THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 147 



constantly wet is the most effectual way to kill the plants that I 

 know of. The pots will mostly give a ringing sound, when rapped 

 with the knuckle, as the soil begins to get dry. There is another 

 point that must not be overlooked in connection with this matter, 

 and it is this : when you water, give sufficient to wet every particle 

 of the soil in the pot. Unless the soil is very dry, the water run- 

 ning through the bottom is, generally speaking, a sufficient guide. 

 If one application is not enough to accomplish this, give more ; 

 even if you give a dozen, no matter. I have frequently seen plants 

 in a sickly condition which were potted in the best of soil, and 

 which appeared to be in the right condition as to moisture, and have 

 had to prescribe for them. Well, we turn such plants out of their 

 pots, and find the soil to the depth of three or four inches just right, 

 and the lower parts as dry as dust when wafted about by a summer 

 breeze. The best way to deal with plants when they get into this 

 stato is to dip them bodily into a tank or tub of water, and let them 

 remain long enough to get thoroughly soaked, for it is certainly no 

 use to attempt to water them from the top in the ordinary way. 

 Soft water must be used, and it should be placed in the fernery long 

 enough to acquire the same warmth as the atmosphere of the house 

 before using it. Of course, in common with all other plants, less 

 water will be necessary in the winter months, when the plants are 

 at rest, than when they are in full growth through the heat of 

 summer. Newly-potted plants will also not want so much as others 

 that are pot-bound. Syringing overhead will do no harm to one or 

 two of the commonest sorts, but all are better without it. In the 

 summer, it is of little consequence how moist the atmosphere is, but 

 I am convinced that it is exceedingly hurtful to dash a lot of water 

 over them. Whenever it is determined to syringe these plants, let 

 it be done in the afternoon of a bright day, and it should take the 

 form of a gentle dew rather than a heavy rain ; but in the winter 

 the Gymnogrammas do better in a drier atmosphere : such as is 

 required by the stock of ordinary stove plants will suit them 

 nicely. If kept in cold, damp houses all the winter, they are sure to 

 perish. 



I have been rather prolix about the watering, for it is certainly 

 one of the most important matters connected with the management 

 of these beautiful ferns. The other details, though necessary to be 

 carried out with judgment, are insignificant in comparison. We 

 grow our plants in good peat, mixed with plenty of good sharp 

 silver sand. The peat must be good in texture, and not likely to 

 run together into a paste, or get hard, or soon turn sour, as most mossy 

 peats do. In the first place, the peat must be chopped up rather 

 su all, with every particle of fibre preserved, and then have the sand 

 and a liberal quantity of small crocks incorporated with it. In 

 potting large specimens, I generally have the crocks separate, and 

 put them in as the potting goes on, but, whether large or small, the 

 plants require the soil to be rammed in firm, without being as hard 

 as a turnpike road, and sufficient space must be left upon the surface 

 to allow of their being watered without much trouble. It is hardly 

 necessary for me to say — for such tender-rooted plants as these — ■ 



