general. What ferns look best, are most decorative? 
Which kinds last, remain decorative for the longest time? 
The matter of looks is largely one of personal taste. 
Different people fancy different types. Among the forms 
illustrated and described a wide variety exists. Some are 
smooth, some ruffled; some are dark green and glossy; 
others paler with dull surface. Some may grow to a 
height of two to four feet or more; others never become 
more than a foot tall. Some are divided in typical 
feathery fern fashion; others are tasselled, forked, or 
otherwise subdivided. One not uncommon in florist’s 
establishments, though not shown here, has simple sword - 
shaped leaves (bird’s nest fern). All arc attractive in 
appearance. 
One further point as to culture may lie made. The 
florist divides cultivated plants in general into four 
classes according to their temperature requirements, 
viz.; “hardy,” “semi-hardy,” “greenhouse,” and 
“stove,” the latter requiring the highest temperature. 
The ferns suitable as house plants all belong in the 
second or third class. 
Ferns classified as semi-hardy come originally from 
warm temperate regions, where they were accustomed 
to rather cold winters. For this reason they do best 
when allowed to rest most of the winter, and they are 
well suited to be kept in rooms which are kept fairly 
cool, with the windows opened perhaps at night as in 
sleeping rooms, provided the temperature does not go 
below freezing too long. Some of them do well in an 
outdoor garden from Philadelphia southward. 
The other class, the so-called “greenhouse” ferns, hail 
from subtropical climates, like southern Florida. At 
home their growth slackens during winter but does not 
entirely stop, and they cannot stand temperatures be- 
low forty. Even below fifty is undesirable. 
In general, the semi-hardy kinds make tougher, better 
lasting leaves, which stand up even under neglect for a 
long time. The tropical varieties form fuller, more 
compact plants, and continually replace older leaves 
