86 
THE FERN WORLD 
Do not forget that greater care must needs be taken of 
Ferns in pots than under any other kind of culture; and 
for the reason that in so small and confined a space they 
are more helpless than in other positions — as when in the 
ground, for instance — more exposed to excesses of heat and 
drought, and more dependent, therefore, in every way upon 
the watchful care of the cultivator. They must be kept 
constantly and regularly moist, not dry at one time and 
drenched at another. The saucers, too, in which the pots 
stand, should be kept free from stagnant water or other 
impurities. Water should be poured upon the soil in a fine 
misty stream, from the fine rose of a small watering-pot, so 
that the soil may be gradually moistened without being in 
any way disturbed or washed away from the roots of the 
Fern. 
