CULTIVATION, 347 



erect vernation, will be nearly level with the rim. The 

 soil should be carefully introduced, and made firm 

 round the sides by pressure of the firming-stick and a 

 few thumps of the pot (if easily handled) on the 

 potting-bench, if not, the stick must suffice ; a space 

 of about half an inch, more or less, according to the 

 size of the pot, should be allowed at the surface to 

 contain as much water as would moisten the whole 

 ball. 



The size of the plants will depend upon the amount 

 of space and the number of species in the collection. 

 For an amateur's collection in a small house, very fair 

 specimens may be grown in pots from eight to twelve 

 inches in diameter, after the shift into the largest-sized 

 pot, and with good management the plant will not 

 require any repotting for two or three years. By 

 that time the running and csespitose kinds, such as 

 Adiantum and Gleichenia, will have become exhausted 

 in the centre ; the ball will, therefore, require division 

 by passing a sharp knife through it, taking care not 

 to injure the young growths next the sides of the pot ; 

 the most healthy portions to be selected for repotting, 

 to become the new representative plant of the collec- 

 tion ; and, if proper care is taken, the fronds will 

 suffer but little injury. In operations of this kind, 

 some gardeners entirely shake out the soil, cut away 

 the whole of the fronds and roots, in order to make 

 the plant, they say, come up strong. This may not do 

 much injury to certain plants, such as bulbs, tubers, 

 fuchsias, and such-like plants that rest in winter ; but 

 for Ferns it is a great mistake ; it so weakens the 

 plant that it takes a year or more to be worth looking 

 at, and, indeed, some never recover. In Adiantum 



