1 58 THE FERN PARADISE. 



a cultivated plant it is not rare, for, like all our 

 ferns, the myriads of seeds which each plant bears 

 favour its extensive propagation. Artificially 

 grown, it will, in warm, moist, and sheltered 

 situations, live and thrive in the open-air rockery. 

 But its excessively delicate nature requires peculiar 

 care, and renders it more especially adapted for 

 indoor cultivation. And to grow it successfully 

 indoors, especial attention must be given to its 

 requirements. It cannot bear the sudden changes 

 in temperature to which the atmosphere of some 

 sitting-rooms is subject. When there is an equable 

 temperature maintained, and the air is not too 

 dry, as, for instance, in rooms which are not con- 

 stantly inhabited, there the Maidenhair will thrive 

 in pots, in the proper soil, without any covering. 

 But otherwise a covering of glass is essential, so as 

 to keep around the plant a perpetual moisture. 

 With such a covering it will revel in the warmth 

 of inhabited rooms, and become a delightful com- 

 panion for the fern-lover, distilling on the points 

 of its fronds the dewdrops of its prison. A 

 light soil, suited to the delicate nature of the 



