35<5 THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



tlie soil to produce roots of their own. Division is best carried out in March when 

 repotting, and if it is carefully managed no special treatment will be afterwards required. 

 The spores, which in Ferns are equivalent to the seeds of flowering plants, afford a read)' 

 means of increasing them in large quantities, as in some kinds at least a single frond will 

 contain thousands of spores. They are found principally on the under-sides, large masses 

 of them being arranged in dots or bands. A careful examination will show that they are 

 enclosed in what is known as spore cases, which in many kinds form a scale-like substance 

 on the under-side of the frond or leaf. Directly these cases burst the spores are discharged 

 in the shape of very fine powder, which often drifts some little distance before it finally settles. 

 This explains how it is that young plants occur in various positions. To secure the spores, 

 a frond or fronds should be cut off just as the earliest cases commence to discharge 

 their contents, and folded up in a sheet of clean white paper. In a few days, if kept dry, 

 they will be shed, and the operation of sowing may then be carried out. Pots 5 in. in 



A FERN DELL. 



diameter are a suitable size for the purpose, and they should be prepared by putting 2in. 

 of broken crocks in the bottom, on which the soil must be put. A mixture of loam, peat, 

 and sand, passed through a sieve with a Jin. mesh, forms a good compost. This must be 

 pressed down moderately firm and made smooth, leaving about iin. below the rim of the pots. 

 Having been watered through a fine rose, the spores should, while the soil is still wet, be 

 sown as thinly as possible. No soil must be sprinkled over them, a pane of glass laid 

 on the put being sufficient covering. If the pot be then placed in a small saucer of water 

 a uniform state of moisture will be ensured, which is essential to the growth of the spores. 

 All being well, after a lapse of a month or so the surface of the soil will become covered 

 with a Moss-like substance, which as soon as it appears unduly crowded should be pricked 

 off. This is carried out by preparing some pots in the same way as for sowing the spores, 

 except that the soil is very lightly pressed down. The spores are then lifted up in tiny 

 tufts with a pointed piece of wood, laid on the surface of the new soil, and lightly pressed 



