MARKET PLANTS,— FERNS. 



3<3 



sowing the spores. There is such keen competition that only strong, bushy plants find 

 favour with buyers. The best selling ferns are Asplenium biformc, Adiantum 

 cuneatum, Cyrtomium falcatum, Lomaria gibba, Nephrolepis exaltata, Phlebo- 

 dium aureum, Pteris cretica major, P. serrulata, P. s. cristata and compacta, P. tremula, 

 and P. Wimsetti. The prices at which these have to be sold varies from 5s. to 7s. per 

 dozen in 5-inch pots, the larger "Trems" (the market term for Pteris tremula), phle- 

 bodiums and nephrolepis, in 6-inch or larger pots, selling at 9s. to 12s. per dozen. A 

 market box of Pteris cretica is shown in Fig. 179. 



In what may be termed mixed nurseries, no attempt is made to raise all the ferns 

 required, the majority of proprietors buy small plants in stores, i.e., the boxes in which 

 the tiny sporeling plants are first pricked out an inch or two apart ; or else give 8s. to 

 10s. per 100 for small 

 plants in thumb pots and 

 " grow them on." Quite 

 a large trade is done with 

 these small ferns, florists 

 buying them wholesale 

 at the prices just named 

 and retailing them at 3d. 

 each. Those who can 

 produce them easily find 

 the profits fairly satisfac- 

 tory. The spores, either 

 home-saved or purchased, are sown on the surface of fine loam or peat, kept constantly 

 moist by having water poured round the insides of the pans, these being further covered 

 with slates or squares of glass, kept darkened, and gentle heat maintained. If the 

 plants come up thickly, as they usually do, they are moved in small patches into shallow 

 boxes, and, as a consequence, bushy plants result more quickly than is the case when 

 single plants are grown. Arranged on an ash-covered slate staging, and well looked 

 after, progress is fairly rapid, especially after the shift from thumb pots into the 5 -inch 

 size is given. 



For the first six months the plants may be arranged somewhat closely, but when 

 in 5-inch pots they must not be unduly crowded, or they will soon become " weedy*" 

 From first to last they must be kept uniformly moist at the roots, and a genial heat 



VOL. III. S S 



Fig. 179. Pteris cretica for Market. 



