FERNS AND LYCOPODS 385 



Preparing Soil for Fern Spores. The greatest hindrances to 

 raising Ferns from spores are the lower forms of plant life ever 

 present in the soil, and very often in the water. These consist of 

 Mosses, Liverworts and the various confervoid growths. Many of 

 them, owing to the favorable conditions presented, vegetate as 

 quickly as the spores of the Ferns and grow into a mass, choking 

 the prothallus in the first stages of growth. The only means of 

 getting around this difficulty lies in sterilizing the soil, or, at least, 

 that part of it on which the spores are to be sown; and this can only 

 be done safely by subjecting it to a temperature sufficiently high to 

 kill all plant organisms, by baking, steaming or boiling. The last 

 method will be the most available in the majority of cases. The 

 soil may be boiled for 15 or 20 minutes, and afterward poured into 

 wide flat boxes to dry. Shallow pans are the most convenient in 

 which to vegetate the spores; they should be well drained with 

 potsherds and these covered with a layer of sphagnum. The kind 

 of soil to be used is of little importance, provided it be porous and 

 free of vegetable organisms. Loam, leafmold and finely broken 

 brick, in equal parts, make an ideal mixture. Press it firmly and 

 give water always by sinking the pan up to the rim in a vessel con- 

 taining water. 



Gathering and Sowing Spores. Many failures in germinat- 

 ing some of the rarer kinds of Ferns may be set down to harvesting 

 the spores at the wrong time. They should always be gathered with 

 the aid of a hand magnifying glass, which will show when the cases 

 are about to burst. Cut off the entire frond, or as much as may be 

 ■wanted, and put between sheets of white paper to dry. In a day 

 or two the spores will have fallen from the frond; if not, a gentle 

 rubbing between the fingers will release them. They should then 

 be scattered on the surface of the soil in the pan, taking care to sow 

 very thinly, as they are very liable to dampen off when the prothalli 

 are too close together. Cover with a pane of glass and put the pan 

 in a shaded frame, or in a heavily shaded part of the greenhouse. 

 When the prothallus develops, and just as the first tiny leaves ap- 

 pear, the glass covers may be removed, to harden the seedlings a 

 little. A day or two after they may be pricked off into other pans 

 of soil, taking one small patch at a time on the end of a knife blade 

 and merely pressing them into a previously made cavity on the 

 surface of the soil. They may then be watered through a fine rose. 



Viviparous Ferns are those which develop bulbels along the 

 midribs or on the lateral branchlets of the fronds, thus providing a 



