FEEN ALLIES OP NEW ZEALAND. 115 



necessary; and it is, besides, a difficult thing to do with the quantity 

 •of soil required. 



In planting your ferns, due regard must be had to the size to 

 which each species grows, so that each may be placed in the position 

 most suitable to it, and unnecessary crowding be avoided. In course 

 of time, some of the species may have spread so much, either by 

 their creeping rhizomes or by their scattered spores, as to endanger 

 the existence of less aggressive species. By the time this desirable 

 consummation has been reached, the cultivator will probably be 

 sufficiently experienced in fern-growing to require no advice in 

 dealing with his plants. But, in first planting, if species are being 

 dealt with which have an erect rootstock, and which root in the soil 

 -to some depth, the only care requisite is to avoid burying the crown. 

 Over-deep planting is usually an effective mode of extinguishing 

 ferns. For those creeping species which are usually epiphytal in 

 their growth, planting — in the ordinary sense of the word — ^is not 

 Advisable ; but the rhizome should be pegged down on the soU, which 

 must be kept somewhat moist till their roots have struck. 



In dry weather it may be necessary to supply water to your 

 ferns. This should be given in the morning, and applied to 

 the soil only, not wetting the leaves more than you can help. 

 It is a mistake to water any plants in the evening, as the rapid 

 ■evaporation which takes place if the sky is clear reduces the 

 temperature of the surface-soil and of the lower strata of air very 

 Tuaterially. 



For indoor cultivation, an ordinary lean-to greenhouse placed 

 against the south wall of a house is most suitable ; but as everyone 

 does not and cannot possess such a convenience, it is advisable to 

 show how an effective and inexpensive fei'n-house may be constructed. 

 One of the best collections of New Zealand ferns under cultivation 

 which the writer has seen was contained in a plain little house made 

 by the cultivator — who was no mechanic — and which cannot' have 

 cost more than £1 or <£2 in its construction. This consisted of 

 a small lean-to shed, about 5 ft. high in front and 8 ft. at the wall, 

 the frame of which was covered with weather-boarding. The roof 

 was formed of three or four old window-sashes, while the upper half 

 «of the door was also glazed. Along the floor on the lower side of 



