68 FERA r S IN THEIR HOMES AND OURS. 



advice : " Take a can of boiling water, and water 

 the soil till you have supplied enough to rise to the 

 top of the drainage. The water should be poured 

 into the centre first, to warm the soil gradually. 

 The use of the boiling water is to destroy every 

 insect that may have escaped your eye when break- 

 ing up the peat. It will not only do that, but kill 

 their eggs also, and equally make an end of the 

 seeds of weeds and the mycelium of fungi ; all of 

 which are enemies better got rid of at first, than to 

 be hunted for when their ravages become a source 

 of alarm. The over-cautious may, of course, scald 

 or bake the materials before filling the pan : in 

 that case they should not be put in the pan until 

 nearly dry again. 



"When the pan is nearly cold, the ferns may be 

 planted ; and the process of planting will consoli- 

 date the compost, so that it will, when all is fin- 

 ished, be an inch below the edge of the pan, as 

 it ought to be : it may, indeed, go below that, and 

 need filling up with some of the finest of the mix- 

 ture, which should be sprinkled over as a finishing 

 touch." 



When ferns are cultivated naturally in a large 

 house, the trouble of potting is entirely dispensed 

 with, and consequently the plants require but a 

 moderate degree of care ; but in a small house, 

 and where they are grown to produce exhibition 

 specimens, much attention must be given to the 



