70 
Choice Ferns for Amateurs. 
columns, &c. ; those with long fronds are well adapted 
for hanging-baskets ; and those having entire or 
simple fronds for culture in pots. 
All the members of this family require plenty 
of water at the roots, and therefore due regard must 
be paid to this when providing a compost. It must 
be of a very porous nature. Two parts fibrous peat, 
one part .chopped sphagnum, and one part coarse 
silver sand will be found the most suitable mixture. 
Though these Ferns generally, as suggested at the 
outset, require a stove temperature in which to grow, 
there are one or two that are sufficiently accom- 
modating to flourish in an intermediate tempera- 
ture. For instance, A. scandens will succeed in a 
house the winter temperature of which occasionally 
does not reach 50deg. Fahr. This, too, is one of 
the species that requires an even more than ordinary 
open compost, and therefore the cultivator will do 
well to provide for it equal parts of fibrous loam, 
fibrous peat, partially rotten leaf soil, and silver 
sand. Throughout the year there must be plenty of 
water at the roots. 
As in atl large families of Ferns, there are a 
few individuals that may be classed as somewhat 
fastidious, and these will have to be considered. 
A. aureum, rightly regarded as the finest species, 
is a semi-aquatic. Its potting mixture should con- 
sist of equal parts fibrous peat and loam, it should 
be allocated a position in the warm house, and the 
lower part of the pot should be kept in water. The 
Elephant's Ear Fern (A, crinitum, Fig. 41) requires 
to be treated carefully in the matter of water, other- 
wise the fleshy fronds get disfigured with oily-looking 
spots. For this Fern, two parts peat and one part 
chopped and partly-decayed sphagnum is the best 
compost that can be recommended. Despite every 
care, should the unsightly spots referred to appear, 
the best way of dealing with the plants is to remove 
the soil from the roots by washing them, and then 
repotting in a smaller size should be undertaken. 
Very little water should be given after this ; indeed, 
this species, even when healthy, unless growing 
