of Rural Art and Taste. 



173 



The rattlesnake plantain (incorrectly called 

 adder's tongue), the Plejiatica, gold thread, 

 Linnea, all do well ; and club mosses, winter- 

 green, checkerberry all add to the effect. 

 The larger foreign and native ferns may be 

 grown in an open fernery, which should be in 

 a room with as moist air as possible. 



Do not drown your plants. Persons fre- 

 quently ask : " How often shall I water my 

 plants?" It is impossible to answer, except 

 to say: "Whenever they are dry." With 

 the same amount of water per day in a cold 

 room, the earth in the flower-pot would be 

 mud, while m a hot room it would be powder 

 in a tbw hours. To avoid pests, mould, etc., 

 sprinkle the ferns occasionally and give air an 

 hour or more every day. Wiping off the 

 moisture from the glass will take away many 

 impurities. Cases sprinkled often seldom re- 

 quire watering, and it is surprising how long 

 life will last on a small supjdy of water. I 

 once planted in the bottom of an olive bottle 

 a fern and some moss, corked it and sealed 

 the top over with scaling wax, placed it upon 

 a light shelf, and left it. The fern flourished 

 about a year, and weeds which sprung up 

 lived six months longer. Life lasted eighteen 

 months in all, without the addition of a single 

 drop of water. 



Do not p)lace the fernery at the southern 

 window, in the full glare of the sun ; an 

 eastern or western one is better. Turn it 

 around every week, that the plants may gi'ow 

 evenly. The case may be filled in August, 

 to be established by winter. Some fill them 

 as early as June, others not till October ; but 

 August is the best for tropical fernery. The 

 natives need not be attended to till September, 

 if you like. Not only may ferns be grown in 

 cases, but some species are very beautiful as 

 basket or pot plants. 



A cocoanut may be formed into a very neat 

 basket by sawing off the top and burning holes 

 half an inch across all over the shell, with 

 two small ones at the top, opposite each other, 

 for the wire to suspend it by. If in this a 

 fern is planted which has running roots with 

 leaf-buds, the effect is in time to cover the 

 whole shell with the beautiful foliage, as these 



little roots find their way to every hole before 

 long. For this Adianl urn setulosum and A. 

 Mihiopium are the best. Baskets to hang in 

 the top of a fern-case may be made of thin, 

 pliable bark, wired together. Wire baskets, 

 lined with moss and filled with earth, are fine 

 for ferns with stems, which run on top of the 

 soil, such as most of the Davallias, Polypodmvi 

 aurenm, a native of Florida, and others. 

 The hare's-foot fern is one such, throwing out 

 woolly feet in advance of the leaves. A log 

 hollowed out on one end is most suitable to 

 grow the stag-horn ferns upon. They will in 

 time form huge crowns on the top of the log, 

 while little creeping species may be grown 

 successfully on the side at the same time, if 

 wired on with a little moss and earth. Hollow 

 stoneware pillars are made with pockets in 

 the sides, the center filled with earth, ferns 

 planted in the pockets, and the whole covered 

 with a bell-glass. Wire netting can be formed 

 into a tube, filled with coarse earth, and ferns 

 inclined to climb by rooting stems, as the ivy 

 does, can be made to cover it with foliage. 

 In fact, there is no end to the variety of 

 designs that can be introduced into the fernery, 

 whether it be a simple bell-glass or a structure 

 one hundred feet long by forty wide and high 

 Of this latter class of ferneries most beautiful 

 ones are described in foreign books, where 

 sometimes the side walls are of turf, covered 

 with creeping Lycopods and ferns, while little 

 brooks, mimic waterfalls, and ponds add both 

 to the beauty of the place and to the air the 

 moisture necessary for the health of the plants. 

 This is called the natural cultivation of ferns 

 and approaches as near as possible to their 

 natural habitat. It is to be hoped that such 

 will soon be established by our wealthy ama- 

 teurs on this side of the water, as it is much 

 more instructive than the ordinary way of grow- 

 ing these plants, and that there will be a steady 

 increase in the already growing interest in 

 ferns and ferneries. 



The evening was made more enjoyable and 

 the remarks nmch more interesting and clear 

 by the exhibition of ferneries and plants upon 

 the platform, illustrating the subject. They 

 were chiefly as follows : A large black walnut 



