Gold and Silver Ferns. 
125 
will sketch out a code in a very few words, begging the 
reader to regard each word as pregnant with meaning, 
each hint and direction as involving for the ferns issues 
of life or death, as they may be observed, trifled with, 
or ignored. The pots must never be larger than the 
plants can soon fill with roots. They must be very 
carefully drained by means of potsherds packed with 
the greatest care. The soil should consist of good 
fibrous peat and a large proportion of sharp siliceous 
grit ; silver sand is almost too fine, but must be used if 
nothing more granular is obtainable. The plants must 
be potted firmly with the crowns well above the 
surface. Thenceforward the temperature and the 
degree of humidity are of the utmost importance. 
Only a small proportion of all the gold and silver ferns 
in cultivation require the heat of the stove, but not one 
of them will endure a lower temperature than that of 
the house it properly belongs to. Thus, there are many 
stove ferns that thrive in a greenhouse, and many green- 
house kinds that do well in an unheated house. But 
it is not so with those before us ; they are not accom- 
modating, they are exacting, and must be humoured to 
their whim. As to moisture none of them will bear 
much; to make them very wet is to put them in 
jeopardy. But on the other hand to let them go dry is 
certain death. The principal enemies that make war 
against them as cultivated plants are imperfect drainage, 
heavy soil, cold, damp, and drought. In no case should 
the fronds be wetted by the use of the syringe. The 
little that I have said compasses the whole subject, and 
the observant cultivator, who is also diligent and con- 
