96 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



a third of leaf-mold, will suit any of 

 them, and many of the free growing 

 kinds, such as nephrolepis, will flourish 

 with a liberal addition of animal manure. 

 Bone meal will help ferns if soil is thor 

 oughly watered after repotting. Some 

 growers of Adiantum cuneatum add 

 about one-sixth of well rotted and sifted 

 cow manure to their compost. Pot firm 

 ly but not too solid. 



As before mentioned about tempera 

 ture, few plants will thrive in a lower 

 temperature than that of their native 

 habitat so well as ferns. Species from 

 the tropics, where in some localities the 

 temperature would hardly ever be below 

 70 degrees, will do very well in our 

 houses if not below 55 degrees. Grow 

 ers of Adiantum cuneatum or A. decorum, 

 who grow houses of them for the market, 

 sometimes as pot plants, but more often 

 for the cut fronds, will, I am aware, 

 keep them higher than 55 degrees. Cun 

 eatum will pay best when grown in a 

 high temperature, but should be well 

 matured before sold or it will soon wilt. 



Watering ferns does not need any 

 great skill. All evergreen ferns, and 

 we grow only those, require plenty of 

 water at all times, but less in winter, 

 when all ferns take a partial rest. We 

 have had young men tell us that ^at 

 their establishment, where the A. 

 Farleyense was well grown, they have 

 seen repeatedly Jack Jones standing with 

 the hose and giving the Farleyense a 



The ideal conditions for all the ferns 

 we grow would be a house that could 

 be shaded, say, by 9 a. m., and the shade 

 removed at 5 p. m., but that great and 

 most desirable convenience the com 

 mercial man has not yet obtained. Next 

 to that is a north house, where light 

 comes in, but not the direct rays &amp;lt;?f the 

 sun. As we perhaps have neither of the 

 above, then shade by degrees till mid 

 summer, and remove gradually as winter 

 approaches. Ferns will grow fast 

 enough in a very shady house, but the 

 fronds are weak and straggling. Plenty 

 of water at the .roots, plenty of moisture 

 in the house, is needed, but do little 

 wetting of the fronds: they don t need it. 



One of the most important points to 

 observe is to give the ferns a cool bot 

 tom. A bench with three or four 4-inch 

 pipes under it is the worst possible 

 place. A solid bed covered with ashes 

 will suit them far better. If growing 

 adiantum on a bench, let it be a deep 

 one and well drained, and no steam or 

 hot water pipes near it. Let the pipes 

 be on the side, where they can have no 

 influence on the soil. The bottom heat 

 that is so congenial to most of our soft- 

 wooded plants is misery to the ferns. 



The healthiest lot of ferns I ever 

 saw under glass was in the fernery at 

 the Manchester (England) Botanic 

 Gardens. Cool and moist, with water 

 trickling over rocks, with the dicksonias 

 in the center, and their great stems 



Adiantum Croweanum. 



good syringing. It must have been on 

 the morning of bright summer days. 



Almost all ferns are found as under 

 growth in forests and woods, and are 

 shaded by the trees above. Ferns want 

 subdued light, but not a heavy shade. 



covered with platyeeriums, you could 

 fancy you were transported to a rocky 

 dell of New Zealand. The most luxu 

 riant ferns growing naturally were on 

 the banks of the small river or inlet to 

 Lake Chautauqua, N. Y., where the os- 



munda grew to the water s edge in rank 

 profusion ; shaded by the overhanging 

 forest. 



Few insects trouble our commercial 

 ferns. Scale is often troublesome to 

 large ferns. Old fronds, if badly af 

 fected, are best cut off and destroyed, 

 and washing the others with soap and 

 nicotine is all you can do. Thrips will 

 succumb to the fumes of tobacco, but 

 ferns don t like tobacco smoke, and it 

 is much better to vaporize with nicotine 

 extract. Do this at least once a week; 

 it will also keep down aphis, which 

 sometimes infests the young fronds of 

 the adiantums and will do the ferns 

 no harm. Wood lice, which often are 

 known by that awful name of sow 

 bugs, eat the tender shoots. A hollowed- 

 out potato in which they will go to 

 roost will catch thousands, or a mixture 

 of Paris green and powdered sugar 

 placed along the edge of the bench will 

 destroy them. 



The small white slugs are the worst 

 enemy of ferns, and the adiantums seem 

 selected as their own especial diet. The 

 old remedy of placing cabbage or lettuce 

 leaves on the bench or pots is sure to 

 catch many of them, but they should be 

 examined early every morning. The 

 slugs are said to be very fond of bran, 

 and if small patches are put on the 

 bench here and there the slugs will revel 

 in it and can be caught. Large grow 

 ers of the maidenhair find that a light 

 dusting of air-slaked lime on the plants 

 and soil about once a month is sufficient 

 to dispel any visitation of the slugs. 



Since most of the above was written a 

 new and distinct form of adiantum has 

 been put on the market called A. Crowe 

 anum after Mr. Peter Crowe, of Utica, 

 where it originated. The writer considers 

 it the most useful of its class, and will 

 displace cuneatum for its freedom of 

 growth, splendid fronds and great keep 

 ing qualities. It is sterile and is en 

 tirely increased by division. 



A few words on its culture may be a 

 guide not only for this variety, but 

 others of its class. Put five or six inches 

 of loam on a well drained bench. The 

 compost that I saw it flourishing in was 

 similar to what was growing roses in 

 another house. The temperature was 60 

 degrees at night, and no steam or hot 

 water pipes beneath the bench. The 

 small divided plants are placed on the 

 bench ten inches or one foot apart and 

 will last three years. They are then 

 partly dried off, lifted and again divided. 

 They are shaded in the summer. Air- 

 slaked lime is used both on the fronds, 

 on the soil of the beds and on the 

 crowns of the plants, used most pro 

 fusely, which not only keeps down the 

 slugs, but the lime must act also as a 

 fertilizer. Liquid manure was also freely 

 used. 



Ferneries. 



The filling of small ferneries for the 

 table is now an important branch of 

 business. We should endeavor to make 

 these as satisfactory as possible, for 

 they are short lived at best. We get 

 them returned in the condition of mud 

 and again as dry as a rock. It will 



