576 FERN 



is impure and full of the spores of low forms of plant 

 life, which are very destructive to the prothalli of 

 Ferns. To prevent this, the worksliu]. should be pro- 

 vided with a receptacle in which tin \\ .1!' 1 1 nn mli li for 

 use on Perns while in the prothiillii - ■ . Tuised 



to a boiling temperature, which \s 1 1 1 ' i.^troy 



all spores that may be present in iim ,,:n, t, I Ins is 

 best done by leading .1 1 inch .suam pipe lu within 6 

 inches of the bottom ..f tin- nre|itaele and turning on a 

 reasonable pressure ..f ^t. am. If lioiled 12 hours before 

 intended for use, it hIII 1..- m,,] enough to be applied, 

 and will be pure. .\ I', in \\..rkOH.|i sli.mld also be pro- 

 vided with a <lry <l"-<i. Ii ;;;j .p iiuinljer of shelves 

 about 12 inches apaii. I..t I - ,i..' 1>! 1 pcres. 



In beginning tin- ruli ii ■, ..i | . 



to purchase the spMi- s iVi.ni --111. ■ r. 

 makes Fern-growing a specialty, uuti 

 ber of stock plants can be grown to 

 home demand. Spores will do about equally well in pots 

 or pans. Pans 12 inches square and 4 inches deep 1 



flower ] 

 1% incl 

 ders fu 

 composed 1 



it is advisable 



ilile firm which 



sufficient num- 



jpply spores for 



also are the 6-inch common 

 pans should be supplied with 

 pots with .3 inches of coal cin- 

 for sowing spores on is best 

 proportions of two parts 



good garden soil, two parts of finely screened peat and 

 one of sharp, clean propagating sand. Leaf -mold may 

 be used instead of peat, if easier to procure. This soil 

 should be thoroughly sterilized, as already directed. The 

 spore pots should be filled with the soil to within M-inch 

 of the top; press firmly. The rest of the pots sliould 

 be filled with the same composition after it has been 

 passed through a screen of about fs-inch mesh, then 



fourth of a square inch being abundant to sow one 12- 

 inch pan. Spores should not be covered with soil. Im- 

 mediately after sowing, the sash of the propagatine frame 

 should be tightly closed and kept so until s)i(.ns show 

 signs of germination, when a sm.ill nninii:, ..f air 

 should be given and gradually incf the 



time the first small fronds have in.i - 1 ,. - : . m auce 

 they may have been sufficiently li.n-.b n-1 .K :- liave 

 the sash removed entirely. In sowine s]iores. great care 

 will be necessary to prevent them from getting mixed. 

 Fern spores being very minute and so light that the 

 slightest movement of air will carry them long dis- 

 tances. While sowing spores, all spore pots should be 

 kept tightly covered. Being kept in a very close 'and 

 humid atmosphere after sowing, the spores should not 

 require any watering for one or two weeks, by which 

 time they will have sufficiently settled not to' be dis- 

 lodged by a very gentle overhead watering, which 

 should be given whenever soil shows the least sign of 

 being dry. Sterilized water should be used until after 

 the first fronds have been formed. As soon as the first 

 little fronds have made their appearance, care should be 

 taken to weed out all undesirable varieties, which, even 

 with the very best of care, 

 will occasionally creep in. 

 A temperature of 65° F. 

 should be maintained in 

 the propagating house. 



As soon as the first little 

 fronds are evenly formed 

 all over the surface of the 

 pot, the little plants should 

 be transferred in clumps 

 of four or five plants each, 

 to well drained pans (Fig. 

 811) or boxes filled with 

 soil composed of one-half 

 rich garden soil and one- 

 half peat or leaf -mold, 

 finely screened. In transplanting, great care should be 

 exercised not to cover the remaining prothalli, but to 

 have them just level with the surface of the soil. The 

 clumps of plants should be kept as loose as possible, as 

 this will give each individual plantlet a better chance to 

 form the necessary number of rootlets, and it will, later 



■'U 



"TjT^f^^'VflP'" 



A Fern pan. 



