160 



WIND W GA RDENINQ - 



to go below 35. Their styles are so various and prices so reasonable, that any 

 one can be suited at prices of from S3 to $25. 



To any one living amid the anxieties of a troublesome parlor garden s which 

 they cannot manage, there are but one or two satisfactory ways left for enjoy- 

 ment. Either get a fern case, or be satisfied with a simple hanging basket. 



The Wardian Case. 



The history of the Wardian or fern case, dates back to 1829, when a gentleman 

 by the name of Ward, of London, first noticed, accidentally, the growth of vegeta, 



Fig. 40. A Parlor Fernery 



tion under a close glass. He had laid down the chrysalis of an insect with some 

 mould within a glass bottle, and covered it over. A short time afterward, as he 

 describes it, "a speck or two of vegetation appeared on the surface of the mould 

 and, to his surprise, turned out to be a fern and a grass. His interest was 

 awakened ; he placed the bottle in a favorable situation, and found that the 

 plants continued to grow and maintain a healthy appearance." 



This was the first idea of the Wardian case. In 1842, Mr. Ward published 

 his discovery relating to the " growth of plants in closely glazed cases," in a vol- 

 ume which contained the result of his experiments in raising plants, and also the 

 way he made his discovery. In 1851, the Wardian case made its first success- 

 ful appearance in public, at the " Worlds Fair," and from that time to this it 

 has become more gradually known and better appreciated. Very few have yet 



