■October -ji, 



•] 



Garden and Forest. 



427 



I would recommend spring and autumn as the best times to 

 sow most varieties of Fern spores — those sown in tlie early 

 fall will make plants for spring and summer sales, while the 

 spring sowing will make stock for fall and winter. Some 

 rapid growing kinds, such as Pfen's fremula, shonlil be allowed 

 two or three months' less time, otherwise thev will become 

 too large for use. The soil used should be about three parts 

 peat or leaf mould, two parts loam and one of sand; this 

 should be sifted fine and then baked, so as to destroy anv 

 insects or other seeds that are sure to be in the soil, which, if 

 allowed to grow, would soon crowd out the minute Fern 

 plants. 



Shallow pans, six inches square and two inches deep, are 

 preferable to anything else. When the time for sowing ar- 

 rives, the |ians should be prepared liy placing a thin layer oi 

 broken pots or charcoal in the liottom for drainage. They 

 should then Ije filled with the prepared soil and the surface 

 pressed firm and even. After thorousjhly saturating the soil 



close for a week or so after being potted and should never be 

 allowed to become dry. After this first potting I use soil of 

 about two parts peat, three parts loam and one of sand. It is 

 not sifted now, but thoroughly mi.xed and chopped sufliciently 

 fine for use. A certain portion of peat is preferable, yet when 

 this cannot easily be procured, light fibrous loam and sand 

 will answer very well ; when Ferns are wanted for the fronds, 

 it is really better tliau lighter soil. The frorxls will be harder 

 and keep better after Ijeing cut. 



When once established in thumb pots the Ferns are com- 

 paratively safe, and tlie care is merely a matter of potting on 

 as larger plants are required. Starving for want of a larger 

 pot will seldom kill them ; they can be kept a long time, if . 

 necessary, in this condition, and then, if shifted'on, will 

 start ahead immediately and make the best kind of stock in a 

 very short time. 



Established plants should be allowed plenty of fresh air and 

 water when the weather will permit, keeping the houses well 





SX^fe« 





The Charles River at Wellesley.— See pa^e 422. 





with water the spores must be lightly dusted over the surface. 

 This one watering before sowing will generally be sufficient 

 until the green scum, denoting the first stage of growth, ap- 

 pears, especially if the pans are placed an inch or so apart in 

 the rows, so as to leave space for watering between. Water- 

 ing overhead should not be practiced if it can be avoided 

 during the earlier stage of growth. After planting the pans 

 are arranged in a close, well shaded frame. They should be 

 kept close until the pan is covered with the mossy looking 

 growth, the sash being raised only a little every day to permh 

 a change of air. If the weather should be wet and hot, more 

 air should be admitted; fungus and damp must he prevented, 

 if possible, and, as growth advances, more air should be 

 admitted until the time arrives when it will be necessary to 

 close the sash only during the sunny and dry part of the day, 

 and then only partly. The plants must never be allowed to 

 get dry, but should lie kept moist, although not too wet. 

 When large enough, my custom is to transplant small clumps 

 into other pans. This is done as a precaution against damp 

 and fungus; when crowded together they will damp off very 

 easily, and, Ijesides this, many plants will be crowded out. 

 The transplanting causes some trouble, but it pays, for, when 

 less crowded, the young Ferns make much better headwav. 

 When sufficiently rooted, individual plants should be sepa- 

 rated and transplanted again into pans and should be left 

 there until well enough rooted to pot off into thuml) pots. 



For the first potting the soil should be about the same as 

 that prepared for the seed. The young plants should be Icept 



shaded din-in!.j tlie warm months of the year. In winter much 

 less water and no shading is required. If kept loo close and 

 dark, then the condensation of the moisture in tiie house will 

 cause the foliage to damp. 



This applies only to those easily cultivated varieties of Ferns 

 that are grown in large quantities to supply the store trade. 

 Some of the choicer kinds — those that can only be propa- 

 gated l:)y division, for instance — require far more careful hand- 

 ling. 



Adap ted fioni an addl-ess at the Florists' Convention, byC. D.Ball, Hoiinesbin>;. P.i. 



Herbaceous Plants in Frames. 



AMONG what are known and grown as hardy herbaceous 

 perennials are many kinds of plants that had better be 

 wintered in cold-frames than trusted to the uncertainties of 

 the weather in open borders. Some of these, for instance 

 Lobelia fulgcns and renistemon Har/uu-gi, are not quite 

 hardy here ; others, as HcUclwrus nigcr and Cyclaiiioi liuro- 

 pauin, although hardy enough, can only be enioyed when 

 grown under cover of houses or frames where we can have 

 their blossoms clean and perfect ; and although Aui-inonr 

 Japonica and Vcyhi'na vcnosa can be mulched with sufficient 

 care to protect them from any injury fiy frost, it is much less 

 trouble to lift the roots that are needed and save them in a 

 cold-frame. Tritomas and Pampas Grass, too, may be 

 mulched with dry Oak leaves deep enough to e.vclude anv 

 frost from the soil; Ijut here again there is a danger that 

 water may collect around the crowns of the plants and rot 



