Shirley Hibberd

“ But an aquarium is not a mere cabinet of specimens; it is a water garden in which we cultivate choice plants, and it is also in some sort a menagerie, in which we see living creatures of kinds hitherto the least studied by naturalists, displaying to our close gaze their natural forms, and colours, and instincts, and economy, as freely and as happily as if they were still hidden from us in their native depths. ”

“ In the progress of an insect from the minute egg to its completed form, we see the most remarkable series of developments which animal life ever displays in all its endless procession of forms—the egg, the worm, the chrysalis, the fly—a strange unfolding, for the first time accurately observed by Swammerdam, who detected, under the wrinkled skin of the disgusting worm, the complete outline of the lovely butterfly. ”

“ Cultivators do not usually repine when they see the stately flower stems rising, because when the flowering of the plant is over, it loses its single stem and unity of character, and throws up a number of crowns. These new growths afford ready means of multiplying the species if removed, and if allowed to continue as parts of the old stock, will in time add to its dignity and massiveness. Therefore the flowering need not be all loss, and as for the flowers themselves, so beautiful are they that, in one respect at least, it is all gain. ”

“ We frequently meet with anemones attached to stones, sand, or shells, by a wide sucking base, and if some species be moved from their chosen site, certain death is the result. Yet in by far the greater number there is a distinct faculty of progression—the anemone, by a slow, gliding motion, gradually removes itself, and climbs up the sides of the vessel, or takes possession of a tuft of weed, or shifts from one stone to another, or fairly leaves go of its anchorage, and floats like a balloon upon the surface. ”

“ The noblest conservatory plants require far less skill and entail less expense to do them perfect justice than the ephemeral flowering plants that look so fresh and bright when thriving in a warm, damp, low-roofed house, when there is no fear of their being “lost” in a large perspective. The first step towards a proper recognition of the kind of embellishment required is to remember that a conservatory is not a stove, or a greenhouse, or a pit, or a hand-light, consequently it should not be used as any one of these things, or as all of these things combined. ”

“ A lover of roses will derive one peculiar pleasure from growing them under glass, and that is, he will see them in a remarkably fresh and brilliant condition in the months of April and May, when there are no roses out of doors, and his sheltered pets will be as attractive for the delicate colour and texture of their leaves as for the splendour of their early and most welcome flowers. To do roses well under glass requires a little care, but there is nothing occult in the business, and the amateur who means it, and knows a little of the rose to begin with, will be sure to succeed. ”

“ As a rule, however, the less we see of bedding plants in the conservatory the better, for we see enough of them in the open garden during the summer, and it is simply a tax on one’s patience—that is, on the patience of one who believes in eclectic horticulture—to pass from a blaze of geraniums in the parterre to another blaze of geraniums in the conservatory. It is neither our business nor our pleasure to denounce people who, in their horticultural enterprises, are content with some half-dozen genera of plants ”

“ Then, with an uneasy fidgetting, he flounders up again, and off he goes, as graceful as before, his pectoral fins spread out like samples of lace, looking as much like an eel with frills as it it possible to conceive. When ascending, his motion is so undulatory that he may easily be mistaken for a smooth newt, going up for a bubble. ”

“ This time she clutches at the pupa case with a convulsive grasp, and drags forth the whole of her delicate body from the grave, and there remains motionless, still clinging to it, as if contemplating the baseness of her origin—for beauty is ever the offspring of the dust. ”

“ Or we may plant vines outside and train them up the rafters, and winter all the bedding plants on stages or beds of earth supported by brickwork in the centre. The question of accessibility is of the utmost importance. You will not care to walk far through wind and rain, perhaps, to see the first flowers of the primulas and hyacinths, or to cull bouquets for the friends who will visit you on New Year’s day; nor on a night of keen frost and falling snow will you benefit your health by walking long journeys to stir up the fading fire on which the lives of your pets depend. ”

