THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 53 
REPOTTING BRITISH FERNS. 
BY W. BRADBURY. 
pS RITISH FERNS that have attained to specimen size 
should be repotted annually, and the best time in the 
whole year for doing this is just before they commence 
to make new growth ; or, to be more precise, from the 
= middle of February to the middle of the month follow- 
ing. So long as the ferns are of small or medium size, no difficulty 
will arise in reference to repotting them; but as soon as they reach 
a large size, cultivators who have not had overmuch experience with 
them will be perplexed as to the best course to take. The ferns 
will already occupy pots as large as appear desirable for convenience 
of moving about, and the cultivator will not know how to afford 
them the assistance of a supply of fresh soil without increasing the 
size of the pots. There is a very easy way out of the difficulty, for 
ferns will, when at rest, bear a good deal of pulling about at the 
roots without injury. A portion of the roots may indeed be removed 
altogether without their suffering in the slightest degree. 
Unless exceptionally large specimens are required, pots from 
eight to ten inches are quite large enough, for when they exceed 
the largest of the two sizes, they are cumbersome in appearance, 
and heavy to lift about. In shifting plants, that occupy pots of the 
maximum size, remove about two inches of the soil from round the 
ball with a bluntly-pointed stick, and when this has been done, trim 
the roots away with a sharp knife. When this has been done, 
and the crocks and a few inches of soil removed from the lower part 
of the ball, they can be again put in pots of the same size, with as 
much new soil about the roots as would be the case were they shifted 
without the balls being reduced, into pots two sizes larger. De- 
ciduous and evergreen kinds may alike be deprived of a portion of 
the roots in the manner pointed out ; and in shifting small examples 
into larger pots, it is an excellent practice to loosen the roots, and 
reduce the ball a little all round. 
A few of the species are somewhat peculiar in their require- 
ments as to soil, but for those included in all the leading genera, 
such as the Athyriums, Lastreas, and Polystichums, a mixture con- 
sisting of fibrous loam and peat, in equal parts, and one part of 
sand to every six parts of the peat and loam, combined, will be 
found in every way suitable. The drainage must be perfect, but the 
quantity of crocks in each need not be large, for if they are broken 
up into pieces of the size of a cob-nut, and a layer about an inch in 
thickness put in each pot, and covered with some loose material, 
there will be no risk of the soil becoming water-logged through the 
drainage not acting satisfactorily. The soil must be pressed equally 
firm all round, for if the new soil is filled in loosely, the water will 
soak away without moistening any part of the old ball. A cold 
frame, occupying a shady position is the most suitable quarters for 
the British and other hardy ferns when making new growth, and to 
this they should be removed after the repotting. 
February. 
