SMILAX. 157 



is one of the best, as it can stand a dry room better than 

 most of them. A variety of the sword fern to which the 

 name of iV. exaltata Bostoniensis (Fig. 59) has been 

 given, has been recently introduced. It has a graceful 

 drooping habit and seems well adapted to house culture. 

 Of the more delicate and yet easily grown kinds are 

 Davallia Fijiensis, Onychium Japonicum, Microlepia 

 hirta cristata and the Gymnogrammes (gold and silver 

 ferns). 



8MILAX. 



This for many years has been, and, in fact, it is yet, 

 one of the most commonly grown and the most useful of 

 the plants used by the florist as "green." It is readily 

 grown from seed, which should be sown any time from 

 January to March, after soaking it for twenty-fours in 

 warm water. The seedlings should be potted off, and 

 as soon as they fill the thumb pot they should be shifted 

 to the three-inch size. With proper care, they should be 

 ready to plant out by June or July. While deep, raised 

 beds are often used for growing smilax, less constant 

 attention to watering will be required if it is grown in 

 solid beds. In the first case, five or six inches of rich 

 compost will be required, while for the latter it should 

 be at least eight inches deep. It is desirable that there 

 should be ten or twelve inches between the rows, and six 

 or seven between the plants. For the training of the 

 smilax, No. 14 galvanized wire should be stretched in 

 two lines above each row, one line being near the bed 

 and the other from six to ten feet higher. The green 

 twine, thread, silkalene, or other material, used for 

 training the smilax, should be fastened to these wires 

 above and below. As the shoots start into growth, they 

 should be trained up the proper strings, and they will 

 need frequent attention that none of them get astray. 

 Watering should, of course, not be neglected, and on 



