70 FERNS 



ferns of larger growth, and, when glorified by 

 a birch-bark cover, are really artistic. An 

 attractive arrangement is a regularly made 

 basket mounted on a tripod of white birch 

 saplings, the bark carefully selected in order 

 to avoid cracks or flaws, for the presence of 

 either means leakage. 



THE PROBLEM OF DRAINAGE 



House-grown ferns quickly resent imper- 

 fect drainage. Even ferns which grow in 

 swampy lowlands will not thrive in stagnant 

 water or sour soil. Broken crocks or other 

 porous matter will answer for drainage in 

 the punctured flower pot, but sphagnum or 

 other waste moss should be lavishly used 

 in all others to take up superfluous water 

 which cannot be drained out. Glass fern 

 dishes are preferable to all others, because 

 such dishes lined with a sheet of moss over 

 an inch of pebbles are most artistic. The 

 moss keeps the soil inside from working 

 down, and the pebbles quickly show an over- 



