Notes and Gleanings. 39 



quire much watering until they begin to root into the soil and grow freely ; and 

 then, when water is given them, it should be in sufficient quantity to go through 

 the entire mass of soil. During the autumn and winter months, they should be 

 kept in the warmest part of the greenhouse, where the temperature during the 

 winter should not be less than 50° by day, and not below 45° at night. 



As the days lengthen, and they get more sun, towards spring they will grow 

 rapidly, and will require almost daily attention in tying in the shoots : the plant 

 should also be turned round every two or three days, especially when grown on 

 balloon-shaped trellises, so that all may be well covered. Towards April, their 

 flowers will begin to expand : a little clear manure-water will then be very bene- 

 ficial to them two or three times a week. By the early part of May they will 

 begin to be pretty full of flowers, and should be removed to the conservatory, 

 where they will continue in great beauty for several weeks. 



As soon as the flowers begin to fade, the plants should be removed to the 

 warmest part of the greenhouse to mature their seeds properly. As the foliage 

 and stems show signs of decay, water must be gradually withheld ; and, when 

 the stems are quite dead, the tubers must be taken out of the pots, and placed 

 in dry sand until the following autumn. As seeds ripen freely, any quantity of 

 plants can by this means be obtained. I have had them come up as freely 

 as peas. I find the seeds germinate best when the pots are on the hot-water 

 pipes in a pine-pit. 



Gymnogramma chrysophylla {the Golden Fern) Culture. — This plant 

 requires a night temperature of not less than 55° in winter, and a moist atmos- 

 phere without the foliage being wetted. Old plants never do so well as those, 

 which, from being very small, are liberally treated until they become specimens, 

 after which they gradually decline. Take a small plant in, say, a four-and-a-half- 

 inch pot ; pot it at once into an eight-inch pot, draining the pot to one-fourth its 

 depth, and using a compost of old cocoa-nut refuse one-half, turfy yellow loam 

 one-fourth, and fibrous brown peat one-fourth, adding one-sixth of silver sand, 

 the whole well mixed and broken with a spade, but not sifted. Pot rather deeply, 

 but not so much so as to cover the crown. The plant should be set in the lightest 

 part of the house, have room on all sides, and be not more than eighteen inches 

 from the glass. The soil should be kept moist, but not wet, until the roots are 

 working freely ; and the temperature may range from 60° to 65° by night. By 

 day, it maybe 70° without sun, and from 80° to 85° with it, shade being afforded 

 from nine, a.m., to four, p.m., when the sky is clear ; but, when cloudy, do not shade 

 at all. No shade will be needed from October to April. The plant must al- 

 ways have the soil moist : but no water should be given until it is really needed ; 

 then afford a supply sufficient to show itself through the bottom of the pot. If 

 the plant grow as well as we expect, it will need a shift by the end of July, or 

 at latest by the third week in August, so that the pot may be filled with roots 

 before winter, as it will be in six weeks after potting if a ten-inch pot be given. 

 From this time, no more water should be given than is sufficient to prevent the 

 soil becoming dry ; and, if a sufficiently moist atmosphere be maintained, it will 

 winter safely in a temperature of 60° at night, and occasionally as low as 55°, or 

 even 50°; but this degree must be seldom reached. In March, give a shift into 



