PROPAGATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND CULTURE. 27 
left rough — that is, not pressed down close and even. The 
pots should be set in pans or feeders, in which water should 
be kept, so that the soil may be constantly damp. By this 
means, the soil may be kept at the required degree of con- 
tinual dampness ; but if, by any chance, sourness, arising 
from constant saturation, seems to be taking place, the 
supply should be withheld for a time. A shady situation, 
under the influence of a temperature proper for the indi- 
vidual kinds, should be selected for these nursery pots. 
When all is in readiness, the spores should be thinly 
scattered over the rough surface of the soil, and the glass 
cover at once put on. It is necessary to be somewhat 
careful in the act of sowing, as the spores, from their 
lightness and minuteness, are liable to be dispersed in the 
atmosphere, instead of being lodged on the seed-bed pre- 
pared for them ; from the same cause, they are apt to cling 
about the surface of the paper — even though it be glazed — 
in which they may have been enclosed. A bell-glass may 
be employed to cover the soil after sowing, but we have 
been content to point out the simplest means and materials 
by which the end in view may be attained. 
A simple and convenient contrivance for sowing the 
spores, by which the progress of germination might be 
