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WIND W GA RDENING ■ 



to go below 35'. Their styles are so various and prices so reasonable, that any- 

 one can be suited at prices of from ®3 to ^25. 



To any one living amid the anxieties of a troublesome parlor garden, which 

 the)^ cannot manage, tliere are but one or two satisfactory ways left for enjoy- 

 ment. Either get a fern case, or be satisfied with a simple hanging basket. 



The Wardian Case. 

 The history of the Wardian or fern case, dates back to 1829, when a gentleman 

 by the name of Ward, of London, first noticed, accidentally, the growth of vegela- 



> ijr 4(1 _\ Parlor Fernery 



tion under a close glass He had laid down the chrysahs of an msect with some 

 mould within a glass bottle, and covered it over. A short time afterward, as he 

 describes it, " a speck or two of vegetation appeared on the surface of the mould 

 and, to his surprise, turned out to be a fern and a grass. His interest was 

 awakened ; he placed the bottle in a favorable situation, and found that the 

 plants continued to grow and maintain a healthy appearance." 



Thi« was the first idea of the Wardian case. In 1842, Mr. Ward published 

 his discovery relating to the " growth of plants in closely glazed cases," in a vol- 

 ume which contained the result of his experiments in raising plants, and also the 

 way he made his discovery. In 1851, the Wardian case made its first success- 

 ful appearance in public, at the " Worlds Fair" and from that time to this it 

 has become more gradually known and better appreciated. Very few have yet 



