8 THE BOOK OF FERN CULTURE 



may be transferred to a cooler house. After potting off 

 singly they require some care ; very little water should 

 be given until they make a fresh start. Many young seed- 

 lings are lost through over-watering, and being kept too 

 close. Those propagated from the small bulbils require 

 similar treatment to that given to those raised from 

 spores, but there are some which may be rooted either on 

 a bed of suitable soil or in pots before detaching them 

 from the parent fronds ; with some, such as Woodiuardia 

 orientalis, and some of the viviparous Aspleniums, the 

 bulbils fall off when they have made the first tiny 

 frondlet. While with W'oodwardia radicans a larger 

 bulbil is formed towards the extremity of each frond, 

 and occasionally on the side pinnae as well, and these are 

 difficult to remove. In the Angiopteris and Marattias a 

 latent bud is found at the base of the fronds. These may 

 be taken out after the lower fronds have ripened off, 

 but they are rather difficult to remove, and require some 

 care to establish plants from them. Those which pro- 

 duce root bulbils should be grown in open baskets or on 

 peat. The ordinary Stag's-horn Fern (Platycerum alcicorne) 

 is an example of those which should be grown on peat or 

 in a basket. Those with spreading stolons or rhizomes 

 may be bedded-in with suitable soil round them for the 

 young plants to root into. In many of the Adlantums 

 there are numerous small crowns, and they are easily 

 divided. The beautiful A. Farleyense is one of these. 

 Old plants may be dried off a little, and all the fronds 

 removed ; each tiny node or crown may be broken off. 

 These bedded in sphagnum moss and sand, placed in a 

 warm moist position, will soon start and have the appear- 

 ance of small seedlings, and will require similar treatment. 

 The Davallias are propagated readily from the spreading 

 rhizomes. In dealing with each separate genus reference 

 will be made to the most suitable modes of propagation, 

 but finally I may add that it is always easier to deal with 



