120 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



the spores, which should be scattered over them without any covering • 

 being put under a bell-glass, they should remain there until the growth is 

 sufficiently developed for pricking off, which is the next operation, and which 

 will be described presently. 



In case fibry loam is not procurable, it is best to sow in porous, shallow 

 pans, or in pots which have been partly filled with crocks covered with a 

 layer of either fibrous peat or sphagnum moss, the rest of the pan or pot 

 being filled to within half an inch of the rim with a mixture of peat, loam, 

 silver-sand, and soft brick broken very small ; the surface may be rendered 

 even by pressing it firmly with the bottom of another pot. This compost 

 possesses a great advantage over all others, as it has been conclusively 

 proved by many experiments undertaken by us, with a view to ascertaining 

 to what extent the nature of the material employed has influence upon the 

 germination of the spores, that while those of most species germinate on any 

 material of a naturally moist nature, there are certain kinds which germinate 

 only on either peat, crocks, or loam. When, therefore, it is not known 

 positively which of these materials is the most suitable, the mixture above 

 recommended gives the spores a fair chance of falling on the material for 

 which they have a predilection ; and we have frequently noticed that 

 in pots thus filled the seedlings have been found most numerous on either 

 peat or loam without any detriment to the young plants thus produced. 

 The soil should be watered with boiling water, and allowed to drain ; for 

 watering after the sowing, even with cold water, may result in the total 

 destruction of the spores. On account of their extreme minuteness, the 

 spores should be simply dropped on the surface of the soil, and afterwards 

 covered with a flat piece of glass. For the same reason, it is also 

 necessary, while sowing, to hold the paper which contains them very close 

 to the surface of the pots, as, being of so exceedingly light a nature, they 

 are very liable to fly in all directions except in the one which they are 

 desired to take. 



The watering of the pots or pans in which Fern spores are sown is an 

 operation of the utmost importance, and one which at all times requires great 

 tact, as it has been demonstrated, when dealing with Fertilisation, that it is 

 at a certain given time and through the agency of moisture, that the anthero- 

 zoids fulfil their function, resulting in the fecundation of the spore. Until 



