146 FERNS IN THEIR HOMES AND OURS. 



inches high, in eight months, from the spores ; 

 but, as a general rule, it will be two or three years 

 before ferns so grown will require an eight-inch 

 pot. In a moist greenhouse where many ferns 

 are cultivated, the spores, as they ripen upon the 

 fronds and are discharged into the air, are likely 

 to fall upon the surface of the pots in which other 

 plants are growing, or upon the shelves, benches, 

 walls, or floor of the house. One of the most 

 interesting things connected with fern-culture is 

 the pleasure derived from watching these waifs as 

 they develop ; yet with it come the usual vexations 

 which follow plant-cultivation everywhere. These 

 same spores, which germinate so freely when 

 chance-sown, are sure to intrude themselves where 

 we have prepared with special care a pan to cul- 

 tivate some choice species of fern, of which we 

 have obtained the precious seed. In this way 

 it happens often that plants of Gymnogramme 

 chrysophylla and Pteris serrulata will occupy such 

 a pan, and crowd out every thing else ; and, as 

 all the young plants are to the inexperienced eye 

 very much alike, to try weeding out the intruders 

 may result in the summary destruction of the 

 choicer ferns. 



In growing ferns from spores, the directions 

 regarding boiling or baking the soil should be 

 more strictly observed than in any other depart- 

 ment of fern-culture ; as we soon realize the im- 



