46 The Fern Garden, 



It is important in choosing fern shades of this de- 

 scription to see that the glass dome fits loosely in the 

 pan which accompanies it. One of our shades, which 

 was a tight fit, was one day removed into a sunny 

 window for a few hours to make room for some domestic 

 operations. The sun heated the air within the shade, 

 the expanded air had no means to escape, and it burst 

 the shade with a loud explosion into a multitude of 

 fragments. A guinea's worth of glass was thus lost in 

 a moment, and a collection of Selaginellas placed in 

 jeopardy through neglect of this precaution. 



Success in these matters often turns on points of 

 management that appears trifling; let me, therefore, 

 describe the process of planting a fern shade. If in- 

 tended for a winter ornament, it should be planted in 

 July or August, that the ferns may be established 

 before the decline of the season, and if they are ever- 

 green kinds they will have plenty of time to throw up 

 an abundance of fine fronds, which the liberal supply 

 of water from below, with regular ventilation, will 

 render luxurious and beautiful; and before winter 

 comes, the excess of moisture will be gone, but the soil 

 will hold enough to render watering almost unnecessary 

 until spring. In a large pan — say, six inches depth — 

 lay down two and a half inches of broken flower- 

 pots or cinders of the size of walnuts; on this lay 

 a thin coating of half-decayed moss or sphagnum. 

 Fresh green moss is apt to go sour or breed fungi, and 

 therefore it is preferable if it has been for some time 

 exposed to the action of moisture. Fill up to the level 

 of the rim with a mixture of turfy peat, small broken 