“ For ensuring permanent attractions, permanent features are required; mere display is above all things to be avoided, for the mind needs food of a better sort than colour simply, however strong in tone and perfect in combinations. Noble plants that have a history, that endure for many years, that acquire local renown, that present striking outlines, that exhibit distinctive stages of development, are much to be desired, and the more of such that we can find of a constitution very nearly adapted to the peculiarities of our climate, the better for the tasteful furnishing of the conservatory. ”

“ The first condition of the newly-hatched egg is that known as the grub, or caterpillar—scientifically called the larva. The larva generally bears no earthly resemblance to the imago, or perfect insect, into which it is to be hereafter developed, but leads a life of sensual enjoyment—it eats, eats! it is gluttony concentrated in type and act. It changes its skin several times, slips one coat off and acquires a new; growing, and eating, and changing garments, till, like man himself, it seeks a temporary tomb, from which it is to soar to the skies like a soul liberated. ”

“ Actinia Dianthus.—This is the Plumose anemone of Mr. Grosse, and sometimes bears the very appropriate name of the Carnation anemone. It is the most superb of our native Actinias—a gorgeous creature, that in itself more than realizes our brightest imaginings of the hidden splendours of the ocean floor, and of the gems that bedeck the caves of Neptune. How will future poetry be affected by the revelations of the aquarium, and how far will the sober facts of scientific research influence the pictures and the incidents of romance? ”

“ A furnace under cover will afford more heat for your consumption of fuel than one exposed to the wintry blast, and the gardener will not so much dread the task of stoking on a bitter winter night as he will be likely to do in the case where the glare of the fire and the blinding snow assail his eyes at the same time, and his fingers are frozen at the very moment that his face is flushed with looking into the disposition of the burning fuel.
In the construction of a plant house the first matter of importance is to determine the purpose to which it is to be applied. ”

“ If you step carefully to the edge of a pond or river, where this crow-foot covers the shore-water with its floating foliage and thousands of snow-flakes, you will not be in a hurry to disturb it, it is so truly beautiful. ”

“ How fortunate! for the free-growing fuchsias make superb pillar plants under glass, and harmonise with whatever other subjects have an equality of claim to shelter with them. Turning in another direction, it may be said that plants of the heath tribe are as unfit for permanent residence in the conservatory as geraniums and calceolarias are. They need more light, more air, less warmth, less humidity, than the more proper inmates of the house, and, therefore, if employed at all, should be as moveable furniture, brought in when perfect, and removed when the flowers begin to fade. ”

“ We see them mounting a stem or leaf with great gravity, when suddenly up goes the tail, the legs hold tight, and the case turns completely over, as if on the first of May, Jack-in-the-green were to dance on his head. When the creature is hidden, and the case sways to and fro like a buoy attached by too short a rope, the sight is very curious. ”

“ Now, the apparent difficulty may be disposed of by remembering that abundance of light and a constantly moving atmosphere are the two chief requisites to be provided for in the construction of a plant-house, no matter whether we call it a stove, a greenhouse, or a conservatory. Darkness, stagnant air, and keen draughts, are the principal enemies of plants that are shut up in houses, and it is compatible with the highest elegance of design, and the most artistic finish of detail, to ensure the best possible protection for them against these destructive agencies. ”

“ C. Leucisus, the dace, C. rutilus, the roach, and C. alburnus, the bleak, may be classed together, as fishes well known to all who were ever seduced into playing truant, to try their boyish luck with a blood-worm and a bent pin, or who have since sunned themselves in the holiday pages of Izaak Walton, to fall in love with milkmaids, and dream all night of reedy rivers that sing and sparkle, and fishes fried in meadow cowslips. ”

