578 



FERX 



FERTILITY 



The bottom should be a zinc tray, to prevent drip on 

 the floor and to prevent too rapid drying out of the soil. 

 The top or roof of the box should be hinged, so that it 

 can be raised. In this miniature greenhouse many in- 

 teresting Ferns can be grown. Lycopodiums and Selagi 

 nellas (which see) are treated in much the same way as 

 F ems. NICHOL N. BRUCKNER. 



GROWING FERNS FROM SPORES BY THE AMATEUR. 

 Ferns may be raised from spores at almost any season 

 of the year, though the early spring months are best. 

 The shallow pans 2 in. deep by 6 in diameter, now sold 

 by pot manufacturers, we have found, after repeated 

 trials, best to sow Fern spores in. These should be filled 

 to within half an inch of the top with a mixture of sifted 

 peat, leaf -mold and silver sand in equal proportions, the 

 surface being made very fine and even. By sowing the 

 spores thinly we have found that they are not as liable 

 to the attacks of fungus during the prothallus stage. 

 They should not be covered with soil, as in sowing seeds. 

 Each pan should be placed in a pot-saucer, and all the 

 water necessary to keep the soil moist should be poured 

 into the saucer and allowed to soak up through the soil. 

 This not only prevents the spores being floated into clus- 

 ters, but probably filters the water of any germs of low 

 forms of vegetable life which might prove injurious to 

 the spores during germination. After the prothallus 

 stage is passed this precaution is unnecessary; as soon 

 as the young Ferns begin to develop fronds, they may 

 be watered freely overhead with a fine rose. The pans 

 should be placed in a temperature of 65 to 75, in a 

 shaded position. Each pan should be covered with a 

 pane of glass to keep the surface evenly moist, taking 

 care to remove the moisture which collects on the 

 glass at least twice daily; but as soon as the spores have 

 germinated, which, in most cases will be in about ten 

 days, these should be gradually removed. A close watch 

 must be kept for fungus during the prothallus stage, and 

 if a pan should show the least sign of it, it should at 

 once be isolated from the rest and a little fine sulphur 

 dusted upon it ; if this fails to check it the prothalli 

 should be at once transplanted to fresh pans of soil, 

 which usually checks it. The chief reasons for fungus 

 are sowing the spores too thickly, a too stagnant atmos- 

 phere after germination, and a dripping greenhouse roof. 

 As soon as the young Ferns begin to make fronds, they 

 may be transplanted. EDWARD J. CANNING. 



FERN BALLS are the dried rhizomes of Ferns, im- 

 ported from Japan. Dealers start them into growth, and 

 sell them when the mass is well covered with its deli- 

 cate vegetation. To start them into growth, the balls 

 are drenched in a tub of water and then hung in a 

 warmhouse, not in direct sunlight. When the plants are 

 well started, gradually expose them to more light and 

 to a cooler air. Give liquid manure if they do not grow 

 satisfactorily. The species are mostly Davallias, oftenest 

 apparently D. bullata and D. Marltsii. L H. B. 



FERNS, POPULAR NAMES OF. Adder's Tongue F., 

 Ophioglossumvulgatum. Beech F., Phegopteris. Bird's- 

 nest F., Thamnopteris Nidus-Avis. Bladder F., C'ys- 

 topteris. Boston F., Nephrolepis exaltata, var. Bostoni- 

 ensis. Bristle F., Trichomanes. Buckler f. t Dryopteris. 

 Calif ornian Gold F., Gymnogramma triangularis. 

 Chain F., Woodwardia. Christmas F., Polystichum 

 acrostichoides. Cinnamon F., Osmunda cinnamomea. 

 Climbing F., Lyg odium. Deer F., Lomaria. Elk's 

 Horn F., Platycerium alcicorne. Female F., Asplenium 

 Filix-fomina. Filmy F., Hymenophyllum. Floating 

 F., Ceratopteris. Flowering F., Osmunda ; sometimes 

 also Anemia. Gold F., Gymnogramma. Grape F., 

 Botrychium. Hart's-tongue F., Phyllitis Scolopen- 

 drium. Hartford F., Lygodium pa Imatum. Holly F., 

 Polystichum Lonchitis. Lace F., Cheilanthes gracil- 

 lima. Lady F., Asplenium Filix-foemina . Lip F., 

 Cheilanthes. Maidenhair F., Adiantum; more particu- 

 larly A. Capillus-Veneris abroad and A. pedal um at 

 home. Male F., Dryopteris Filix-mas. Marsh F., Dry- 

 opteris Thelypteris. Oak F., Phegopteris Dryopteris. 

