HOW TO PROPAGATE FERNS. 143 



be flourishing around the edge, while the centre is 

 left empty. With greenhouse ferns, careful re- 

 potting will remedy this ; but in the case of the 

 out-door plants, as Onoclea, it is best to let them 

 have their own way. One curious fact comes to 

 the observation of every one who has much to do 

 with growing ferns, and the same is noticed by 

 several authors, the ferns which are most readily 

 increased by stem-division are not freely produced 

 from spores, while the ferns most easily raised from 

 spores can seldom be divided when fully grown. 

 There are exceptions, of course, to this statement ; 

 but its general truthfulness is very apparent to all 

 fern-cultivators. 



It is very easy to raise ferns from buds. A 

 portion of a frond of Asplenium bulbiferum, or any 

 fern on which the little plants have made their 

 appearance, may be fastened down upon a pan of 

 firm porous soil, and a little sand not enough to 

 cover the bulbs be sifted over it. It should be 

 protected by a glass : a pane of common window- 

 glass laid over the pot will do, if sufficient space 

 has been left, as it should be, when filling the pan, 

 to allow the little ferns to develop two or three 

 fronds. In the course of a few weeks the plants 

 will probably have rooted, and may be separated by 

 cutting the old frond into pieces wherever a bud 

 has started, and putting each piece into a small 

 pot by itself. 



