74 



FERN GROWING 



grass sod, and very slow on a peat surface. There is a 

 disadvantage, however, in the sod, as it is more apt to have 

 confervoid growth than is the case with peat. 



Mr. Harris, at the Clifton Zoological Gardens, is very 

 successful ; he uses large pans, and has a very coarse material 

 of leaf, loam, and broken crocks ; under a sheet of glass 

 this retains a sufficient amount of moisture for a long period. 

 For sowing very thickly (and this is the only way to produce 

 compound impregnation) the author prefers a more even 

 surface. 



EXPERIMENT NO. I. 



In 1 866 the following varieties of Adiantum Capillus- Veneris 

 were sown together — magnificum, incisum-Footii, Hookeri, 



Fig. 7. — CloHnda. Portion of frond. 



rotundatum, and Padleyi, and amongst the seedlings raised 

 are Clorinda (Fig. 7), nobile, Lowes, and admirabile (Fig. 8). 

 Clorinda shows the characters of Padleyi and incisum-Footh, 

 and admirabile that of incisum-Footii and Hookeri; Lowes 

 more nearly resembles Padleyi in its slender pinnules, but is 

 nearly two feet in length, and the fronds are not concave as in 

 Padleyi ; nobile is a modified form of admirabile. This same 



