BOMBAY FERNERIES. lol 



l.inil.lfi^, etc. Tin -re ui'-' n.'s.mmI accessory elements, which may copi- 

 tribule not only to enhance the picturesque effect of the Fernery, but 

 at (bf same time to benefit the plants. .Rockeries, for instance, 

 emu posed of boulders or clinkers may be constructed so as to be very 

 ornamental, and most useful for the growth of ferns and club-mosses. 

 Clinkers are generally preferred for such work, on account of their 

 irregular shape and because they can easily be procured, but when 

 the principal object is to promote a luxuriant vegetation, fragments 

 of Late rite, of Trap, or even of old masonry will be found to contain 

 more nourishment for the plants, and to possess greater physical 

 advantages than burnt clinkers. It may be here incidentally men- 

 tioned that lime-rubbish or old ehunam is a very valuable addition 

 to the soil in which it is intended to grow ferns, and serves as a very 

 useful substitute for gravel, which has at home long been considered 

 a beneficial admixture to soil for ferns. Old twisted roots or stumps 

 or even crooked stems of dead trees are useful ornaments ; bits of 

 branches are the medium on which to grow tree-orchids ; hanging 

 baskets of wire, wood, or cocoanut-husks are frequently most effective. 

 Fountains of small dimensions add to the beauty of the Fernery, and 

 produce the pleasant trickling sound which associates so well with 

 vegetation, and refresh and cool the atmosphere. Ferneries formed 

 of certain kinds of growing trees, as of Casuarinas, have been occasion- 

 ally suggested, but though they may prove serviceable for a great 

 number of plants, it is never possible in such groves or recesses to 

 obtain the same advantages of atmospheric conditions, nor the splendid 

 luxuriance which is often displayed in artificially constructed ferneries. 



The Fernery should, where possible, always be built on a site that 

 is sheltered against strong winds, but still sufficiently open to allow 

 the access of the sun during the whole of the dav. Overhan<rin»: 

 trees should be particularly avoided. The level of the Fernery should 

 be slightly raised above the surrounding ground so as to prevent 

 flooding during the monsoon. 



The work required in a well kept Fernery is very detailed and of 

 such a delicate nature, that very few malis will be found suffi- 

 ciently skilled to perform any but the coarser part of it satisfactorily, 

 and I am quite convinced that we should soon discover a most delight- 

 ful change in the general appearance of our Ferneries, if the ladies 

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