CULTURAL DIRECTIONS. 



149 



place most likely to produce satisfactory results in their cultivation. In 

 Ferneries such as these, in which all specimens, large or small growers, are 

 planted out without any regard to regularity and symmetry, where they 

 are allowed, so to speak, to run wild, and by such means to simulate as 

 much as possible natural growth, each plant has the advantage of showing to 

 a greater perfection its peculiar characters. It is when under such conditions 

 that, through the intermixing of plants possessing broad and bold foliage with 

 others of totally different characters, a most pleasing contrast is produced, 

 and masses of vegetation remarkable for picturesque beauty are most effec- 

 tively formed. 



The formation of striking contrasts should be an object always kept in 

 view. Combinations of this sort can easily be effected by a judicious selection 

 of species of either totally different habits or distinct forms and colours. The 

 variety of tints observed in many Ferns is of the greatest value, and should 

 be carefully studied in the plantation of a natural Fernery, as it affords ample 

 and ready means for the production of very effective arrangements. In 

 grouping Ferns, symmetry should in all cases be carefully avoided, for their 

 being disposed in a formal manner does not add to their natural beauty. 

 Overcrowding is another evil which should be strictly avoided, as, when planted 

 thickly together, individuality is lost, and that is a point which, at the time 

 of planting, should receive special attention. Another advantage in connection 

 with the natural Fernery is that Ferns planted in rockwork require a great 

 deal less attention than those grown in pots, and if provided with suitable soil 

 at the outset they will, with the help of an occasional surfacing, flourish 

 for years, and attain a size considerably larger than when grown in pots. 



The successful building and planting of the natural Fernery either as 

 a cool or as a warm structure being dependent on similar principles, and 

 requiring the same attention, it is proposed here to treat the two simul- 

 taneously. In previous chapters attention has been called to the kinds adapted 

 to each structure. 



In the building of a natural Fernery the principal object is to secure, as 

 far as practicable, an equal amount of light for all the plants. It is necessary, 

 for the welfare of all subjects, that those planted at the lower part should 

 receive as much light as those on the higher part of the rockery, for the 

 foliage of the plants situated in the lower parts should be quite as fresh as 



