64 THE IMITATION, IN CLOSED CASES, OF 
a wide-mouthed quart bottle to a building as 
large as the Crystal Palace, the larger indeed 
the better. The earlier cases were rude and in- 
elegant, when contrasted with those of my friend 
Mr. Cooke, who exerted his artistic taste in 
making them ornamental as well as useful. Many 
had the opportunity of seeing the difference 
when exhibited in Hyde Park, but drawings are 
added to enable all to choose for themselves.* It 
is always desirable to have an opening in the 
bottom, as some plants are the better for occa- 
sional watering, and in the event of slugs getting 
into the mould, they may be destroyed by wash- 
ing the earth with lime-water, which has thus a 
means of escape. Many cellular and flowerless 
plants will go on for a very long period without 
any fresh supply of water. I have now a bottle 
which was in the Exhibition, containing a fern 
or two with some mosses, which are in perfect 
health, and yet have not received any fresh water 
for eighteen years, and I believe it would be 
quite possible to fill a case with Palms and Ferns 
(placing it in a position where it would always 
obtain sufficient light and heat) that would not 
require any water for fifty or a hundred years. 
* A stand for ferns, manufactured in terra cotta, by Mr. Doulton, 
of Lambeth, is worthy of notice, the corners of the stand representing 
the Lepidendron , and the sides ornamented with antediluvian ferns. 
