The Fern Garden, 



CHAPTER X. 



THE ART OF MULTIPLYING TERNS. 



HERE are two modes of increasing ferns — by 

 division and by spores. Both plans are easy 

 enough, up to a certain point, but we need not 

 trouble ourselves about the point at which serious diffi- 

 culty commences, for in truth no beginner should be 

 troubled on that score. I will suppose you have a large 

 plant of the common Male fern (Lastrea filix mas) or of 

 the common Hartstongue (Scolopendrium vulgare), and 

 you wish to make more of it at once. The best time to 

 operate is when the fronds are just rising in the spring, 

 but it may be done at any time if proper care be taken. 

 We take the plant out of its pot, or lift it out of the 

 ground by means of a fork or trowel, and lay it on a 

 board or table. Probably at a glance you will discover 

 that a number of distinct crowns, each with a tuft of 

 roots attached, may be easily removed from the outside 

 by the use of a strong sharp knife. Separate such 

 offsets, carefully disentangle their roots from the mass, 

 and at once pot them in very small pots in the sort of 

 mixture already advised for use in growing pot ferns in 

 Chapter VI. Prepare the pots by putting in them 

 plenty of small crocks for drainage, over them a thin 

 wisp of dry moss, or a bit of fibre torn from the peat, 



