December 18, 1836. ] 



JOUKNAX. OK IIOKTIGULTUltE AND COTTAGE GAHDENEK. 



Wi 



A FEW NOTES ON THE CULTIVATION OF 

 EXOTIC FERNS. 



XOTIC Ferns are such fa- 

 vourites that I need make 

 no apology for offering a 

 few remarks on their ma- 

 nagement. 



Some people have an 

 idea that Ferns like plenty of water, and therefore always 

 keep them excessively wet : but nothing can be more un- 

 favourable to their successful culture. They require care- 

 ful attention as regards water, and the soil in which they 

 are potted must be kept in a moderately moist state, but 

 on no account be water-logged. Stagnant water, indeed, 

 is most injurious to them, and as soon as it is seen that 

 the water does not pass freely through the pot, the drain- 

 age ought to be examined, and if the roots are found to bo 

 in an unhealthy state, part of the earth should be removed, 

 especially that, immediately above the crocks. To effect 

 this a pointed stick ought to be thrust through the under 

 part of the ball, and on moving it gently the crocks and 

 mould will fall away, leaving the fibrous roots hanging to 

 the ball, which should also be reduced, removing all un- 

 healthy roots and soil, so that the plant may be returned 

 into a pot of the same size as that from which it was taken, 

 or even a size smaller may be used. Care must be taken 

 to place it in a pot that has been washed clean, and dried 

 by exposure to the air. 



After potting it must be carefully attended to until the 

 roots reach the sides of the pot. and a moist warm atmo- 

 sphere will be more congenial to its well-being than too 

 much water at the roots : but in order to insure "tine, hand- 

 some specimens they ought never to be neglected, as after 

 a plant has received such a check it would have no chance 

 to compete with one that had always been kept in a healthy 

 free-growing state. 



To those who are fond of Ferns, and take a personal 

 interest in growing them, it is a very interesting study to 

 watch the first development of the young plants from tho 

 spores into their tiny moss-like appearance on the surface of 

 the mould in which they were placed. If a particular sort 

 is wanted, the pot or pan in which the spores are placed 

 ought not to be left hi the same house with the specimen 

 plants, for if it is so placed, instead of having the sort 

 which you had carefully selected, there will most likely be 

 half a dozen species, and these the commonest and most 

 easily cultivated in the collection. The seed-pan ought 

 to be placed in another house where there are no Ferns 

 ripening their spores, and the pan must be effectually 

 shaded from the direct rays of tho sun. A square of glass 

 ought also to be placed over it in order to secure a moist 

 atmosphere. The glass should be tilted a little, and wiped 



No. 299.-VOL. XL, New Series. 



occasionally after the spores begin to i , as they are 



liable to damp-off if the air is stagnant around them. 



I have raised some of the native ai ' rrts Cete 



rach officinarum, some of the Aspleni Ml yriums, &c 



— in a shaded pari of the greenhouse ; ' exotic sorts 

 must be kept in a stove teinperaluiv i [ow 55 at 



night, and a high moist temperaturi I erase them to 

 vegetate all the sooner. 



As soon as the young plants will • handling they 

 ought to be potted singly in 60 sized pots Tie compost 

 which I use for that purpose, and win . i almost all 

 sorts of Fems, is two-thirds turi\ pi I one- third turfy 



I loam, not too much decayed, mixing with it, for the first 

 putting, a liberal quantity of silver sand and some charcoal 

 broken up. No manure is at any time added to it ; I have 

 always found it to be injurious to them. 



Ammoniacal vapour from the evaporating- troughs, which 

 Vines, Pines, Begonias, and some other stove plants de- 

 light in, is injurious to Ferns ; strong, robust fronds of 

 Blechnum brasiliense have been thus rendered unsightly, 

 and the more tender fronds of the Adiantums have been 

 shrivelled up owing to the same cause. 



After the plants have quite filled the small pots in which 

 they were first placed, and have made strong growths, they 

 must bo shifted into pots a size larger, taking care that 

 these bear a proper proportion to the size of the plant ; a 

 is sized pot would be the best; if the plant has grown 

 strongly it might be placed in a 32 : but I find it is the 

 best way to give several shifts in the course of the growing 

 season, using the peat and loam in a rougher state as the 

 plants increase in size. I take care to place some of the 

 most turfy part of the peat immediately above the crocks, 

 which ought also to be clean and put in with care, a large 

 concave piece being first placed over the hole, leaving a 

 hollow immediately above it. Before potting, the plants 

 must also be in a moist state, as it is not advisable to water 

 them as soon as the operation of potting is performed, but 

 rather to defer doing so for a day or two, and then give 

 enough to thoroughly moisten the whole mass, not watering 

 again until the plants actually want it. The house ought 

 to be kept in a moist state by damping the paths and 

 sprinkling the hot-water pipes sevi raj tin es in the course 

 of the day. I prefer a moist atmosphere to syringing the 

 plants overhead, which is never done here, as it quite spoils 

 the appearance of the golden and silver-leaved Gymno- 

 grammas, which are mixed amongst the others, 



I will add a list of sorts which I consider the most 

 worthy of cultivation, and the size of some of them here. 



Lomaria gibba, 5 feet across, with ft mds . Feet '■> inches 

 long, and growing in a 17-inch pot. i- the finest specimen 

 we have here. 



Adiantum (Santa Catharina), 6 feet 2 inches across, with 

 fronds •'} feet '2 inches long, is the most nolle looking of all 

 the Maiden-hairs. It must be kept near the glass, as 

 the stalks of the fronds have a tendency to lengthen too 

 much. 



Dryopteris nobilis, :i feet A inches a. . length of fronds 

 1 foot 11 inches ; the fronds are very I I niegated. 



Gymnogramma Laucheana. 3 feet 8 inches across, length 

 No. 951.— Vol, XXXVI., Old Series. 



