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shady forests closely surrounded by other forms of vege- 

 tation whilst others are only found growing on the hare 

 stems of tall trees full exposed to wind and sun. Again 

 many grow on cool dripping moss-covered rocks and others 

 in running mountain streams. Several are found growing 

 in the mud of swamps and tidal rivers and in the sand of 

 the sea shores. 



The richest localities for Ferns are the wet denselv 

 wooded hills at altitudes of from 1000 ft. to 5000 ft., hut the 

 damp rockey forests of the plains are also very rich. Epi- 

 phytic species are very abundant often entirely covering 

 the stems and branches of trees, especially at high altitudes. 



Ferns for the purposes of cultivation are generally 

 divided into groups of sections as follows: — 



(1) Tree Ferns, (2) Gigantic non-arborescent Ferns 

 (3) Small growing Ferns, (4) Ferns with tinted or colour- 

 ed fronds, (5) Variegated and crested Ferns, (6) Gold and 

 Silver Ferns, (7) Climbing and Trailing Ferns, (8) Filmy 

 or Transparent Ferns, and (9) Viviparous or Bulbil-bear- 

 ing Ferns. It will be impracticable to describe here the 

 cultivation of every genus referred to in the attached list. 

 The following general remarks on cultivation may, however, 

 prove sufficiently suggestive for the treatment of all. 



Cultivation. 



Propagation. — There are several ways in which Ferns 

 can be reproduced, by spores, by division of crowns, by 

 dividing the rhizomes or creeping stems, or by the bulbils 

 produced on the fronds of several species. 



The most natural and therefore the commonest way 

 of reproduction is by means of their spores. These are 

 blown about by the wind and in this country young plants 

 iiro found in great profusion growing in all sorts of unlikely 

 places, on the walls and wood work of houses and even on 

 the tiles of the roofs, and on trees and stones. Ferns are 

 generally the first plants to make their appearance on newly 

 cleared ground. 



The details of propagation by spores nor the peculiar 

 manner of fertilization need-not be gone into here. Suffice 

 it to say that in the tropics Ferns reproduce themselves by 

 spores very readily and rapidly and all that is generally 

 necessary to ensure a good crop of plants is to collect the 

 spores and scatter them over a damp wall or tree trunk in 

 some shady corner of the garden. 



Some Ferns like the popular and handsome Adiantum 

 tenerum var; " Farley ense," being sterile, do not produce 



