296 



BEISTLE FEEN. 



The new habitat was a case, of a neat mahogany frame, glazed 

 on all sides, and having a deep tray of zinc ; its measurements 

 were three feet nine inches long, two feet six inches broad, and 

 three feet three inches high, having a depth of tray or receiver 

 ten inches. Height in the case he considered of much impor- 

 tance for the proper encouragement of growth. The zinc tray 

 was placed on a strong floor ; the mass of plants were laid in 

 soil similar to that above described, with the charcoal through- 

 out, having previously put as before the inverted flower-pots, 

 and the addition of cocoa-nut husks, so as in every way to 

 facilitate perfect drainage. It was of great importance to the 

 healthy growth of the plants to prevent any lodgment of mois- 

 ture in the mould, or any tendency to the mould souring from 

 undue excess or retention of moisture. To avoid this, he had 

 ]placed around the case a rim of zinc, and by judiciously placing 

 skeins of worsted the drainage was directed to a proper course, 

 and the water easily carried oS by means of a stop-cock, which 

 could be turned when necessary. Other most important mea- 

 sures were to regulate light and temperature. The case was 

 placed in a lobby, where it received only a subdued light, with 

 but partial rays of the sun through the medium of green glass, 

 and where the temperature was generally even throughout the 

 year, for the plants would not bear any degree of heat ; thus 

 moisture, an equable temperature, and a modulated light were 

 the essentials for effective growth. It would appear, when Mr. 

 Andrews had made the discovery of such splendid plants in 

 Kerry, that a shaded moist temperature was the delight of this 

 fern. The fronds in Mr. Callwell's case were not so large or 

 so fine as the specimens found by Mr. Andrews, but his was 

 a new station in Iveragh, and those he cultivated were from 

 Killarney. He should have mentioned, that in forming the 

 compost for the plants, he had raised a kind of mound towards 

 the centre of the case, that the plants might be better seen, 

 and now the entire case was filled and covered with the fronds. 

 In the winter of 1819 he suspended from the roof of the case a 

 block of wood, and to this he attached a plant, which had now 

 crept over the wood with its rhizomata, and was spreading its 

 roots in all directions." — Phytol. iv. 164.. 



