148 FERN GROWING 



will be destroyed. A very fine rose must be used with the 

 watering-pot, so as to imitate a gentle shower; and whilst 

 in the prothalloid state, or when the first ft-ondlets are only 

 then appearing, if moisture is required it must be given through 

 a spray distributor. 



In potting off young Ferns into single small flower-pots, 

 it is an advantage to use cockle-shells or broken oyster-shells 

 with the drainage, and above this a thin layer of spent-hops : 

 when the roots reach these they begin to grow vigorously, 

 and they continue to receive this nourishment after removal 

 into larger pots. 



The labels for Ferns are of importance, from the sowing 

 of the spores to the mature plant. 



The author's practice with the spores has been to paint 

 the centre of the flat covering glasses white, and, whilst wet, 

 to write the name or names, and the date. If the seed-pan 

 contains three or four different varieties of spores, or mixed 

 spores, the glass is marked with these three or four divisions, 

 and the names of the spores contained in each, together with 

 a private number. 



For the ordinary Fernery label, various kinds have been 

 tried, and all but the one now adopted have been more or less 

 failures. When a label will only be legible for twelve months, 

 the readings having become illegible before the label itself 

 is decayed, all the work must be renewed each year, and, with 

 thousands of plants, this labour is very great. Three years ago 

 the author had labels made half-an-inch thick, an inch and a 

 half wide, and ten inches in length ; these were kept square at 

 the bottom, and made smooth. One half of the label received 

 three coats of white paint, and the other half was dipped in 

 boiling tar ; * when dry they were painted on one side, over 



* A creosote-mixture has been used lately, the base of the label being plunged 

 into it for a few hours, apparently with success. Recently the author has been 

 using iron labels one inch wide, and ten inches long, which are painted white, and 



