128 
The Fern Garden. 
CHAPTER XY1. 
TREE FERNS. 
REE ferns have been brought within the reach 
of fern growers who happen not to be 
millionaires^ by the enterprise of trade col- 
lectors, and may be purchased according to size, rarity, 
&c., at from five guineas each and onwards. Those, 
however, who would like to grow their own, and who 
are blest with the needful patience, may obtain young 
plants to begin with at from five to fifty shillings each. 
There is much to be said in favour of purchasing young 
plants ; they are extremely ornamental, and the green- 
house kinds will thrive in the shady parts of a con- 
servatory where scarcely anything else would grow. 
If it is intended to embark in the purchase of fine 
specimen tree ferns it will be important to consider 
first the space available, for the spread of a fine 
Dicksonia or Cyathea is considerable, and it is not good 
for them to rub their fronds against the glass roof, 
however carefully it may be shaded. 
There are no species of filices more easy to cultivate 
than such as are classed as “tree ferns.” The soil 
should be the best peat in a rough state, with but little 
sand added ; the addition, however, of sphagnum moss 
