122 GBEENHOUSE FEENS. 



finished give a good watering, and return them to their place in 

 the greenhouse, previous to which there will be a good oppor- 

 tunity to wash the stages, platforms, &c., so that all may be 

 fresh, tidy, and clean, giving the plants and the house a 

 cheerful, pleasant appearance. 



WATEBING. 



Attention should] now be paid to giving due supplies of 

 water, especially during the growing season. Though the 

 Ferns love water, and must never want it, yet to give 

 them this necessary element in excess is very injurious, 

 especially to the more delicate kinds, such as the Gold and 

 Silver-leaved Gymnogrammas, some Cheilanthes, and others of 

 like character. Watch such daily, and give water when the 

 surface is dry ; give enough at once to wet the whole of the 

 soil in the pots, and let it become dry on the surface again 

 before giving any more. In dry, hot weather use the syringe 

 freely, wetting the walls and floors thoroughly at least twice 

 a-day, morning and evening. Use rain water in syringing over 

 the foliage. 



AIE. 



We need scarcely direct that air must be given regularly. 

 In spring and summer, indeed, the house should have air 

 both night and day in abundance. Every cultivator will soon 

 find this necessary. A slight shade, such as Shaw's tiffany 

 affords, will be of great service in hot sunshine. 



INSECTS. 



The thrips is the greatest enemy to Ferns. It may be kept 

 under by frequent moderate smokings of tobacco. In very 

 bad cases cut off the fronds most affected, and burn them, and 

 wash the remainder with tobacco water and sulphur vivum, 

 syringing it off again the next day. The brown scale must be 

 rubbed off, and the plants washed with the above mixture. We 

 have received some plants from abroad so infested with both 



