Il8 FERNS IN THEIR HOMES AND OURS. 



tions is the cocoanut-shell hanging-basket (PI. 

 1 8, Fig. i). He speaks with truth when he 

 says that "it requires a sharp saw and some 

 patience " to make one. About one-quarter of 

 the shell should be sawed off; and, to bore the 

 holes, it is best to use a small "pod" bit first, and 

 then a rimer to enlarge them, to avoid splitting the 

 shell. The illustration is taken from a cocoanut- 

 shell in which Adiantum jEthiopicum has been 

 growing for five years ; and the writer had another 

 basket of this kind, in which A. affine grew for a 

 similar extent of time. These baskets may be 

 suspended by the "silver string of the Spanish 

 guitar," or, less expensively, by copper wire. The 

 holes should be from one-half to three-quarters of 

 an inch in diameter, and may be bored or burned 

 out, as one prefers, about an inch apart all over 

 the shell, two small ones being made near the 

 upper edge for the suspending wire. The fern is 

 to be planted as in a flower-pot, only such species 

 being chosen as are characterized by underground 

 buds (described in the chapter on Structure). 

 These buds soon find their way to the holes, and 

 appear outside with their little tufts of green. 

 These shell baskets are particularly good for the 

 creeping species of Adiantum. 



The following species are suitable for cultiva- 

 tion in baskets, hanging-pans, wire cylinders, 

 screens, &c. : 



