Gold and Silver Ferns. 125 



■will sketch out a code in a very few words, begging the 

 reader to regard each word as pregnant with meaning, 

 each hint and direction as involving for the ferns issues 

 of life or death, as they may be observed, trifled with, 

 or ignored. The pots must never be larger than the 

 plants can soon fill with roots. They must be very 

 carefully drained by means of potsherds packed with 

 the greatest care. The soil should consist of good 

 fibrous peat and a large proportion of sharp siliceous 

 grit ; silver sand is almost too fine, but must be used if 

 nothing more granular is obtainable. The plants must 

 be potted firmly with the crowns well above the 

 surface. Thenceforward the temperature and the 

 degree of humidity are of the utmost importance. 

 Only a small proportion of all the gold and silver ferns 

 in cultivation require the heat of the stove, but not one 

 of them will endure a lower temperature than that of 

 the house it properly belongs to. Thus, there are many 

 stove ferns that thrive in a greenhouse, and many green- 

 house kinds that do well in an unheated house. But 

 it is not so with those before us ; they are not accom- 

 modating, they are exacting, and must be humoured to 

 their whim. As to moisture none of them will bear 

 much j to make them very wet is to put them in 

 jeopardy. But on the other hand to let them go dry is 

 certain death. The principal enemies that make war 

 against them as cultivated plants are imperfect drainage, 

 heavy soil, cold, damp, and drought. In no case should 

 the fronds be wetted by the use of the syringe. The 

 little that I have said compasses the whole subject, and 

 the observant cultivator, who is also diligent and con- 



