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HOW TO GEOW PEEKS. 



No plants are so suitable for indoor or town culture as 

 ferns, hence no others are so popular, and those who have 

 not had much experience in their treatment will not object 

 to a few hints on the subject. There are two methods in 

 which ferns may be cultivated, viz., in an open fernery, 

 or in closed cases ; but before adverting to either, it may 

 be advisable to give a hint or two on raising ferns from 

 spores. The German gardeners take a cube of turfy 

 peat, about 1^ inch square, and this they dip in boiling 

 water in order to destroy all the animal life which it 

 contains ; it is then laid in a flat saucer, and the spores 

 are sprinkled upon the upper side. A small quantity of 

 water is poured into the saucer, and the whole is covered 

 with a bell-glass. A little water is required to be added 

 from time to time, to compensate for evaporation, but great 

 care must be taken to pour it in without washing the 

 spores off the turf, and in five or six weeks a green moss- 

 like substance will cover the turf, and the young ferns 

 will gradually develope themselves. 



Mrs. Helen Watney informs us that it is a curious fact 

 that fern spores which have been gathered and dried three 

 or four years, will, when sown, germinate more quickly 

 than fresh spores. 



Some persons employ a porous sandstone in the place 

 of peat, and the lady to whom w^e have already alluded 

 recommends cinders, for the following reasons : " Sand- 

 stone almost invariably contains the germs of fungi, which 

 hinder, and very frequently prevent, the development of 

 the fern spores, and peat, unless prepared by dipping in 

 boiling water, and thus destroying all life, is open to the 

 same objection. Now, if cinders (which, if fresh, contain 

 no fungi) are used mixed with a suitable quantity of peat, 

 subjected as above, the ferns will have a fair chance of 



