1900 SUPPLEMENT—RECENT INTRODUCTIONS, &C. 365 
Ferns—continued. 
the British Osmunda regalis and regalis cristata*, are 
among the most distinct of all known Ferns. Very interest- 
ing also are Aspidiwm (Polystichum) munitum and the 
beantiful varieties of angulare, such as divisilobwm, multi- 
lobum, proliferum Crawfordianum, Lomaria chilensis, Pteris 
aquilina, and Struthiopteris pennsylvanica*, which grows 
very Inxuriantly, and attains a large size when planted in a 
damp, shaded, and sheltered position. 
When a Hardy Fernery is once established, very little 
attention is required to keep it in good order. The whole 
work in connection with such a place is limited to 
occasional waterings during the summer, while during the 
winter a slight covering of old leaves or other light 
material placed over the plants will enable the tenderer 
sorts to withstand the rigour of our most severe winters. 
Repotrina Ferns. This is an operation of great im- 
portance, and the principal points to be observed are 
that they should not on any account be over-potted, and 
that special care should be taken to prevent the roots of the 
plants from being torn away or broken off. Over-potting is 
undoubtedly a frequent cause of loss of Ferns, and should 
always be avoided. Although a hard-and-fast rule as to the 
dimensions of the pots to be used cannot possibly be laid 
down, it is well to remember that by far the better plan is 
to repot several times, as required, giving a slightly larger 
pot each time, than to put plants into much larger pots with 
the object of saving labour, or the trouble of repotting in a 
month or two. Through successive repottings the plants 
derive from each additional supply of new soil the full 
amount of the nutritive properties it possesses, while over- 
potting frequently causes sickness. Healthy well-rooted 
plants may safely be repotted as follow: from 3in. pots to 
44in. pots, from 44in. pots to 6in. pots, from 6in. pots to 8in. 
pots, from 8in. pots to 10in. pots, from 10in. pots to 13in. 
pots, and so on. Ferns require repotting less frequently 
the larger they become, and the larger the pots are in which 
they growing; they also should be repotted more or less 
frequently, according to their nature and to their power of 
growth. Itis well known among practical men that these 
plants make their hardiest and most luxuriant growth when 
the inside surface of their pots is already covered with a 
network of roots. 
When proper attention is given to Ferns after repotting, 
this operation may safely be performed at almost any time 
of the year; but, generally speaking, it is preferable to 
commence in the warm house about the beginning of 
February, and in the cool house about the beginning of 
March. In every case it is most advisable to have the 
plants repotted as they start into new growth. This opera- 
tion may be continued through spring and summer, but it is 
best to cease about the middle of September, as little 
growth is made after that time, and the addition of new 
soil, even if not injurious to the plants, is of very little use, 
as its nutritive properties are washed out before the spring 
by the repeated waterings the plants require in the mean- 
time. It is not advisable to put into larger pots plants with 
roots matted together in a hard mass until they have been 
carefully loosened as much as it can be done with safety. 
When the roots have filled the bottom of the pots, and have 
become thickly matted among the crocks, it is best to repot 
withont disturbing them, leaving the crocks in, for it is 
certain that, if for the sake of removing the crocks the roots 
are torn away, the plants will be deprived of the best part of 
their feeders, and will suffer accordingly. Large plants 
should be examined and repotted if they require it, but 
there is no necessity for repotting them every year ; indeed, 
in many cases it is advisable not to do so, although small 
plants benefit by being repotted several times during the 
year, because in the growing season, under favourable con- 
ditions, they make fresh roots very rapidly. 
On account of the extremely sensitive nature of their 
roots, Ferns should preferably be potted in old pots ; these, 
when used, shonld be clean and dry, so as to prevent, 
whenever the plants are to be repotted, the breaking of 
their roots, which is bound to happen if the plants have 
been previously potted in wet or dirty pots, to the sides of 
which the roots will be found to strongly adhere. When- 
ever new pots are to be used, it is advisable to have these 
put in water, in which they should remain until they are 
thoroughly soaked, and then be well dried before using ; it 
is well known that pots fresh from the kiln absorb a great 
uantity of water, and when their pores are not previously 
ed it very frequently happens that the first two or three 
Ferns—continued. 
waterings, instead of being beneficial to the plants, only 
serve to soak the pots, while the balls of soil which the 
latter contain become so dry that it is often most difficult 
afterwards to get them into a moist condition. 
