FERN CULTURE UNDER GLASSES 113 



nickel plates at each end of the pan are 

 screwed to the base of the end panels. By 

 removing these screws the entire top can 

 easily be lifted off. 



The zinc-lined pan is provided with a 

 faucet for drawing off superfluous water, 

 thus preventing the disastrous water-logged 

 condition from which ferns often suffer at 

 the hands of the inexperienced. 



Holes bored in the upper sides of the end 

 panels usually answer for ventilators, but 

 if these are insufficient to admit fresh air 

 the covers can be raised at will, as it is fur- 

 nished with small brass hinges. 



Nearly all of the woodwork is of curly 

 maple, beautiful in itself but a trifle obstreper- 

 ous under the plane; therefore other hard 

 woods are preferable. Here the physical 

 needs of the ferns call for the same prepara- 

 tion as elsewhere for drainage porous mat- 

 ter, sphagnum, leaf mould after which come 

 the ferns, wild flowers, lichens and mosses. 



Rocks may be introduced, filled or other- 

 wise; glades spanned by moss-grown logs are 



