Gardening for Amateurs 



827 



Common Polypody (Polypodium vulgare). 



Fern under favourable conditions in swampy 

 ground attains a height of 6 feet to 10 feet. 

 .The number of varieties is immense. Take, 

 as an example, the Lady Fern, the list of 

 which comprises about one hundred and 

 forty varieties. Many of these are " sports ?? 

 or natural variations which have been found 

 growing wild by fern lovers ; others are varia- 

 tions which have occurred under cultivation, 

 generally through the raising of sporlings or 

 fern seedlings. 



Raising Hardy Ferns from spores, which 

 are the equivalent of seeds, is a comparatively 

 simple matter. The spores 

 are found in what are 

 known as sori (spore cases) 

 on the back of some of 

 the fronds. These, when 

 ripe, burst and disperse 

 the spores, and just before 

 this occurs is the best 

 time to collect and place 

 the spores in paper bags 

 to dry. To prevent other 

 seedlings developing on 

 soil used for sowing fern 

 spores, it is desirable to 

 bake the soil to a red 

 heat before it is used. 

 Fill pots three parts fuU 

 of broken crocks ; on these 

 place a layer of light, 

 sifted soil, and sow the 

 spores. Use 4- or 5-inch 

 pots ; stand these in 



saucers kept filled with water, and 

 place over each a piece of glass. 

 Place the pots in a moist, shady part 

 of the greenhouse or in a shady cold 

 frame. For preference sow the spores 

 from January to April. When large 

 enough, prick off the sporlings (seed- 

 lings) into other pots or boxes, and 

 grow on in the usual way in a moist 

 cold frame until the plants are large 

 enough to plant outside. 



In many gardens considerable space 

 is already given to hardy ferns, but 

 unfortunately comparatively little 

 attention is paid to growing a re- 

 presentative collection of the best 

 varieties, all or nearly all of them 

 being the Common Male Fern and the 

 Soft Shield Fern. This is to be regretted, 

 for the choicest varieties are, as a rule, as 

 easy to grow as the common sorts, and are 

 infinitely more beautiful. When making a 

 selection of varieties the evergreen kinds 

 should be well represented, so that when 

 the Lady Ferns, Male Ferns, and others of a 

 deciduous character die down in autumn, 

 the rockery or ground will not look unduly 

 bare in winter. To be able readily to supply 

 their customers, nurserymen who specialise 

 in hardy ferns grow most of the specimens 

 in pots, with the result that they can be 



Scale Fern (Ceterach officinarum). 



