HOW TO GKOW FERNS. 



13 



proper development, for it is liigMy improbable that fungi 

 will obstruct their growth. I have ibund that peat, if 

 used alone, becomes soddened ; and as ferns, like all other 

 plants cultivated in pots, require good drainage, that 

 essential is obtained by the use of cinders mixed there- 

 with." Many gardeners raise their ferns by sowing the 

 spores on silver sand. We have known of many successes 

 from the employment of sandstone, and some failures 

 through the prevalence of fungoid growths ; but of the 

 admixture of cinders and peat, as above recommended, 

 all the testimony bas hitherto been favourable. 



The cultivation of ferns in the open air demands but 

 little special comment. A sloping bank, shaded from the 

 direct rays of the sun, in a sheltered situation, and where 

 possible in the neighbourhood of a pond, stream, or orna- 

 mental water, is the first object to be regarded. If these 

 conditions cannot be fulfilled, the situation should, at the 

 least, be damp and shady. It is customary to plant ferns 

 in an artificial rockwork ; but, when this is done, the mound 

 should not be so constructed that every drop of moisture 

 is carefully drained away, but rather to be the face of a 

 slope from higher ground, so that the drying winds do 

 not whistle all around it, and extract every atom of water. 

 If the spot is carefully selected, and a light soil provided 

 for the interstices of the stone-work, there is very little to 

 fear. The most luxuriant plants of the Koyal Eern which 

 we have ever seen under cultivation were placed amongst 

 the rough stone-work of a large rustic fountain, and here 

 they flourished apparently as well as in their native 

 "homes and haunts." Many a window, in towns, from 

 which the prospect is only a blank wall, might be made 

 to look cheerful and comfortable by raising an outdoor 

 fernery of the hardiest species around it. Under such 

 conditions, a humble imitation might be made of the 

 fernery wn'ndows on the ground floor of the South Ken- 

 sington Museum. 



Terns may be grown in pots with great success. The 

 conwnon deep flower-pots are as good as any for the pur- 

 pose, and it is as injurious to put in too many " crocks " 



