86 
THE CULTIVATION OE EEENS. 
Theee are five methods whereby various Ferns may be 
obtained. 1. Sowing the spores. 2. Dividing the plants. 
3. Taking off bulbs and putting them in the ground. 4. 
Laying the tips of the fronds. 5. Transplanting. With 
respect to transplanting, many observations have been al- 
ready made. To the other methods the attention of our 
readers shall be more especially directed. 
1. Sowing. In order that the care requisite in sowing 
may be better understood, the way in which germination 
takes place needs to be explained. A Fern is said to be a 
not-flowering plant, a plant in which the seed is not pro- 
duced by impregnation. Every fiower-bearing herb, shrub, 
or tree, has in its flowers a stamen and a pistil. On the 
highest part of the stamen is the anther, which contains a 
powder or dust, called by Botanists, pollen. In like manner 
on the top of the pistil is the stigma, on which lies a gluti- 
nous substance. A perfect seed is produced by the dust 
of the anther falling on the gummy substance of the stigma. 
This is called impregnation. In some plants one flower has 
the stamen, and another the pistil. In this case the dust 
from the anther of the stamen must be brought some little 
distance to the stigma of the pistil or no fruit will be pro- 
duced. This is done by the operation of the air, or through 
insects. In most of the sedges the stamen flowers are seated 
above the pistil flowers, so that the powder naturally falls 
down on the stigma, which is ready to receive it. In the 
cucumber, the wind helps nature, and carries what is neces- 
sary to its destination. When the plant is under a frame, 
the skilful gardener remedies the defect arising from the 
wind being excluded, by taking the stamen and placing the 
dust on the stigma, and thus a cucumber is produced. As 
a still further illustration, the date has not only distinct 
flowers, some of which bear only stamens, and others only 
