24 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS. 



to be taking place, the supply should be withheld for a time. 

 A shady situation, under the influence of a temperature 

 proper for the individual kinds, should be selected for these 

 nursery pots. 



When all is in readiness, the spores should be thinly 

 scattered over the rough surface of the soil, and the glass 

 cover at once put on. It is necessary to be somewhat careful 

 in the act of sowing, as the spores, from their lightness and 

 minuteness, are liable to be dispersed in the atmosphere, 

 instead of being lodged on the seed-bed prepared for them ; 

 from the same cause, they are apt to cling about the surface 

 of the paper even though it be glazed in which they may 

 have been enclosed. A bell-glass may be employed to cover 

 the soil after sowing, but we have been content to point out 

 the simplest means and materials by which the end in view 

 may be attained. 



A simple and convenient contrivance for sowing the 

 spores, by which the progress of germination might be very 

 readily watched, would consist in inverting a porous flower- 

 pot in a shallow dish or pan of water, large enough to take 

 also the rim of an enclosing bell-glass, which should cover 

 some surface of the water. A small cup or vase, set on the 

 top of the inverted pot, with two or three worsted siphons, 



