CULTIVATION. 119 



proper inhabitants would not exist; yet, to grow them to 

 perfection, they ought to have a dwelling to themselves. 



Following this train of ideas, we are now brought to the 

 class of plants which, in this highly civilised country, are 

 cultivated not for the love of showy, sweet flowers, but for 

 their beautiful foliage and delicate green colour. We have 

 already written pretty largely on Stove Ferns, and now pro- 

 ceed to Greenhouse Ferns. 



CULTIVATION. 



In the first place, we would observe that this class of Ferns, 

 during winter, may be grown by the sides of the path under 

 the first step of the stage. We have seen them so growing 

 very well. Advantage may be taken of the summer months, 

 when the regular inhabitants of the house are bivouacing and 

 luxuriating in the open air, to place the Ferns on the stages ; 

 thus furnishing the house with beautiful green foliage during 

 the summer months, and giving the Ferns a chance to make 

 finer fronds than they would do if kept during the growing 

 season in the comparative darkness on the side of the path. 

 These fronds would be matured before the autumn, and would 

 keep green in consequence longer through the winter. It 

 would be a good time, also, to give them a shift into larger 

 pots and fresh soil previous to giving them more light. 



Following out the idea that there are more persons able to 

 grow Ferns in a greenhouse than in a stove, as such buildings 

 are more common than stoves, we shall, in this division of 

 our subject, treat upon Ferns that will thrive in a house the 

 temperature of which is kept through winter a few degrees 

 above the freezing-point. Many of the more rare or beautiful 

 hardy Ferns will thrive exceedingly well in such a house. 

 Though greenhouses are generally crowded with plants of 

 various kinds through the winter which are set out of doors in 

 summer, yet many Ferns may be kept in it notwithstanding; 

 and on this account, that their fronds die-off in the autumn, 



