128 The Fern Garden. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



TREE FERNS. 



j|REE ferns have been brought within the reach 

 of fern growers who happen not to be 

 millionaires, by the enterprise of trade col- 

 lectors, and may be purchased according to size, rarity, 

 &c, at from five guineas each and onwards. Those, 

 however, who would like to grow their own, and who 

 are blest with the needful patience, may obtain young 

 plants to begin with at from five to fifty shillings each. 

 There is much to be said in favour of purchasing young 

 plants ; they are extremely ornamental, and the green- 

 house kinds will thrive in the shady parts of a con- 

 servatory where scarcely anything else would grow. 

 If it is intended to embark in the purchase of fine 

 specimen tree ferns it will be important to consider 

 first the space available, for the spread of a fine 

 Dicksonia or Cyathea is considerable, and it is not good 

 for them to rub their fronds against the glass roof, 

 however carefully it may be shaded. 



There are no species of Alices more easy to cultivate 

 than such as are classed as "tree ferns." The soil 

 should be the best peat in a rough state, with but little 

 sand added; the addition, however, of sphagnum moss 



