47 



If it be intended to permit the plants to creep at discretion over the 

 soil, a circular case has many advantages, and can readily he obtained 

 by procuring a glass shade a foot or more in diameter. A conical heap 

 of fragments of stone or coral should be made upon a zinc tray, and 

 covered lightly so as to fill up the cracks, with a mixed soil ; it is then 

 ready for planting, and the tray being filled with water to the depth of 

 half an inch, the shade may be placed over it. If in a case of this 

 kind the larger upright mosses are set near the top of the artificial hill, 

 the smaller species around them, while the feather mosses and other 

 creeping kinds are suffered to wreatlie themselves about the lower 

 portions, mingled with jungermannige, a miniature Alp will be formed, 

 with its pines, its shrubs, and its vineyards : a living model of some- 

 thing grander, but not more perfect in its parts than itself. 



But if it be an object to preserve the species separate, and with their 

 names attached, a different plan must be followed. And for this pur- 

 pose it is advisable to procure a sufficient number of flower pots of the 

 ordinary shape, about two inches or more in diameter. These having 

 been filled, half with fragments of tiles or small stones, and the 

 remaining portion with soil ; the mosses may be planted in them, and 

 the pots placed upon the floor of the case ; or if the plants be of 

 moisture-loving species, the pots may be set in a shallow tray 

 filled with water. Zinc labels are convenient and lasting, and a kind 

 of ink proper for writing upon these may be procured at many of the 

 'chemists. The case for this method of cultivation should be square 

 or oblong, and may be fitted up with shelves. It should by all 

 means have a door for ventilation, and to give a ready access to the 

 plants. 



Some mosses prefer a vertical position, and seem to thrive best when 

 they are attached to pieces of wood, or to a porous stone, and suspended 

 in the case. Others require scarcely any soil, but attach them- 

 selves firmly to a flat stone, placed within the rim of the pot. Others 

 again, as the Sphagna, require neither soil nor stones, but flourish 

 when the pots are filled with their stems, and set in a tray of 

 water. 



All the species require frequent watering, which is best done by 

 means of a syringe with a very fine rose. The inventor of closed 

 cases, Mr. Ward, stated to me that he had found one rule of great 

 value and of universal application in the cultivation of Ferns and 

 Mosses, namely, to imitate Nature as closely as possible. But even 

 this rule seems to admit of exceptions, for we sometimes find in Nature 

 a liability to extremes unfavourable to the growth and even to the life 

 of plants. ']'o protect them therefore from such extremes, whilst in 