“ Having now treated of the several sections of greenhouse plants that appear entitled to first consideration in these pages, we propose to offer a few remarks on the furnishing of the conservatory. It is too much the custom to devote the conservatory to ignoble purposes which necessitate labour and anxiety in proportion to their worthlessness. To grow soft-wooded plants in a lofty, airy, roomy edifice is always a mistake, for while they are unsuitable in character, the conditions are unfavorable to their prosperity, and they neither grow nor flower as they ought to justify the keeping of them. ”

“ My favourite Prussian carp, that love me as I love them, that come when I call them, that hurry to the side when I fillip the glass with my finger-nail, that watch me with all their eyes when I sit in the room with them, and that feed from my hand as a dog would, show at the tips of their pretty tails the sanguinary signs of gasterostean vengeance. ”

“ It is to be observed at the outset that the cultivation of plants in pots is the chief business before us now, and that is, in many respects, a different matter to the culture of the same plants in the open ground. A plant in a pot is like a bird in a cage, wholly dependent on the hand that feeds it and therefore in need of constant watching. ”

“ She is on the threshold of a new world—a creature born of the dust, just escaped from the dust; and now as we watch her wings dry and expand, away she goes—a thing of light and loveliness soaring heavenward. ”

“ Among the reptiles—newts, or water lizards, and the common frog, may be recommended as offering some forms of positive elegance, and some habits worthy of observation. The smooth newt, the warty newt, and the noble triton, are almost essential to the completion of the collection, and as they respire air at the surface, they do not exhaust the water of oxygen. The beautiful markings on the belly, and the graceful motions of these strange creatures, are sure to afford entertainment to those who can overcome the very common repugnance felt towards such creatures. ”

“ An hour spent in dragging a brook or pond, will do more towards stocking a cabinet with wonders than a hundred purchases. To the pleasure of an excursion is added the intellectual profit of learning the nature of the haunts, and many of the habits of the creatures obtained; every haul of the net will bring forth from the oozy bottom, an immense variety of the most curious kinds of life. ”

“ We may now choose for the collection palms, bamboos, yuccas, agaves, and a host of herbaceous and alpine plants that flower during the winter and spring months. As a low roof is preferable for plants that grow in herbaceous tufts, it is not desirable to speculate heavily in such things as palms and agaves; yet there must be a variety, and a few plants of noble character will help to bring out, by contrast, the peculiar beauty of the flowering alpines. ”

“ I tell my friend that I love the pretty creatures as much as he does, yet, as I write for everybody who wishes to keep an aquarium, I feel bound to consider how it is to be managed without them, if their absence is desired. I confess too, that I do object to their appearance in some cases myself, as I do also to beetles, and all other insects in a tank fitted up for the adornment of a drawing-room, however necessary they may be in the tank of a student. ”

“ There the little Lymnea and Planorbis are developed in hundreds, without molestation; and if increase of Paludina vivipara be required, a jar is at once converted into a breeding tank by throwing a couple into it, with a bunch of Callitriche, and any vegetable waste from the tanks. In the aquarium, the young mollusks are devoured almost as soon as they are born; and the pleasing spectacle of their increase, coming forth from the gelatinous mass in hundreds, like minute beads of gold, is lost without the aid of the cabinet in which to rear them. ”

“ Propagating by seeds and cuttings will be part of the regular routine work, and the amateur who loves plant growing will be ambitious of distinction in this part of the business. It must be confessed, however, that to take a young plant from the hands of a nurseryman, and by careful management develope its full capabilities so that in due time—it may be but a few months or it may be many years—that plant shall have become a noble specimen, is a task far more worthy of an amateur’s ambition. ”

“ In an aquarium, the water is not changed at all, or at least only at long intervals, as we shall explain hereafter; and besides the enclosure of fishes in a vessel of water, growing plants of a suitable kind, always form a feature of the collection. Formed on this plan, an aquarium is an imitation of Nature on a small scale. The tank is a lake containing aquatic plants and animals, and these maintain each other in the water in the same way as terrestrial [8] plants and animals contribute mutually to each other's support in the preservation of the purity of the air. ”