MEANS TO THE END. 



pended by wire either in mid-window or else- 

 where. There are clay brackets for supporting 

 Fern-pots, and rustic-looking pots of the same 

 material for fastening to walls holes being per- 

 forated for nails to hold them with. Clay is also 

 brought into requisition for imitating rustic wood- 

 baskets on the plan of crossed bars. These clay 

 contrivances can be suspended, wherever it may 

 be desired, by wires fastened at their tops. 



In the disposition of Ferns upon a lawn, tree- 

 stumps are not unfrequently utilized for growing 

 Ferns. There are clay imitations of these tree- 

 stumps, made of various shapes and sizes. The 

 especial recommendation of clay in the manu- 

 facture of Fern utensils is its porousness, by 

 reason of which the Ferns grown in them are 

 kept well drained, and attract the fine rootlets of 

 the plants, which cling to the damp and porous 

 sides of the pans, as they do to soft, porous stone, 

 feeding on the moisture. Ferns, however, it 

 should be remembered, grown in such pans must 

 be kept constantly moist, and the direct action of 

 the sun's rays should be kept from the sides of 

 the pots, otherwise the fine, fibrous rootlets which 