FERN 



on, also be easier to separate the plants. Boxes for 

 transplanting Ferns are most convenient when i inches 

 deep, 14 inches wide and 22 inches long. These boxes 

 will hold alM.iti l'nii pi;ihi- placed about one inch apart. 

 As soon a^ ! i i: Ms liave formed two or three 



fronds ea'li. ■ ■- separated and transplanted 



singly into li •' - nmiMlv prepared as before, where 

 they may remain uutil suUiciently strong to be potted 

 into 2- or 2}i-iuch pots. 



Times of sowing Fern spores are the first weeks of 

 March, July and October. When making three sowings 

 a year, and allowing n siininienth- Inn^ertime for slower 

 growing varieties, a (..niini -Mi.i.lyof plants will be 



assured. In calcnlam : t sowing spores of 



commercial varieti. - I .. ill be helpful to di- 



vide them into two . Ii-. -, a- - .me varieties are con- 

 siderably slower of growtli and will consequently have 

 to be sown earlier, in order to be ready for sale at the 

 same time as the more rapid-growing ones. The follow- 

 ing popular commercial varieties will require from 9 to 

 10 months between times of sowing and potting. The 

 names are those which the plants bear in the trade: 



Adiantum cuiieatum, Doodia aspera multifida. 



'' " variegatum. " caudata, 



'_ " grandiceps, Doryopteris nobiiis 



[[ Bausei, Lastrea aristata, 



decorum, " " variegata, 



'[ Fergusonii. " chrysoloba, 



][ graclllimum, " opaca. 



'[ mundulum, " si.lK.Mii, 



Wiegandii, -r.uMl. ns, 



Cibotium Schiedii, X,|,hin,l 1,1,1 s, 



Cyathea niedullaris, " cnrdata compaeta, 



Cyrtoniium car>'otoidenm, Platyloma Bridgesii, 



'[ Fortunii, " falcata, 



falcatum, Polypodium aureum, 



Davalliatenuifoliastripta, " fraxinifolium, etc., 



Veitchiana. Polystichum c 

 Dicksonia(Balantium) ( 



tica, Pteris Victoria;, 



Doodia aspera, " Tremala Smithiana. 



The following trade varieties will develop into plants 

 large enough to be potted in about six months after 

 sowing spores: 



Adiantum pubescens, Pteris argyrsea, 



hispidulum, " Cretica albo-lineata, 



Alsophila australis, [', ',', magniflca, 

 Gymnogramma calomelanos, 

 chrysophyU 



decomposita, ., hastata, 

 Peruviana, adiantoides, 



sulphurea, 



intemata, 



Sieboldii, 



leptophyila 



Ouvrardii, 



palmata, 



serrulata, 



Nephrodium moUe corymbif- 

 Onychium Japonicum, 



It should also be borne in mind, when calculating time 

 of sowing, that spores sown in the autumn will require 

 about four weeks longer for development than those 

 sown at other times of the year. 



Fern spores are borne on the back or under side of 

 fronds. In some cases they are borne naked on under 

 surface of frond, while in others they are produced un- 

 der a scale-like membrane or indusiuni. In some cases, 

 as in Pteris, the edge of the pinuJB is folded back over 

 the spores, while in Adiantums a small part of the leaf- 

 let is folded back over each little fruit-dot to serve as a 

 shield or indusium. Davallias form a small sack-like re- 

 ceptacle at the extremity of the pinn£B. The proper time 

 of gathering spores is when they assume a light brown, 

 rather dry appearance, or in the indusium-bearing kinds 

 when the indusium or shield begins to open. Spores 

 should be gathered on a dark day when the fronds are 

 slightly moist, as they will be better retained in that 

 condition, and will not be so liable to get mixed when 

 disturbed. Fronds, or parts of them, should be cut off 

 entirely in most cases, put up in tight paper bags and 

 stored on shelves in a dry closet for a week, by which- 



