404 FERNS : BRITISH AND FOEEIGN. 



the same manner. Upon close examination however, 

 previously formed embryo buds are observable and 

 considering, too, its close affinity with the Asphniums, 

 the most proliferous (in the formation of bulbils) of 

 all Ferns, this cannot be wondered at. To propagate 

 Perns by the buds produced on their foliage is most 

 easy. As soon as the bulbil plants have attained a size 

 to be handled conveniently, they should be carefully 

 taken off and pricked out in pots filled with mode- 

 rately fine soil, and kept covered with a bell-glass till 

 thoroughly rooted, when they may be potted off in 

 single pots, as required. 



Species with long, slender, hard sarmentum, such 

 as Gleichenia, do not root readily when separated ; in- 

 deed, large plants have been entirely destroyed by too 

 free division of their sarmentum; to prevent this, layers 

 are resorted to, which is accomplished by fixing pro- 

 longing sarmentums over small pots filled with soil, 

 which, when well rooted, can be separated with safety, 

 and without injuring the specimen plant. Again, in 

 regard to the division Eremobrya, they are not only 

 remarkable in the sterility of their spores, but also in 

 not producing viviparous buds; however, the readiness 

 with which small portions of their rhizomes form 

 plants, and the already described tenacity of life, seem 

 to make them independent or to render less need of 

 perfect spores or bulbils. 



In concluding this treatise, I deem it necessary 

 to explain, that, in consequence of the woodcuts 

 occupying more space than was calculated for, and 

 in order to keep the book within a limited size, 

 it has become necessary to considerably reduce the 



original manuscript on Cultivation. It is, however 



1 



