GYMNOGRAMMA LEPTOPHYLLA. 19 



It seems to delight where the liverwort f MarchantiaJ grows, 

 on exposed damp banks. 



The above Fern is an annual, therefore the cultivator is com- 

 pelled to raise it year by year from spores. If cultivated in 

 light loam, using plenty of fine washed sand, and kept moist by 

 means of a bell glass, it may be grown with success. I have 

 adopted the plan of growing the Marcliantia all round the 

 plants, and this arrangement suits other species, especially those 

 having a creeping rhizoma — Struthiopteris Germanica, Lomaria 

 spicant, and Polypodium phegopteris flourish amongst liverwort 

 and the wood sorrel, f Oxalis acetosellaj but this latter must 

 be kept within bounds, or it would soon take possession of a 

 whole Fernery, to the exclusion of the more delicate and dwarfer 

 species. 



As some of the finest Ferns can only be propagated from 

 spores, and this applies to the annual species and to many of 

 those which have an upright rhizoma, it appears desirable to 

 point out the best way of raising them from seed. The follow- 

 ing method answers remarkably well: — a seed saucer is filled 

 within an inch of the top with drainage, upon this is a layer 

 of sphagnum moss, above which is a mixture of loam, leaf-soil, 

 and broken sphagnum, with plenty of sand; the sphagnum to 

 mix with the soil must be perfectly dry, for it should be 

 broken into small pieces by rubbing between the hands. When 

 the pan is prepared, let it be well watered, and left for several 

 hours before the spores are sown. After the spores are scat- 

 tered on the surface of the soil, a hand glass must be placed 

 over the saucer, and the air excluded by tightly packing out- 

 side the base of the glass with wet sphagnum. If managed 

 in this manner, the spores will not require watering for a 

 considerable time; and this is a great advantage, for watering 

 is not desirable if it can be avoided; however, the soil must not 

 be allowed to become dry. If the spores have been rubbed 

 from off a fresh frond they will be almost certain to grow. 

 Some species are several months before they germinate. It is 

 also desirable to j)lace, in a shady situation in the Fern-house, 

 a board, on which is a layer of clay about half an inch thick; 

 the Fern seeds which are flying about the hot-houses, will 

 germinate from time to time on this board, without any trouble 

 whatever. This will be found extremely useful to the cultivator, 



