FERN GROWING i6i 



fit a framework and glass lights, and if the soil is porous, have 

 a concrete bottom extending several inches up the sides so as 

 to hold water ; use large shallow pans filled with broken rock, 

 and a surface of a couple of inches of peat and sand, to 

 grow the plants ; fasten them down to the soil, and in course 

 of time they will spread their rhizomas both on the surface of 

 the pans and all round the outside ; these pans should stand in 

 a saucer of water, and the whole placed on a large inverted 

 flower-pan ; water frequently with a watering-can or a small 

 rose, and cover the glass with Willesden scrim, and in frosty 

 weather throw two or three thicknesses of mats over the 

 lights, and no further protection is necessary. The author 

 has some splendid specimens that were potted more than 

 forty years ago and never since disturbed. 



Todea superba and Todea peUucida do well in this pit, as 

 also the Hymenophyllums ; the latter, if tied with wire on the 

 outside of inverted flower-pans, will require no further help. 

 The sides of the pit which the author has, have become covered 

 with self-sown Ferns, amongst which are young plants of the 

 Todea pellucida. 



Nephrodium montanum is found from the sea-level to a con- 

 siderable elevation. Both this and LoMaria Spicant are difficult 

 of cultivation in a limestone district ; they require much water 

 and a total absence of lime ; a mixture of cold stiff clay and 

 decaying leaves suits them well. 



Nephrodium Filix-mas, N. ialeaceum, N. abbreviatum, 

 Asplenium, Filix-foemina, Aspidium annulare, and A. aculea- 

 tum are all easily grown ; they require a mixture of heavy 

 loam and decaying leaves, with abundance of space between 

 the plants in order to produce good specimens. It is advis- 

 able to cover all the Fern-beds with a liberal supply of leaf 

 mould every winter ; it prevents the frost freezing the ground 

 hard, and is a fertiliser in the spring. 



Nephrodium, Filix-mas, N. paleaceum, and N. abbreviatum 



