726 GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 



necessaiy to prevent damp and moiildiness, otherwise every frond or dead 

 piece of leaf that touches the glass \rill cause a general decay. 



2274. Out-door ferneries are usually constructed in a shady nook, a damp 

 situation on the margin of ponds, or in low-lying situations, where they would 

 naturally receive that shade and moisture which agree with them ; otherwise 

 they are grown on a shady bank, where water can be supplied artificially, 

 and it requires a great deal to preserve the healthy greenness of them during 

 a dry summer. If once allowed to flag, they get spotted, which diminishes 

 the beauty of them, and they do not recover it the whole season. In building 

 a fernery, make a liberal use of rough blocks of wood, gnarled roots, and 

 blocks of stone, burrs, &c. Let there be no appearance of labouring to pro- 

 duce an effect, but let the whole wear an easy natural appearance. Plant the 

 ferns so that they show in niches and cre\'ices, and not so thickly as to hide 

 the bxirrs, &c. For out-door culture none can surpass hardy British ferns. 

 Some of these grow much larger than others ; — the Male fern, the Lady fern, 

 the Buckler fern, the Hart's-tongue fern, are among the largest growers. The 

 common brakes grow larger than any, and should not be admitted unless 

 there is plenty of room. There are ferns that have a similar habit to that on 

 a much smaller scale — as the various sorts of polypody, and these are very 

 useful for the front places : they should not be allowed to be overgrown by 

 others. There are a great many ferns of dwarf habit, known as natives of this 

 country, yet requiring careful management to induce them to grow in a fernery ; 

 the Bue fem, for instance, seldom lives many years, except in the hands of 

 very clever cultivators : but there are plenty that oan be grown easily, and it 

 is best to begin, at least, with them. 



2275. Greenhouse ferneries maybe made in every way similar to those out- 

 doors, only on a smaller scale, but with the same view as to shade and 

 moistxire. If in an open spot, the top must be furnished with blinds, the 

 syringe must be kept at work, and, if kept close and warm, the ferns will 

 grow luxuriantly. — F. C. 



§ 9.— Gardening for Smoky Cities and Large Towns. 



2276. Already, under the head of Window Gardening, ample information 

 has been given in these pages for the internal floral decoration of our houses, 

 wherever situated, whether in towns or in the country ; but hitherto little has 

 been said upon the subject of outdoor gardening as applicable to our cities 

 and large towns, where black smoke prevails. It is well known to every one 

 that the vapour arising from substancesin a state of combustion, which is usually 

 termed smoke, is very prejudicial to vegetable life. Without taking into 

 consideration the deadly effects arising from the diffusion of smoke generated 

 in certain factories — more especially chemical works — which is fatal in propor- 

 tion to the nature of the substances employed, and from which the smoke is 

 evolved, it is sufficient for the gardener to have to combat smoke arising 

 from ordinary coal-furnaces and the thousands of chimneys for domestic use 