 Ostrich F., Matteiiccia Struthiopteris. Pod F., ' Ceratop- 

 teris thalictroides . Rattlesnake F., Botrychium Vir- 

 ginianum. Royal F., Osmunda regalis. Sensitive F., 

 Onoclea sensibilis. Shield F., Dryopteris. Stag-horn 



F. See Platycerium. Sun F., Phegopteris. Sweet F., 

 Myrica asplenifolia ; abroad, various Dryopteris. 

 Sword F., Nephrolepis exaltata. Venus' Hair F., Adi- 

 antum Capillus- Veneris. Walking F., Camptosorus 

 rhizophyllus. Wall F., Polypodium vulgare. Wall- 

 rue, Asplenium Rtita-muraria. Washington F., Ne- 

 phrolepis exaltata, var. Washingtoniensis. 



FERRARIA (Giovanni Battisti Ferrari, 1584-1653, 

 Italian Jesuit, botanical writer and collaborator with the 

 celebrated artist Guide Reni). Iridacece. There are 

 7 species, all from the Cape of Good Hope, rarely grow- 

 ing more than 6 in. high. They have a large, irreg- 

 ular corm and very glaucous foliage, the lowest Ivs. 

 being long and linear, the rest ovate, clasping, succes- 

 sively smaller, and topped by inflated sheaths from 

 which emerge the oddest fls. imaginable. These have 

 6 triangular, spreading, crisped, petal-like lobes, won- 

 derfully marked with many dull colors, as yellow, green, 

 purple and brown. Each spathe contains several fls., 

 and the fls. are united at the very base, connivent and 

 cup-shaped below the spreading lobes. The fls. last only 

 from morning to afternoon of a single day, but there is 

 a fair succession. Some are visited by carrion flies. 

 Only one species, F. undulata, is advertised at pres- 

 ent, but the other 6 are doubtless of equal interest. 

 The first is the oldest kind in cult. It was known to 

 pre-Linnaean authors as Flos Indicus and Gladiolus In- 

 dicus. E. S. Miller writes that the bulbs should be stored 

 like Gladiolus in a dry, warm place, away from mice. 



A. Fls. dull brownish purple. 



undulata, Linn. Stem stout, erect : upper Ivs. and 

 spathes 1K-2 in. long: fls. 2 in. across, largely dull pur- 

 ple; anthers oblong, with parallel cells. B.M. 144. 



AA. Fls, greenish. 



uncinata, Sweet. Lvs. 2-3, linear : fls. 2, "cream 

 colored, edged with sage green," according to W. E. 

 Endicott. 



AAA. Fls. dark purple. 

 atrata, Lodd. Lvs. about 4, sword shaped : fls. 3-4. 



Other names are advertised by Dutch bulb growers, but 

 are not to be found in Index Kewensis or Flora Capensis: 

 F. Canariensis, caelestis, conchiflora, grandiflora, immacnlata, 

 liliacea and rosea. These can perhaps be accounted for under 

 Tigridia, where F. Pavonia belongs. ^ jyj 



FERTILITY of soils: that condition of soils which 

 makes them productive. The elements of productivity 

 are, a full supply of available plant-food, a. suitable and 

 continuous supply of moisture, good physical conditions 

 of the soil, coupled with suitable seed and climate. 



Land may contain vast quantities of potential nitro- 

 gen, potash and phosphoric acid and other plant-food, 

 and yet be unfruitful, infertile. Most of the potential 

 plant-food in the soil is lazy, not available in sufficient 

 quantities in a single season to produce maximum crops. 

 Average arable land which contains from 3,000-4,000 

 pounds of nitrogen, an equal amount of phosphoric acid 

 and four times as much potash in the first 8 inches of an 

 acre, may produce only 15 bushels of wheat per acre, 

 which requires, with the straw, but 24, 13 and 20 pounds 

 of these three elements respectively. Therefore, land 

 may contain a great abundance of potential plant-food 

 and yet not contain enough of that which is available 

 for a full crop. To make land more fertile, one or more 

 of the following means may be employed. Usually 

 deeper and more thorough tillage should first be re- 

 sorted to, since most lands, by reason of careless farm- 

 ing, contain much inert plant-food. Superior tillage is 

 almost certain to produce fruitfulness, and therefore 

 should be resorted to before more expensive methods 

 are tried. Tillage not only makes plant-food more avail- 

 able, but it improves the physical conditions of the soil, 

 thereby making it more comfortable for the plant; it 

 may also assist in relieving the land of surplus water, 

 and give to the soil the power of retaining large stores 

 of moisture by capillary action. 



Moisture plays such an important part in productive- 

 ness that it may be said to constitute its prime factor. 

 Clay soils are usually composed of such fine particles 

 that water percolates through them slowly or not at all. 

 The rainfall then must either run off over the surface, 





