CULTIVATION OF FERNS. 31 



roots. Pots to contain ferns should always be carefully cleaned inside ; and earthen- 

 ware ones should be soaked in water just before being used, as unless this is done, the 

 dry pot sucks the moisture from the ball of earth and dries up the roots. 



Another great mistake that people make is in respeft of watering ferns. They 

 think that if they give the plants a little water every day they are doing all that is 

 necessary. The effeft is that they just keep the top surface of the soil moist while all 

 below is quite dry : and as the roots of the fern, not being able to spread laterally, are 

 forced to descend towards the bottom of the pot, their soft furry ends are in contaft 

 with the dry earth and sides of the pot, and so the plant dies for want of water, while 

 the surface of the mould in the pot is quite wet ; since the upper and older portion of 

 the roots seems to lose the power of imbibing moisture. Besides this, when the earth 

 becomes dry it contracts, and leaves a space between it and the side of the pot ; so 

 that the water runs down without really wetting the earth. This is particularly the 

 case with the ordinary porous flower-pots, the evaporation from the surface of which, 

 in dry weather, is enormous. I have almost discontinued using such pots ; and grow 

 my" ferns in zinc pots, as there is no evaporation from these and the plants do not 

 require more than a quarter the water that they would do in porous-ware pots. My 

 pots, too, instead of a hole in the bottom, have the bottom made as a loose disc of 

 zinc, resting on an edge turned in, in the same way as cake-tins are made. This 

 greatly facilitates the shifting of the plants into larger pots ; as by pressing the loose 

 bottom upwards, the whole ball of earth comes out in an unbroken lump, instead of 

 being shaken to pieces by turning the pot upside down and knocking its edge to loosen 

 the earth. In fact, the earth can at any time be thus taken out, to see if the roots 

 have reached the bottom of the pot, so as to necessitate removal to a larger pot ; and 

 if they have not done so, the whole can be dropped back into the pot again. In the 

 old style of pots, one had to wait till the roots began to come through the hole at the 

 bottom ; and if this was not noticed direftly it occurred, the roots were very liable to 

 get injured, in dragging them back through the hole, preparatory to repotting the plant. 

 It is of the utmost importance not to injure the roots of a fern. I have seen an 

 ignorant gardener tear off the roots that were growing through the hole in the bottom 

 of the pot ; a proceeding which would stop the plant's growth for, at least, six months. 

 Pots to hold swamp ferns have their bottoms soldered in, and some small holes 

 punched two or three inches below the top of the pot. The earth, up to the level of 

 these, is kept thoroughly saturated with water ; and thus the natural conditions of the 

 fern's growth are fulfilled. Zinc pots, too, have the further greater advantages of 

 lightness and not being liable to break. Glazed earthenware pots are also good and 

 are more presentable for being brought into a sitting room occasionally, but they are 

 heavy, and liable to break with a blow or fall. Where earthenware pots are used, one 

 has to choose between keeping them standing in water, in which case the mould within 



