366 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



Fig. 157.— A Boston Fern. The "Boston" which replaced the Sword Fern 

 (Nephrolepis exaliaia) over twenty years ago has held first place ever since. New 

 sports come and go, but the Boston stays and hundreds of thousands are grown 

 in all sections of the country. Yet there are times each year when certain sizes 



are hard to get 



as those who can devote whole houses to them. He will make more 

 money purchasing what he needs and pushing the selling end. 



Bostons once infected with scale or white fly even though cured 

 of their troubles, plants subjected to a house too dry, too shady or 

 not warm enough, or those in pots with poor drainage, soon take 

 on a sickly look. This holds good with aU varieties, not only the 

 Bostons, but the many beautiful sports, such as Nephrolepis 

 elegantissima, N. Smithii, N. Harrisii, N. Roosevelt, N. Teddy Jr., 

 N. Whitmanii, N. Verona, N. Wanamaker, N. Macawii, N. Scottii 

 (or the crested form of Teddy Jr.) and N. Victoria. 



Table Ferns 



Under table ferns the florist classes such varieties as are mostly 

 used in the filUng of fern dishes. As with Asparagus plumosus and 

 A. nanus, so with these table ferns — every retail grower should al- 

 ways carry a gpod stock of them from early Fall until late Spring. 



