place from whicli our specimen has been taken, we should 

 carefully note the aspect and situation, as well as the kind of 

 soil in which it has been growing. Our future success in 

 making our fernery, and in stocking our Wardian oases, depends 

 entirely upon this. Some ferns, by their hardy nature, are 

 better suited for growing in the open air ; others, on the con- 

 trary, require to be raised in pots, or under a protective 

 covering of glass ; but it is not sufficient only to consider for 

 which of these purposes the fern we have removed may be best 

 adapted ; a fern that has been accustomed to shade cannot be 

 expected to thrive iu a flood of sunshine ; the stately Flowering 

 Fern will not flourish on the weU-drained summit of a rockery, 

 nor will the Limestone Polypody thrive in the marshy soil that 

 is so congenial to the former : we inust, therefore, in all cases 

 carefully mark the nature of the ground in. which our fern has 

 been growing, and all the pecuharities of its habitat, that the 

 position and character of the soil into which we are about to 

 move it may resemble them as closely as the artificial means at 

 our disposal wiU admit. 



Ferns may be propagated by seed as well as by removing a 

 portion of the rhizome with the crown, from which the frond 

 springs. The leaf should be allowed to dry, after which the 

 seed-vessels must be rubbed away from the back of the leaf, 

 where they will be found in every description of fern except 

 the OsrmmdacecB and the OpMoglossaeeoB. The seed may be 

 mixed with a little fine dry mould, and sprinkled over the 

 interstices of the rockwork, or it may be grown in pots filled 

 with peaty earth and covered with a handglass. The Ugh* 

 should be excluded in the latter case until the seed has begun 

 to germinate. 



We have now to inquire how we can grow our ferns to the 

 best advantage out of doors, and how we can rear them in- 

 doors. The fernery in the open air may be made in rockwork, 

 or consist of an open shed formed of rough trunks of trees set 

 up at the angles, with a trellissed roof of gnarled oak loppings 

 covered with creepers to exclude the sun's mid-day rays. 

 Within doors they must be reared in pots, or in close Wardian 

 cases. 



In constructing a fernery in the open air, we must b« guided 

 by circumstances to a very great extent. If we have an ample 

 piece of garden ground at our disposal, either the rockwork or 

 fern-shed may form an admirable means of masking some 

 unsightly corner ; but if we have only a small dark court 



