JANUARY. 



17 



ere long to find a Fernery in almost every garden of any note 

 throughout the kingdom, as they are easily cultivated at a trifling 

 outlay. 



The distribution of cultivated Ferns, with regard to their habita- 

 tion in the garden, is obviously into three parts, viz. hardy, half- 

 hardy or greenhouse, and hothouse species ; although many that are 

 hardy in one part of Britain are not able to mthstand the vicissitudes 

 of the climate in another with impunity, as they invariably dwindle 

 away in a short time without some kind of protection. The purport 

 of the present paper is only instrumental, as pointing out a suitable 

 structure intended for their growth, with an enumeration of the half- 

 hardy, or greenhouse kinds, which are wdthin the scope of most cul- 

 tivators. For this purpose, a house with a north aspect is one of 

 the best situations that could be chosen, and one that can be easily 

 erected at the back of any other plant-stove facing the south. There 

 is one so constructed at Kew, which answers the purpose admirably, 

 and which is hke^vise found useful during summer to place a few 

 flowering plants in (here and there one), to prolong their dm^ation of 

 flowering ; and, at the same time, if tastefally arranged, they are very 

 effective. This house is 90 feet long and 15 feet wide; the glass in 

 both ends and part of the roof is painted, so as to prevent the sun 

 from burning the plants during summer. In the interior of the house 

 is formed a bank of common soil, brick rubble, clinkers, and large 

 burrs to the height of five or six feet against the back-wall, sloping 

 to the front, along which is a shelf covered with the same kind of 

 material. It is heated by two hot-water pipes running along under 

 the shelf; but being only for those Ferns which are from temperate 

 climes, fires are only required from about the latter end of November 

 to the beginning of March, to keep out the frost or to expel any 

 superabundance of damp. The arrangement inside is, as much as 

 possible, an imitation of nature; the plants are mostly all planted 

 out, and grow with the greatest luxuriance. The annexed list con- 

 tains all the greenhouse species at present cultivated here, with their 

 height, native country, &c., which is of a paramount importance to 

 those whose object is a selection only. 



NEW SERIES, VOL. IV., NO. XXXVII. 



