POT CULTURE OF KERNS 
85 
chances of stagnancy amongst the crocks lessened. The sur- 
face of the soil in the pot should always lie from about half an 
inch to an inch below its rim. Care should be taken to press 
the soil firmly, though not too tightly, down into the pot, and 
the use for this purpose of a sharp-pointed stick is desirable. In 
planting the Fern it should be held in the left hand, with its 
crown slightly below the pot rim, the compost having been 
first scattered over the drainage. The fibrous rootlets should 
then be carefully spread out and downwards, and the compost 
should be filled in gradually, and pressed down firmly around 
the roots, and against the sides of the pot until it reaches 
just above the lower side of the crown of the Fern. The 
compost at this stage must not be dry nor very w r et, but 
moderately moist. 
When the growth of a potted Fern requires that it should 
be shifted to a larger pot, the best time for this process will 
be found to be generally at the end of February or the 
beginning of March, or just, in fact, as the plants are about 
to commence their spring growth. It is then that they are 
in most vigorous health, and hence the reason why they can 
better bear, at that than at any other season, the experiment 
of potting or re-potting. But the period for re-potting will 
be earlier or later, according to the earliness or lateness of 
the season. It is essential to remember that in shifting 
Ferns into larger pots it is best to proceed gradually, so that 
each new pot is only a little larger than the old one. If the 
pot be too large, and there be consequently a large space of 
new earth around the old ball of roots and earth, there is a 
danger that the new soil may become stagnant or sour before 
the roots from the old ball have had time to permeate it, and 
thus promote necessary drainage. It is essential to re- 
member that in shifting, the old crocks, which will adhere 
to the old ball 011 removal, must not be touched, but placed 
on the drainage in the new pot. 
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