I08 FERNS IN THEIR HOMES AND OURS. 



last decoration Mr. Emerton is responsible. The 

 tiles in the jardiniere are supposed to have been 

 adorned by the lady-owner with a conventional 

 Sagittai'ia ; and the whole represents, in part, what 

 a true lover of flowers, who is also something of 

 an artist, has made of the living-room. 



Ferns are not often found under cultivation in 

 the dwelling-house. Their successful growth with- 

 out the protection of glass presents so many diffi- 

 culties, that efforts in this direction are not much 

 encouraged. They dislike dry air, dust, and gas ; 

 and therefore they do not flourish under the ordi- 

 nary circumstances of our houses. In rooms mod- 

 erately heated, where no gas escapes from stoves 

 or furnace, and especially where the pressure from 

 the gas-meter is not so great as to drive half- 

 consumed burning-gas into the air at evening, 

 many species may be made to do well in pots. 

 But little need be said regarding the management 

 of ferns grown in this way, besides repeating the 

 injunctions already given more than once con- 

 cerning good drainage, — water at the roots when 

 dry, sprinkling, and northern window, or partial 

 shade. 



PI. 21 is taken from an elegant Chinese stand 

 and jardiniere. It was originally designed for the 

 cultivation of bulbs, of which the Chinese are par- 

 ticularly fond, and with which they have marvel- 

 lous success. But, as a fernery, it is very beautiful ; 



