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In the tropics Kerns may be repotted almost at any 
time without ill results. Pots should be clean and dry when 
used and new pots should be thoroughly soaked in water 
and then dried before using. The question of drainage is 
an important one, especially here where the rain-fall is so 
heavy. When potting Ferns it should be borne in mind 
that the majority of them grow naturally in partly decayed 
vegetable matter usually of a soft nature, they should there- 
fore be made firm in their pots but on no account potted 
hard. 
A compost of an open sandy nature should be used 
through which the water will pass readily, a mixture of two 
parts of sandy loam with one part of leafmould and one 
part of fibrous peat or Besam (Gleichenia linearis) root 
and one part of coarse sand will be found to suit most. 
Basket Ferns should be planted in Besam root 
mixed with lumps of peat and pieges of sand-stone and 
charcoal. These composts may be given as possessing all 
the qualities required by the majority of Ferns usually 
cultivated in gardens. Many of the more delicate Ferns 
such as some Adkmtums resent too much water over head. 
A position under a shady verandah suits these best. It is 
only by experience and constant observation that the best 
position can be found for the more fastidious Ferns. Very 
often a move of only a few yards makes all the difference 
between a good and a bad specimen. Windy positions 
should be avoided and care taken that no manure enters 
into the potting compost. An occasional application of 
liquid or artificial manure is beneficial when growth and 
root action is vigorous but heavy manuring of maidenhairs 
should be avoided. It is an error very often made here 
and is often the cause of the failure of a gardener to grow 
good pots of these Ferns. In most cases where an amateur 
complains that his maidenhairs are not in good condition, 
it is due to one or all of these errors, watering over head, 
allowing to stand in a windy or dusty place, or manuring. 
In the Botanic Gardens, Singapore a large number of 
Form* are raised on the wall of the green-houses. These 
walls are of coral limestone and form a good nest for the 
spores, specially of the Maidenhairs. Pans of broken brick 
and coral rock are very suitable for raising Fern spores. 
The pans should be kept damp and if moss or the minute 
algae which appear on damp spots are growing on the rock 
so much the better. The fruiting fronds should be taken 
before the spores are blown away, about the time that the 
sori become brown, and shaken or left lying on the pan 
