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species is soon rectified by the appearance of a new batch. 

 It may, however, be remarked in this connection that 

 green fronds should be preserved as far as possible, only 

 dead ones being removed, since such green foliage un- 

 doubtedly contributes something to the vigour of growth of 

 their successors. In the open, too, the old frondage, even 

 the dead and shrivelled debris of deciduous ferns, forms a 

 natural protection to the crowns, and if removed for tidi- 

 ness sake should be replaced by a liberal mulching of leaf 

 soil. This is advisable for the reason that the new fronds, 

 as they rise, and even as a preliminary to rising, produce 

 individually little bundles of roots from their bases, which 

 may be seen emerging from and creeping down the sides of 

 the projecting caudices or root-stocks on their way to the 

 soil, and given a spell of March winds, dry and keen, these 

 may well be checked and perhaps destroyed by exposure, 

 which the old debris prevents. Under glass, of course, 

 there is less risk of this, but even there this habit of growth 

 should be borne in mind. Treating still of the crown- 

 forming ferns. Lady Ferns, Lastreas and Polystichtints, all 

 these have a tendency to propagate themselves, either by 

 fission of their crowns or by the production of lateral offsets, 

 which in time form bush-like growths in lieu of single 

 crowns. The disadvantageous result of this is two-fold : 

 firstly, the fronds in such case cannot possibly display their 

 full beauty, since they become mixed up and often dis- 

 torted ; and, secondly, owdng to the competitionfor root room 

 they become dwarfed and cannot attain half the size and 

 development of character that a single isolated crown is 

 capable of assuming. Hence, if really fine specimens are 

 desired, plants of more than one crown should now be 

 divided, the best plan being to fork them up bodily, when 

 it will be found that they can be readily coaxed apart, each 

 crown coming away with its independent roots and 

 easily establishing itself anew when replanted. Where, as 

 is generally the case with Lady Ferns, these crowns have 

 been produced, not by offsets, but by splitting of the 



