THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GCTDE 189 



these will no doubt be added to the lists of species available for orna- 

 mental purposes to swell the ranks of a family which, considering its 

 good qualities and ready compliance with the commonest rules of horti- 

 cultural practice, can scarcely be too numerous. 



All the hardy border lilies should now be planted, and this is also 

 the best time to lift old stools and part them and plant again, but of 

 course with fresh soil and manure, instead of the soil they have 

 exhausted. As all the liliums have soft, juicy bulbs, they should never 

 be exposed to the atmosphere, and should be kept out of the ground as 

 brief a space of time as possible. 



EERN CASES. 



Reflecting on all I have written about fern cases, it has just occurred 

 to me that though the form adopted by Miss Maling is undoubtedly 

 the best that has ever been offered to the public for general use, it is 

 still far from perfect. I am not about to undo a word I have said in 

 praise of these cases ; you cannot get anything better, no, nor any- 

 thing so good ; they combine utility with beauty so completely that to 

 hint at any imperfection seems as bad as valuing the feathers in an 

 angel's wings. But to afford amusement to fern-growers possessed of 

 original inventive faculties, let me indicate a few imperfections of these 

 cases, and leave it to the inventive geniuses to discover, if they can, 

 the means of improvement. In the first place, then, if you should 

 happen ever to get the soil too wet, how are you to get it dry again ? 

 Tou must wait imtil the surplus moisture is removed by the slow pro- 

 cess of evaporation. If Miss Maling the inventor, or Mr. Gray the 

 manufacturer, were to discuss this point with me, I know what they 

 would say, " Tou ought not to make the soil too wet; besides, in stock- 

 ing the case there ought to be a layer of drainage material at the 

 bottom, and over that a layer of charcoal." Tes, but still if I do make 

 the soil too wet, there is no way to get the surplus water out, and 

 evaporation is a mode of relief which might as well not be mentioned, 

 because all the ferns may die before the surplus water is removed by 

 that process. It would not be worth while to introduce a question of 

 this sort as respects this particular invention were it not true that the 

 whole subject of fern cases is touched thereby. It so happens that one 

 of our cases has been too damp for some time past, owing to the head 

 fern-grower having plied the syringe too regularly and plentifully 

 during the present summer, and if it were possible to draw off the 

 water by means of a tap, there would be a great and immediate gain 

 to the health of the ferns. It is no use to think of siphons or any 

 round-about methods ; the boiler must be kept regularly filled so as to 

 create sufficient evaporation to restore the soil to a reasonably moist 

 condition. Let those who make fern cases think of this as one of the 

 first necessities — an escape for whatever moisture may percolate 

 through the drainage. 



I speak of filling the boiler with water, and again I am remin led c f the 



