282 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS. 



nothing else beyond ^vhat well constructed rockwork would 

 supply. 



Perhaps the most interesting way of cultivating these 

 plants would be as a group on a shady border, or in a 

 separate bed. In damp cool soil they would be certain to 

 succeed. The smaller delicate sorts, such as the procum- 

 bent E. variegatum, should be rather elevated between 

 three or four rough stones, over which it would hang ; and 

 for the aquatic species, earthenware pans might be sunk, 

 and these, half-filled with mud, and the remainder with 

 water, would provide all that would be necessary for their 

 well-being. All the other species would grow in the or- 

 dinary soil, provided it were sufficiently moist and cool in 

 summer; but the rambling propensities of the underground 

 stems should be checked by planting them in pots sunk in 

 tlie ground. 



The raising of the Equisetums from the spores, too, 

 would be very interesting employment, and withal very 

 instructive. The spores are very curious bodies, of roundish 

 or somewhat oval form, having four elastic filaments, thick- 

 ened at the ends, coiled around them. These, when the 

 spore has become ripe, unroll ; and their elasticity, no 

 doubt, contributes to burst the case in which the spores 



