56 



THE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



active roots, afterwards keeping these alive by means of moisture supplied by the 

 syringe. Stems that do not survive importation may be utilised, either by having the 

 top scooped out and a free-growing drooping fern planted in it, or the stem may be 

 covered with small ferns, fastening them on with blocks of peat and wire. 



Basket Ferns. 



Several species of ferns of more or less scandent habit never display their charms so 

 effectively as when well grown in baskets suspended from the roofs of structures in 



which the atmosphere and tem- 

 perature are conducive to their 

 health. "Wire baskets are usually 

 employed, the sides being thickly 

 and firmly lined with moss for 

 holding the compost securely. 

 This may consist of a mixture of 

 turfy peat and loam, with broken 

 charcoal added. It should be 

 rather lumpy than otherwise, and 

 pressed down into a firm springy 

 mass when the plants are intro- 

 duced. Baskets are employed 

 from 18 inches to twice that 

 size in diameter. By the exer- 



Fig. 101. ADIANTUM CILIATTJM. 



cise of good judgment in water- 

 ing, guarding against giving too much at the first when the roots of the plants are few, 

 and taking care to supply sufficient when the soil is packed with them, splendid cultural 

 objects can be produced. The ordinary fronds of Goniophlebiums and Asplenium 

 longissimum often hang down to a length of 5 or 6 feet, while Adiantum lunulatum is 

 quaint by its twirling growths, bearing numerous fernlets ; and A. ciliatum (Fig. 101) 

 is elegant. Nephrolepis exaltata is a fine basket fern, and some of the adiantums form 

 elegant masses. The climbing fern Lygodium scandens (japonicum) is particularly 

 effective in baskets, some of the growths ascending spirally up the supports, while 

 others hang down in elegant profusion. A more complete selection will be given in a 



