54 



The Fern Garden. 



quantity of water so as to fill the ends as well as the 

 bottom, a maximum of heat would be obtained. Now, 

 to fill this reservoir need not be so ridiculous an affair 

 as it is at present ; my idea of the matter is to have a 

 whole side of the wooden frame removable at a touch, 

 so that we could get to the reservoir and fill it with as 

 much ease as one might fill a washing-tub. I have 

 shown a removable portion only of the end C. I must 

 leave it to the imagination of the inventive reader to 

 work out this point, confident that he will have no 



A, trough containing soil for ferns ; B, reservoir for hot water ; C, 

 opening for filling reservoir; D, air pipe; E, tap to draw off water 

 from reservoir j F, tap to draw off drainage water from soil ; G, stratum 

 of crocks for drainage. 



difficulty in opening the side of the case so as to pour 

 water into the reservoir with some speed from a large 

 can, instead of dribbling it in as now in a way that 

 suggests that fern-growers ought to live for ever if only 

 for the sake of keeping their cases warm. The pipe, F, 



