CHAPTER X 

 JLrial Fern Culture 



A fern that requires no mundane soil 

 but subsists on air and water, is obliging 

 enough to rest when it suits our convenience 

 to have it rest, and which will spring into 

 active life again when we desire it to do so — 

 if we furnish water for the purpose — is indeed 

 a fern worth having. Such is a possibility 

 of the now popular fern ball, made from 

 the creeping aerial rootstock of the pretty 

 scaly hare's-foot (Davallia bullata). The 

 rhizomes branch freely and are pliable when 

 wet. They are deftly bound over wire 

 frames filled with sphagnum, into which 

 the rootlets are sent from the rootstock 

 and from which they draw the necessary 

 moisture. 



Balls are perhaps the most popular form, 

 I3S 



