48 



number. We may do this either by means of stoppered 

 bottle or jar, or a tumbler. Into these receptacles we 

 place an inch or an inch and a-half depth of well-washed 

 silver sand, thoroughly damp but not swamped. Upon 

 this we place the thoroughly cleansed piece of core, 

 naturally damped by the washing it has received. We 

 then put in the stopper or bung, or with a tumbler cover 

 with a glass slip, and stand the receptacle in a well- 

 lighted but not sunny position and leave it severely alone. 

 In the course of a few weeks in the growing season we 

 shall perceive a number of little white pimple-like 

 excrescences on the piece of core, and these will gradually 

 develop into plants, which will produce fronds and roots 

 at the expense of the core's vitality until sufficiently 

 established to separate and bring on, at first under less 

 close culture, gradually hardening them off until they can 

 be potted up under normal conditions. To give an idea 

 of the time required, we may mention that at the present 

 moment there are three or four little plants with fronds 

 half an inch long on one of the pieces of a Polystichum 

 angulare sent us by the Rev. H. Kingsmill Moore, which, 

 as we mentioned in the last Gazette (p. 17), had been 

 all but destroyed by the Weevil described, and in addition 

 had been scalded by us on receipt to destroy any grubs 

 or eggs. They appeared thus in about a month. 



The barren crispum Hartstongues, as indeed also 

 the fertile varieties, can be freely propagated on the same 

 lines, since every bit of the caudex or rootstock and every 

 old frond base which contributes to form it will produce 

 buds freely if detached, freed from all dead matter, includ- 

 ing the old roots, and merely laid loosely on the sand. 

 The Lastreas, mas. and pseudo, will yield plants by buds on 

 the old frond bases, and L. montana also in greater number. 

 The Lady Ferns are open to same treatment but with a 

 modification, the bulbils here are only formed at the 

 point where the old frond base is attached to the central 

 core, of which a little wedge must be cut away with a 



