MINIATURE FERN CAVERNS. 



to form a cave closed on every side, save the one 

 facing the room. At the top a small aperture 

 must be left, in order to admit some light, and to 

 give ventilation. The floor of the cavern may be 

 cemented so as to retain the water which flows 

 from the extemporized fountain provision being 

 made by means of a pipe some two or three 

 inches long in the floor of the cavern communi- 

 cating with the sink, to allow all water which 

 rises beyond a certain fixed level to flow away. 

 In the walls of such a cavern, in its interior, at 

 its top, and at its entrance, as well as amongst 

 the rockery at the base of the fountain, Ferns 

 may be planted. We show no Ferns in our illus- 

 tration (page 200), but they should be selected 

 from the list given in our chapters on ' Ferns and 

 Fern Culture,' according to the capabilities of 

 each, as there described, for darker or lighter, 

 dryer or moister situations. 



Such caverns as we have suggested may be 

 made in many other parts of a house than its area 

 ' well ' or ' wells.' There is no 'reason, indeed, 

 why they should not be constructed in dining or 

 drawing-rooms, or indeed in any rooms of a 



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