55° THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



these, in the course of one season, produced perfectly healthy 

 and robust specimens. 



Materials on which to Sow. — Many ingenious and also more 

 or less intricate ways of sowing Fern spores have been 

 recommended, but it has been proved beyond doubt that, pro- 

 vided the materials used are perfectly free from fungus, 

 the simpler the operation is performed the more likely 

 is it to be successful. It is also well known to practical 

 growers that the spores of certain species germinate more 

 readily on one substance than on another; consequently, 

 when dealing with either a choice or a rare species, it is 

 advisable to vary the compost and sow on several materials 

 which may be either peat, loam, a mixture of both, or pieces' 

 of brick and sandstone broken small. From experiments under- 

 taken with a view to ascertaining to what extent the nature of the 

 material employed has influence upon the germination of the 

 spores, it has been invariably observed that the spores falling 

 on the substance for which they have a predilection have been 

 found to produce most numerous seedlings on either peat, loam, 

 or broken bricks, as the case may be. 



Mode of Sowing. — The most important point to be observed 

 in sowing spores of exotic Ferns is to insure a uniformly moist 

 atmosphere, combined with a temperature of from 7odeg. to 

 75deg., although many of .them will germinate in a much lower 

 temperature, but they will also be much longer in developing. 

 Spores of British and other hardy Ferns may be sown in an 

 ordinary greenhouse or in a cold frame, in which case the pots 

 or pans in which they are sown should be placed in some 

 damp, shady, but not dark, corner, and stood on either a tile 

 or a slate, so as to prevent worms from getting into them from 

 below. There is, however, a great and decided advantage in 

 submitting them to the same treatment as the exotic kinds, as 

 they germinate more rapidly and take less time in producing 

 young characteristic plants when sown in heat, although this is 

 not indispensable. 



It is immaterial whether the spores are sown in pots, in pans, 

 or in boxes ; this must be left to the discretion of the operator, 

 who will use that which he finds answers his purpose best ; but 

 unless very great quantities for one special kind are required, 

 it will be found that either 4^in. or 5m. pots are of quite 

 sufficient size, for if properly sown and carefully handled after- 

 wards, each one of these pots can accommodate thousands of 

 seedlings. After giving either pots or pans a good drainage, 

 which should be covered with a layer of either fibrous peat or 

 sphagnum, it is best to fill them half way with a compost 

 similar to that used for general potting, or with pure loam, leaving 

 sufficient space to allow for a layer, at least iin. thick, of the 

 composts recommended above, which should previously be either 



