THE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



at any time, but those with smooth fronds are not so liable to be injured by sprinkling- 

 water on them. All through the growing season, supply those which are firmly 

 established in pots, pans, or tubs, with abundance of water, clear weak liquid manure 

 being also of great service, while the atmosphere should be kept in a moist condition 

 by means of syringing among the pots, and damping the walks whenever these are found 

 somewhat dry. For affording shade, movable blinds are preferable to a permanent 

 shading applied to the glass in the form of a pigment, and further, a judicious use of 

 blinds obviates the necessity for opening the ventilators very wide, many kinds of 

 ferns not liking exposure to currents of either cold or dry air. 



Greenhouse Feens. 



Properly treated, numbers of adiantums, aspleniums, gleichenias, nephrolepis, lomarias- 

 and pterises, may be successfully grown with ordinary greenhouse plants, or in regular 

 ferneries only sufficiently heated to exclude frost during the winter. Ferns in mixed 

 plant-houses ought to be arranged where they are well sheltered from cold winds, and 

 suitable kinds thrive in a genial temperature 45 c to 50° in March, rising to 55° to 60° 

 in the summer. When at rest during the winter the deciduous kinds should be kept 

 just moist at the roots, the evergreen species being watered whenever approaching 

 dryness. A moderate amount of shade ought to be given, much as advised in the case 

 of stove ferns. The choicer hardy or British ferns succeed admirably under greenhouse- 

 treatment. 



Filmy Feens. 



Of the many genera and species in cultivation few are more beautiful, interesting,, 

 and generally attractive than those known as Filmy Ferns. Among these, Todeas are 

 the grandest and most popular, the other principal genera being Hymenophyllum and 

 Trichomanes. They do not require a great amount of warmth, as they are found to 

 thrive better in a warm greenhouse temperature than they do in a stronger heat. 

 Abundance of moisture in the atmosphere is imperative. Unless the specimens are extra 

 large, the proper place for filmy ferns is a glazed case, or small plants may be grown 

 under bell-glasses, keeping these quite close. They are in a happy condition when the- 

 fronds sparkle with moisture condensed on them, as they must not be syringed. Filmy 

 ferns should also have special root treatment. Those with rhizomatous or creeping 

 stems ought to be placed on blocks of peat, or short lengths of dead-tree fern stems. 



