140 FERNS IN THEIR HOMES AND OURS. 



that we have a plant of this habit, a Polypodium 

 or Pteris y for instance, all that it is necessary 

 to do to make two or more plants of the one is to 

 divide this stem,- between the buds or fronds on 

 it, into as many parts as we desire new ferns. 

 We remove it from the pot if it is a greenhouse 

 specimen, or scrape the earth from around it if 

 it is planted out, and observe where these under- 

 ground stems are, and how the fronds which spring 

 from them are grouped. With a moderately sharp 

 knife we may now cut the stems, without disturb- 

 ing the earth about the plant any more than is 

 absolutely necessary, tearing apart with our hands 

 the uncut remainder of the roots. We put each 

 part of the plant thus divided into a pot just 

 large enough to hold it easily, and press the earth 

 in firmly around it, having previously placed in 

 the bottom of the pot the necessary drainage 

 material. For a week or ten days the newly- 

 separated plants should be kept moist, not wet, 

 and in a quiet shade : if out of doors, protected 

 by a frame and sash, and somewhat shaded ; if in 

 the greenhouse, in some shady corner. A case 

 not intended for a fernery, capable of being closed 

 and yet sufficiently light, 3 by 2 feet, and 18 inches 

 high, is a very handy thing for in or out door use 

 at this time. When we think that our plants have 

 sufficiently recovered from the shock of being 

 thus torn asunder, they may be placed with the 



