38 
since tliey open some of ihe advantages of a domestic conser- 
vatory where they were previously unattainable. In a sub- 
sequent letter, communicated to the Gardener’s INIagazine, he 
mentions his having observed poa annua, and aspedium filix- 
mas spring up in a large bottle of moist mould, covered with a 
lid; he placed the bottle in the open air, in a northern aspect, 
and both plants lived three years, without either watering or the 
removal of the lid. Accidental admission of rain ultimately des- 
troyed them. Mr. Ward states that he has repeated the exper- 
iment, with uniform success, on more than sixty species of fern; 
and further says, that, “Various other plants, vascular as well as 
cellular, and more particularly those which delight in humid 
situations, succeed as well as the ferns. Among others may be 
enumerated, — oxalis acetosella, anemone nemorosa, dentaria 
bulbifera, Paris quadrifolia, veronica montana, Listera nidus 
avis, &c. The method of proceeding is very simple. The ferns, 
&c., may be planted in boxes of any size or shape, furnished 
with glazed sides and a glazed lid. The bottom of the box 
should be filled with nearly equal portions of bog moss, veget- 
able mould and sand ; and the ferns, after planting, should be 
most copiously watered, and the superfluous water allowed to 
drain off through a plughole at the bottom of the box : the plug 
is then to be put in tightly, the glazed lid applied, and no farther 
care is requisite than that of keeping the box in the light. In 
this way many plants will grow for years, without requiring any 
fresh supply of water. It is scarcely necessary to point out the 
advantages which this plan, subject to some modifications, ac- 
cording to the enclosed plants, offers to the horticulturist, and 
to the physiological botanist. To the one, it furnishes a ready- 
mode of importing most plants, without risk, from the most dis- 
tant regions of the globe ; and, to the other, the opportunity of 
making more accurate experiments than have hitherto been 
practicable, on many important points connected w ith vegetable 
economy. The numerous experiments I have already made have, 
I think, established one important fact, that the air of London, 
when freed from adventitious matter, is as fitted to support vege- 
table life as the air of the country.” We need only add that 
Mr. Ward’s boxes are a few inches deep, of wood, firmly made; 
the glazed sides and top being adapted to the height of the 
plants which they are intended to contain. 
