234 HOME AND GARDEN 



spores, and for the benefit of others I can hardly 

 do better than quote it m full. " Procure a bell-glass, 

 not too flat at the top, but so shaped that the 

 moisture within will trickle down the inner sides 

 and not fall in drops on the surfaces of the small 

 pots, for this would be certain destruction to the 

 young growth, causing mildew. Have a seed-pan of 

 such a size that the bell-glass goes in, leaving a little 

 space all roimc^ between the inner side of the pan and 

 the outer side of the glass. This space will be after- 

 wards packed with pieces of perfectly cleansed sponge 

 torn up. Small pots with good drainage, and filled 

 with soil made of loam, leaf-mould, sand, and small 

 fragments of charcoal, should be arranged in a circle 

 on some paved space. Pour quite boiling water 

 quickly into a fine-rosed watering-pot and well water 

 the earth in the small pots, throw a sheet of paper 

 over them and allow them to become stone-cold. The 

 boiling water destroys all the eggs of insects, confervse, 

 and other hindrances to growth. Having ready all 

 your small packets of Fern-spores, you may arrange 

 them so as to grow Athyrium and Scolopendrium to- 

 gether, or Polystichum and Athyrium or any such 

 mixture. By this means you can economise the room 

 in the small pots, and at once see the varieties show 

 themselves as they grow on. They will begin to show 

 after a few weeks, first as a sort of green inflorescence ; 

 this changes to small green half-transparent crumpled 

 cups, and finally the first small fronds show them- 



