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The Country Gentlcmaiis JlTagazwc 



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MY IN-DOOR BRITISH FERNERY. 



THREE years ago I had a lean-to house 

 built, 43 feet long and 12 feet wide, 

 one end of which (about 15 feet) is shaded 

 by the dwelling-house. On account of the 

 want of sun I found that the plants did not 

 thrive so well in the shaded end of the house 

 as they did in the other. 



Two years ago, being desirous of making a 

 collection of British Ferns, I paid a visit to 

 Devonshire, where I was fortunate enough to 

 get some beautiful kinds. When I came 

 home I thought it was a pity to have such a 

 number of nice Ferns and no place to plant 

 them where they would be seen to advantage, 

 I mean on rockwork, as I think Ferns do 

 not look so well grown in any other way. 



The partition and door are of glass. 

 Around the door I formed an arch of Virgin 

 Cork, in which pockets were made and filled 

 with Ferns, Echeverias, and Ivy. When you 

 enter the door the highest part of the house 

 is at your right hand, and the path next 

 the wall. I intend to cover the wall this 

 season with virgin cork, with pockets similar 

 to that of the archway. As you enter on 

 your left a raised bank runs along that side of 

 the house, and across the end is a sloping 

 bank, composed of flints and burrs. The 

 centre of the upper part of this bank sweeps 

 in the form of a horseshoe, in the centre of 

 which curve is an oval basin, 4 feet long, 2 

 feet wide, and 2 feet 6 inches deep ; round 

 the edge are Mosses, Grasses, and Ferns 

 drooping down into the water. In the centre 

 of the basin is a kind of rustic vase, in which 

 is growing Selaginella denticulata, out of 

 which rises an ornamental spray of water, 

 which forms a pretty little fountain. 



This part of the house is not heated ; but 

 when the partition door is open (which it is 



all Avinter), tiie temperature is never lower 

 than 50 deg. or 55 deg. in the day, and 45 deg. 

 at night, which keeps the Ferns green all the 

 year round ; but when the young fronds are 

 coming up, I cut off the old ones, as they 

 are liable to push the young fronds out of 

 shape. The bank on which the rockwork is 

 built is made of loam, leaf-mould, coarse 

 sand, and a little peat. Now that the roots 

 of my Ferns have got well into this mixture, 

 they are throwing up young fronds very 

 strongly. In winter I give the Ferns, &c., 

 water now and then when the weather is 

 mild ; but, of course, they do not require very 

 much, as it is not their growing season. In 

 the spring I syringe them once a-day, and 

 now (May) I shall syringe them morning and 

 evening. On fine days I leave the entrance 

 door open from about nine in the morning 

 till four in the afternoon, when I syringe and 

 shut up for the nighty but in summer you can 

 hardly give too much air and water overhead 

 and at the roots of your plants. I like it best 

 for houses that are not supposed to be very 

 ornamental, as after your house is syringed, 

 if you run a few cans of water over it and 

 brush it out, it always looks clean and fresh. 

 When the Ferns and other rock plants are in 

 full perfection in summer, and the little foun- 

 tain playing, with gold fish darting about in 

 the water, my Fernery looks very pretty. 

 Any one who may have some house in which 

 other kinds of plants will not grow well, or 

 who may have some old neglected ones in 

 the corner of their garden, may make a very 

 pretty and effective British Fernery of it if 

 they will only use a little taste and lay out 

 a very small sum. Mine quite repays me 

 for my trouble, time, and expense. — A. H., 

 in tJu Garden. 



