50 Cultivation of Ferns. 



It is only within these few years that naturalists were satis- 

 fied that ferns could be raised from seed ; indeed, some very 

 eminent botanists doubted whether they bore seed ; and it was 

 only owing, perhaps, to popular superstition, that we owe our 

 first knowledge of the fact. It was customary, on Midsum- 

 mer-eve, to gather fern seed for magical purposes, it being 

 considered as an invisible entity ! hence Shakspeare's allusion 

 in Henry Fourth, making Gadshill say, " We have the receipt 

 of fern-seed, we walk invisible." Morrison was the first bo- 

 tanist who observed the seeds of ferns to vegetate ; but the 

 first account we have of raising plants in pots is by Lindsay. 

 Mr. Shepherd, jun., of the Liverpool garden, has lately raised 

 above sixty species from seed, one of which is named after 

 himself. Among other new species, he raised some specimens 

 from the hortus siccus of the late Dr. John Forster, now in 

 tliat of the Liverpool garden, and which is about fifty years 

 old. 



Mr. Shepherd, my much- esteemed instructor, has paid par- 

 ticular attention to this tribe of plants : he excels in the know- 

 ledge and cultivation of it, and consequently his collection 

 surpasses all others in the kingdom. From his instructions, 

 and my own experience, I shall state my method of raising 

 and cultivating hardy ferns, which has succeeded to my utmost 

 wishes. 



Provide middle-sized pots, with glasses to fit just within 

 their rims, and fill them with the following compost : — fine 

 rotten wood, or leaves, and loam, in equal parts, sifted as fine 

 as possible. The pots must be well drained by broken tiles 

 at bottom ; and, when filled, level and smooth the surface. 

 Sow the seed by holding the frond over the pot, scraping off 

 the seed, capsules, and all thereon ; being careful the wind 

 does not blow away the seeds. Fix on the glasses, and set 

 the pots in pans, which must be kept regularly full of water 

 (none ever being given above), and place them in a warm 

 shady part of the hot-house. In a short time the cotyledons 

 will appear, and not unlike the Marchant/a polymorpha. Soon 

 after this, raise the glasses a little, to prevent damping off; 

 and in a few weeks after remove them entirely ; and when 

 they have two or three fronds, transplant them into 48-sized 

 pots. Those unacquainted with the seed of ferns (and it is 

 to those only I address myself) must not suppose, that the 

 seed can be gathered and sown like large seeds : they are ripe 

 as soon as the capsules become brown, and if sown as above 

 directed, there need be no fear of failure. 



Within these few years several of this genus have been 

 divided, many of their names changed, and new genera esta- 



