CULTURAL DIRECTIONS. 



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and on some little mounds of turfy peat, covered with a layer of common 

 -green moss, which is kept growing, and in which they luxuriate. In this 

 structure, as in the warm Fernery, nooks and corners have heen so managed 

 as to make it appear much larger than it really is. The principal difference 

 between these two houses lies in the materials which have been employed in 

 the erection of the rockwork, and in the selection of the species particularly 

 adapted to each house. In the warm-house tufa has been exclusively 

 employed, whereas in the cool Fernery the principal part of the rockwork 

 is built of brick-burrs, and therefore does not possess such a light appear- 

 ance ; but in both cases the production of a natural and genial atmosphere 

 has been made dependent on the bulk of soil contained in the house when 

 compared with the quantity of rockery. The selection of the species for the 

 houses has, in both cases, received the same amount of consideration, and 

 this cool Fernery is planted with mostly evergreen kinds native of Japan, 

 Australia, and New Zealand, which in this cold Fernery have proved nearly 

 as hardy as our own British sorts. In this house, where the temperature 

 frequently falls below freezing-point, it is interesting to note how Ferns 

 from nearly all parts of the globe thrive together ; for, so far as the health 

 of the plants is concerned, there is really nothing to choose between the 

 giant Australian and New Zealand Tree-ferns and the Dicksonia (Balantium) 

 Culcita and Woodwardia radicans from Madeira, which, with the various 

 forms of Aspidium (Cyrtomdum), Nephrodium (Lastrea), and Pieris, from 

 Japan, Adiantum formosum, Todea arborea, &c, from Australia, and Asplenium 

 and Lomaria from Chili, form a most interesting group of plants. Here, again, 

 a treatment in all respects very similar to that recommended for the warm 

 Fernery is followed, with the exception of the watering, which, on account of 

 the temperature being cooler, is less abundant and less frequent. The com- 

 plete success obtained in the erection and management of both houses is all 

 the more remarkable when we consider the difficulties under which plants have 

 to be grown in the midst of a populous district, and subjected to the 

 pernicious effects of the London fogs, which are so detrimental to the culti- 

 vation of plants in general, and of Ferns in particular. 



The outdoor natural Fernery is, or should be, quite as interesting as the 

 warm- or the cool-houses devoted exclusively to these popular plants, and 

 should always form an attractive part of the garden ; for, if all Ferns are 



