338 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



Spore-Sowing and Propagation. Certainly the most in- 

 teresting way of increasing Ferns is by the spores, as in this 

 way there is always a chance of getting quite new things. 

 About July, generally speaking, the spores are brown and ripe, 

 and if we take a frond bearing spores and lay it on a sheet of 

 glazed white paper for an hour or two we shall see them shed 

 in great numbers, as a sort of brown stain on the paper. Fill 

 small pans or pots nearly full with fern compost, putting 

 some crocks in first for drainage, top this with a little crumbled 

 loam, place a piece of paper on top to prevent disturbance, and 

 pour boiling water upon it until it runs out of the bottom hot 

 enough to scald the ringer. Remove the paper and let the soil 

 cool. Now scatter the spores extremely thinly on the top, put 

 a piece of glass over, and place the pot or pan in a cool, damp, 

 shady corner where no worms can get into it. In a week or 

 two a green tint appears, and very soon this will become a 

 mass of small scales, like green herring scales. A little longer 

 and from these will arise tiny fronds which, if the sowing has 

 been thin enough, may be left to develop into larger Ferns, 

 which can then be pricked out and grown on. Hart's- 

 tongues, Lady Ferns, and Male Ferns are perhaps the easiest 

 to raise, and, of course, good varieties should be sown, 

 as there is no advantage in raising common ones. Estab- 

 lished Ferns can be multiplied in several ways. Many form 

 crowns from which the fronds arise shuttlecock fashion ; in 

 time these crowns split and form twins, or other crowns ap- 

 pear on the side. Each crown is really an independent plant, 

 and can be pulled away, or carefully cut off, and treated as 

 such. Some have creeping roots, such as the Polypodies, 

 which run about in all directions ; every growing tip if cut off 

 with an inch or so of fleshy roots and a frond or two will form 

 a plant. Others, like some of the Shield Ferns, bear little 

 plants on their fronds, and in that case the frond should be 

 cut off, and the part bearing the young ones severed and 

 pegged down on good soil, when they will root in, and can, 

 later on, be parted and potted. Finally, all Shuttlecock Ferns 

 grow better and stronger if kept to one crown, and hence 

 when other crowns appear they should be taken off. 



BEST VARIETIES 



Having now given a general idea of how Ferns should be 

 treated, a short list of those worthy of attention, and such 

 as a beginner may safely start with at little cost, will be useful. 



