FERNS. 



93 



The exotic Ferns are best adapted for house cul- 

 tivation ; but some of our native species, with 

 proper management, will thrive in cool rooms, and 

 in Ferneries they do quite as well as the foreign 

 varieties. Select small species, remove them care- 

 fully with earth enough for future growth, disturb- 

 ing the roots as little as possible. Make their soil 

 firm, keep them in a cool shady, airy location, water 

 plentifully and they will flourish as in the quiet 

 nooks of their native woods. They appear to a fine 

 advantage arranged in a rockery. One is easily 

 made with a wooden bowl or any shallow vessel. 

 Place first a layer of charcoal and pebbles, then a 

 bed of leaf-mold, on this a mound of odd-shaped 

 rocks, filling in the interstices with leaf-mold, in 

 which firmly plant the Ferns, a tall-growing one in 

 the center. Around the edge set Sedum or some 

 trailing shade-loving plants. 



A few of those varieties best adapted for house 

 cultivation outside the Fernery are given. 



VARIETIES. 



Adiantum Affine, a delicate Fern from New Zealand, easily 

 grown. 



Adiantum Cuneatum, a beautiful Brazilian species, propagated 

 so readily from spores, that young plants often come up in adjacent 

 pots. 



Adiantum Pedatnm, the native Maiden-hair Fern. 



Adiantum CapiUns Veneris ■, the English Maiden-hair Fern. 



Blechnum Brazilienese, a large, coarse, but handsome Fern. 



Lygodium Scandens, a climbing Fern from the East Indies, 

 growing rapidly like Smilax, as easily cultivated and used for 

 similar .decorative purposes, climbing, when supported by strings 



