FERN-CASES. 103 



operation is in March or April." Much less fear 

 may be felt of changing the earth of ferneries, or 

 transplanting plants in the greenhouse, than of 

 doing the same to plants under ordinary window- 

 culture or out of doors, because the glass keeps 

 the air stationary about them, and prevents that 

 evaporation of moisture which the lately-disturbed 

 rootlets have not recovered sufficiently to supply, 

 while the circulation of air around plants growing 

 out of doors or in the dry atmosphere of the liv- 

 ing-room is almost sure at times to baffle our at- 

 tempts at transplanting. 



Very pretty effects may be produced in a fern- 

 case by the use of pumice-stone broken into rea- 

 sonably small pieces. Druggists sell this material 

 for about ten cents a pound. In small ferneries, 

 a few fragments may be used to form a rockery 

 for the creeping ferns ; and, in a large case, arches, 

 walls, and ruins may be built with it very easily. 

 Common cement, mixed as if for mending walls, 

 may be used to lay the pumice in ; and, as this sets 

 quickly, almost any design can be very soon built. 

 The whole structure should be finally washed with 

 a thin mixture of cement, to give it the proper 

 color. 



Old logs look well in a fernery ; but they are 

 so apt to introduce insects and fungi, that we 

 should not be in too much haste to insert them. 

 If the case is a lofty one, we may, with good effect, 



