54 
CHOICE BRITISH FERNS. 
nortli-west, if possible, be dug, about 1ft. deep and 3ft. wide, 
tbe soil being thrown up on the south side, faced with 
burrs, and backed with a 4^in. red-brick wall, rising about 
2ft. above level of soil. The bottom of the trench is covered 
with thick, porous, red tiles, or a bed of cinders or cement; 
and the shorter wall can be formed of similar tiles, or slates, 
a depth of 9in. to 12in. sufficing. A series of lights, hinged 
on to the brick wall, and resting on the edges of the tiles, 
or slates, will form a long, cool, moist frame, in which a large 
number of good forms will thrive, the drainage from the Alpine 
rockery keeping it always humid, while the direct rays of the 
sun are warded off entirely. Such a sunken frame can, of 
course, be made under any shelter, but we have taken an 
utterly shelterless site to illustrate that “where there is a 
will there is a way.” 
Now a word as to common flower-pots. What are the 
emotions of an English maker when a Scotch flower-pot meets 
his eye? We are not in the trade, and therefore cannot be 
certain; but surely shame must predominate. The type of 
the ordinary English flower-pot is well known — a rough, clumsy, . 
often misshapen, hand-moulded affair, difficult to clean, un- 
sightly to regard, and only fitly used when broken up for 
crocks. The Scotch pot, on the other hand, is a smooth, well- 
turned, and altogether satisfactory piece of work, which costs 
little, if any more, than the others. These, owing to the 
absence of all roughness, either inside or out, are not only 
much more pleasing to the eye, but facilitate cleanliness, and 
in the process of repotting, or turning out for inspection, the 
ball of earth and roots slips out undisturbed, and can be re- 
placed without damage to the growing root-tips, owing to 
absence of friction. In short, they combine the sightliness 
and cleanliness of glazed ware with all the sanitary benefits 
of the porous clay of which they are formed. 
The principle involved in the porous earthenware bottles, 
surrounded by Maidenhair Ferns, with which our readers will 
be familiar, can be made available by inserting an empty, 
corked flower-pot in the centre of suspended baskets; the pot 
being occasionally filled up with water, fosters a vigorous 
