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SPECIMEN FERNS. 



MONG the thousands of specimen ferns I see in the 

 course of a year in visiting gardens and flower-shows, I 

 notice that a large proportion of them are grown to 

 exhibition size by means of heat and moisture, so that 

 their fronds are not so robust, nor their pinnules so fat 

 and finely coloured, ns is the case with specimens grown by good root 

 culture. With a close damp atmosphere and sufficient warmth, 

 ferns of almost any kind may be grown to a good size with scarcely 

 any soil at all. So long as they remain in the same condition they 

 do well, but once move them to a fresh place, and their beauty is 

 destroyed in an hour. Hence it happens that specimen ferns, 

 which, in the early part of the day, the judges find to be most 

 beautiful and deserving of prizes, are a few liours afterwards shrivelled 

 up and lialf dead, and the public then thronging the tent wonder 

 how such things could have taken prizes at all. The same thing 

 happens at home, when specimens forced on with a close heat and. 

 much moisture are taken from the stove to the conservatory or to 

 "che dinner-table. A few liours after the removal they are found 

 "all of a heap," and pronounced too tender for the operation, 

 though, perhaps, if properly treated, they would bear removal from 

 place to place, and even some rough usage, without looking any the 

 worse for it. 



I have two remarks to offer on this subject, but I will preface 

 them with this practical observation — that specimen ferns require to 

 be prepared for removal in the same way as we prepare orchids, 

 caladiums, and other tender plants, namely, by first removing them 

 to a cool, dry, still air, and partially withholding water for a week ; 

 after which they are better fitted to endure the exposure to draughts 

 and other evil influences incidental to flower-shows. 



The two remarks to be made on the proper treatment of specimen 

 •ferns may be compressed into a few words — 1st, grow them in 

 firmer composts than ordinarily advised, and use as much as you 

 dare with safety of nourishing silky loam ; 2ndly, give the plants a 

 shift into the pots they are to be shown in in autumn, instead of 

 waiting till spring. 



Under the first head it only needs be said, that the composts used 

 for ferns are rarely sufficiently nourishing. Eibrous peat is indeed 

 an excellent staple, but the roots soon extract from it all the 

 nourishment it contains ; whereas, if about a fourth part of mellow 

 hazelly loam is used in the compost, a richer, stouter growth will 

 result, the fronds will be more glossy (if glossy kinds), and of a more 

 beautiful shade of green than when grown in a compost of a lighter 

 nature. I do not here enter into the requirements of individual 

 species — some require an admixture of stone, some love sand, and 

 some scarcely require soil at all. The species grown as specimens 

 are mostly of fiee rooting habit, and require to be well fed; and 

 experience has taught me that the introduction of a certain amount 

 of good loam is a decided advantage to the specimens. 



