fish and Fern root, that is the root of the earth; that is the food to satisfy a man; the tongues grow rough by reason of the licking, as if it were the tongue of a dog." Strong and strange recommendation this, but one probably appreciated in New Zealand where dogs, rats, the Taro root, and seals are eaten and relished. I approve of the taste of the New Zealanders in one thing; they—as did our Saxon forefathers—consider the eel the finest of all fish.  Fern root is the proper bread fruit of New Zealand; the " Pteris Esculenta" of the North Island willfarnish capital flour—seventy per cent. of flour has been obtained from it —and in taste, cakes made of it, resemble their biscuits called "ship ;" but the natives now very rarely use it, except as a sort of relish or desert; they have become too fond of the articles of food introduced to their notice by civilisation, preferring the potatoes and pigs given them by Captain Cook to all the Fern roots and baked captives cookea by their chiefs some two hundred years ago, but as this article is intended to treat of Ferns, notcannibalism, I must retrace my steps. The Cheilanthes family of Ferns contains several very elegant beautiful members, the C. Hirta or " Hairy," and the C. Lendifera or "Maggot hearing," are two of the most singular. None of these Ferns will do well in the open air, neither will they thrive in an airy green-house nor warm moist stove. They want a sort of intermediate. atmosphere and are consequently difficult as well as expensive plants to cultivate. The Hairy Fern is an African, it requires a great deal of silver sand in the soil, and should be very sparingly watered. Its fronds grow a foot long and they are covered with gland-bearing hairs. Its stems are brown, the pinna delicately small, and the entire plant exceedingly elegant in form and colour. The Maggot Bearing Fern requires stove culture. It will grow well in an arched house, and it would puzzle a Fern grower to find a more lovely specimen than this plant when properly attended to, and in a thriving state. Its fronds of the most delicate green imaginable are thrice cut and grow a foot in length, they are long and narrow, with the seed cases few in number, partially concealed by the margin reflexing half over them.  It grows freely from seed if sown under a bell glass on porous stone, or young plants may be increased by division.  AN inquest has been held on the body of the Rev. Mr. Abbott, of Dublin, who committed suicide on Monday, and a verdict of "temporary insanity" ha been returned.  LORD MoNTEAGLE means to retire from the Comptrollership of the Exchequer. Arrangements are about to be made for the amalgamation of this office 'with the chairmanship of the Board of Audit.  ON Wednesday evening the 26th annual meeting of the Ecclesiological Society was held. The chairman summed up the merits of the society, and the discussions it fostered, aa proving that restoration was conservative —a truth of wide application. TEETWest India and Pacific mails have arrived. The relations between Spain alit' Chili still occasioned great anxiety, and a heavy reinforcement of the Spanish fleet had taken place. It was confidently anticipated that the revolution in Peru would be suppressed. A