Great care must always be taken that the plants when 
repotted are sufficiently moist at the roots, which organs 
are exceedingly sensitive to even a temporary absence of 
moisture. When a Fern has suffered from want of water at 
the roots, the effect is shown by the shrivelling of the 
fronds, the older ones being usually affected before the 
young growths. This is a peculiarity well worthy of special 
notice ; for while in the case of most other plants, either of 
a herbaceous or of a woody texture, the temporary flagging 
of the foliage is efficiently remedied by an_ ordinary 
watering, or, at the most, by a thorough soaking of the 
roots, such treatment has no apparent effect on the roots of 
most Ferns, and very few indeed are the species whose 
fronds, having once flagged, regain their elasticity by the 
application of water at the roots or over the foliage; the 
Nothoclenas and the Cheilanthes are* the Ferns which 
show the least the effects of drought at the roots. 
In growing Ferns in pots it will be found greatly 
beneficial to the plants that these should stand on a solid, 
cool, moist bottom, and the ordinary stage or shelf can 
hardly correspond to the requirements of the plants. The 
most suitable material on which to place Ferns in general is 
a solid bed of ashes or one of sand covered with a layer of 
coal-cinders, which have the property of remaining fresh 
and sweet for an indefinite time. Wherever practicable, the 
houses in which Ferns are intended to be grown in pots 
should be comparatively low structures, sunk 15in. or 18in. 
below the surface of the ground, and provided with solid 
beds, bricked on their vertical outer surface. The walks 
should be made either of coarse gravel, or of the natural 
earth, if of a sandy nature, simply covered with a thickness 
of 2in. or 3in. of coal-cinders, these being the most porous, 
and at the same time the best moisture-retaining materials 
that can be used in a house in which constant humidity is of 
the utmost importance. 
GROWING FrRNs IN Pans. Besides pot culture, pure and 
simple, there are several other equally practical ways of 
growing Ferns, some of which have been devised by the 
cultivator to render the plants more attractive by 
presenting them under their most favourable aspect, while 
others have been suggested to him by the nature of the 
plants under his care. 
Besides the hanging-basket, already noted in Vol. L., 
there is the shallow pan. Both methods offer to certain 
species advantages which they could not obtain if grown in 
Ale time-hononred conventional flower-pot. The shallow 
pan is especially useful for the culture of most Ferns 
provided with running rhizomes. These organs, in a few 
instances, prefer being kept underground, but, in most 
cases, they delight in running over the surface of the soil, to 
which they should from time to time be carefully fastened 
down by means of small wooden pegs, which are useful until 
the rhizomes have produced sufficient roots to keep them- 
selves in position, when the pegs may be entirely dispensed 
with. As the plants grow, and the rhizomes extend, they 
are apt to come over the sides of the pans; for the welfare 
of the plants this must be prevented, and it is easily done 
by carefully turning them inside the pans and pegging them 
securely on to the soil. Under these conditions, the 
rhizomes producing fresh roots all along their length add 
strength to the plant, whereas, when they extend over the 
sides of the pan and out of the damp soil or moss, they 
seldom produce any roots, and have to be supported by the 
plant instead of helping it, and the results are anything but 
satisfactory. When used, the pans, like the pots, must be 
clean and dry. Drainage is an essential point; the holes 
should be covered with large crocks, which should be 
covered with either moss or rough peat; this, again, 
should be covered with a layer of very rough compost, 
higher in the middle than at the sides ; then the pan should 
be filled to a sufficient depth with finer material until there 
is enough to plant the Ferns. The principal thing is to 
have the work firmly done, and, when the rhizomes are well 
pegged down and watered, very little attention besides 
watering will be needed for some time. A greater surface 
in a pan of the same dimensions may easily be obtained by 
raising the compost in the centre of the pan and forming a 
cone resting on rough pieces of peat, all made secure by 
being skewered together. This method is particularly 
