PROPAGATION, DEVELOPMENT, AXD CULTURE. 29 



bricks being that most commonly substituted. With taste 

 in the distribution of these and suchlike materials, and in 

 the planting of the Ferns, a very pleasing effect may be 

 produced ; and on rockwork of this kind, if it be erected 

 in a shaded and sheltered situation, and liberally supplied 

 with percolating (not stagnant) Avater, and if the soil be 

 of a texture which will admit of being thus constantly 

 moist without becoming soddcned and soured, nearly all 

 the English Ferns may be grown successfully. 



It will, as a matter of course, suggest itself to the 

 planter, that the most sunny, most exposed, and least 

 moistened positions on the rockwork should be appro- 

 priated to those species which grow naturally in situations 

 to which these conditions afford the nearest resemblance ; 

 while, on the other band, the kinds which naturally prefer 

 the deepest shade and the dampest soil, should be placed 

 in the positions where these conditions are most nearly 

 imitated. 



Perhaps, however, the most interesting occupation for 

 the amateur Fern-grower consists in the cultivation of 

 them under glass, either in pots, or planted in a Wardian 

 case. All the species admit of being grown jn pots, 

 and when developed under the protection of a covering 



