100 The Fern Garden. 



as to render the air of the house so dry that the fronds 

 ■will lose their freshness and health. 



Thousands of villas are now furnished with what are 

 called " conservatories/' which would answer admirably 

 for ferneries where they happen not to be exposed to 

 burning sunshine all the summer long. The sunniest 

 of these little glass annexes answer admirably for grape 

 vines and succulent plants, such as cactuses and eche- 

 verias ; the shady ones would answer admirably for 

 ferns, whether in pots or planted out in miniature 

 rockeries. 



In the management of greenhouse and stove ferns 

 the most important matter is to secure a suitable 

 temperature for each department or group of plants. 

 The greenhouse kinds require a temperature of 40° 

 to 50° all the winter, but from the middle of April 

 until the middle of October artificial heat may be dis- 

 pensed with altogether, unless the weather is excep- 

 tionally cold ; and stove ferns require a temperature 

 ranging from 60° in winter to 90° in summer. 



In every case the amount of moisture must be pro- 

 portioned to the temperature, the more heat the more 

 water, both above and below. When the plants are 

 growing freely the syringe should be used to produce a 

 fine shower over them once or twice a day, and water 

 should be sprinkled on the floor to cause an abundant 

 evaporation. They will also require plentiful supplies 

 of water at the roots. 



There is no large class of plants in cultivation for 

 which we may so safely give general cultural directions 

 as for ferns, yet certain kinds require exceptional treat- 



