Fern Collecting. 7 



with bell glasses or common hand lights, and sprinkle 

 them with water every evening, hut take care not to 

 make them very wet at the roots. They will soon 

 begin to grow. In the spring following you may plant 

 them in the fernery. 



Small ferns found growing on rocks and walls must 

 always be carefully dealt with. The little maidenhair 

 spleenwort will sometimes send its black wiry roots 

 quite through the substance of a nine- inch or fourteen- 

 inch wall, and to remove it with complete roots is then 

 quite out of the question. By loosening a portion of 

 its hold just below the crown of the plant, roots 

 may generally be obtained sufficient to enable it to 

 re-establish itself under cultivation. A strong chisel 

 and a hammer will be required in undertakings of this 

 sort, and it may be well to add a little discretion also, 

 especially as to extent to which walls — the property of 

 somebody — are to be injured for the sake of a tuft of 

 fern worth but a few pence, and of which specimens 

 may be obtained more easily by further search without 

 any necessity for the infliction of damage. Ferns found 

 growing on and amongst rocks should always, if possi- 

 ble, be obtained with portions of the rock to which they 

 are attached. If this cannot be accomplished, care- 

 fully tear the' plant from the rock in a way to injure 

 the roots as little as possible; good pieces will soon 

 emit roots and fronds if properly treated, especially if 

 kept moist by packing in moss or sphagnum from the 

 'first moment of obtaining the specimen. Allow me to 

 remark, further, that the passion for fern collecting has 

 in many instances been carried to a ridiculous excess 



