i 5 8 
THE FERN PARADISE. 
a cultivated plant it is not rare, for, like all our 
ferns, the myriads of seeds which each plant bears 
favour its extensive propagation. Artificially 
grown, it will, in warm, moist, and sheltered 
situations, live and thrive in the open-air rockery. 
But its excessively delicate nature requires peculiar 
care, and renders it more especially adapted for 
indoor cultivation. And to grow it successfully 
indoors, especial attention must be given to its 
requirements. It cannot bear the sudden changes 
in temperature to which the atmosphere of some 
sitting-rooms is subject. When there is an equable 
temperature maintained, and the air is not too 
dry, as, for instance, in rooms which are not con- 
stantly inhabited, there the Maidenhair will thrive 
in pots, in the proper soil, without any covering. 
But otherwise a covering of glass is essential, so as 
to keep around the plant a perpetual moisture. 
With such a covering it will revel in the warmth 
of inhabited rooms, and become a delightful com- 
panion for the fern-lover, distilling on the points 
of its fronds the dewdrops of its prison. A 
light soil, suited to the delicate nature of the 
