116 THE FERNS AND 



the house was a narrow border, in wHch many small ferns were- 

 planted, while above them, at a height of about 3 feet, was a single- 

 shelf with a row of potted ferns. The ground on the side of the 

 house next the wall was occupied by a larger bed, in which were 

 arranged a number of taller species, some handsome sub-arboreous 

 forms being furthest back. "When the weather was frosty, old sacks - 

 or pieces of matting were thrown over the roof, but no artificial heat 

 was employed. In this simply-constructed little house a large- 

 number of deUcate ferns, including species of Hymeixophyllum, 

 Trichonianes and Todea, Ghiclienia dichotoma, Lomaria nigra, 

 Ma/rattia fraxinea, and others, were growing in a most luxurious 

 manner. Of course, there is but little of external ornamentation in 

 such a house, yet how many a back-yard in some of the more crowded' 

 parts of our towns might thus be utilized and made to contribute to- 

 our pleasure as well as to our convenience. 



Ferns are very easily grown as pot plants, and a stand of a few 

 pots of well-grown Maiden-hairs and other hardy ferns makes an 

 elegant addition to a sitting-room. While, instead of the tawdry 

 wax or cloth flowers one sometimes sees in a drawing-room, 

 there is nothing more beautiful than a good patch of Hymen- 

 ophyllum pulcherrinium, or TricJwmanes reniforme, growing in a 

 pot or vase tinder a glass shade. In potting ferns, too gi-eat 

 depth should be avoided, and the bottom should have a few 

 "crocks," or broken materials, covered with a few fragments 

 of peat for drainage. Creeping ferns, such as some Adiantums- 

 and GleicJienias, grow best in shallow pots which are wider than 

 they are deep. 



Club mosses are not very often cultivated, owing to the difficulty 

 of getting them to grow ; but some species may be grown along with 

 ferns. The beautiful Lycopodiuni voluhile and other creeping species 

 are easily enough propagated by layering. Thus, if a shallow pot be 

 placed on the ground alongside one of these plants, and a good branch 

 be pegged down to the soil, roots will be developed at the point of 

 contact ; and when these are well established, the connection with 

 the parent plant is severed by a sharp knife. All ferns, also, with 

 creeping rhizomes may be similarly propagated. Isoetes, Pilularia 

 and Azolla require for their growth an aquarium jar or artificial pond. 



