58 
Rustic Adornments. 
luxuriant and rapid. As an example, a plant of Adiantum cuneatum , turned 
out of a four-inch pot, and put in the case containing cocoa-nut fibre refuse 
extended itself in six months so as to cover a breadth of fifteen inches each 
way; it became, in fact, too large for its domicile, and several small-growing 
ferns had to be removed to save their lives, for the adiantum threatened to 
suffocate them. The following spring the adiantum threw up its new fronds 
with such vigour as almost to lift up the top glass, and the next thing needful 
was to take it out, reconstruct the rockery, and plant again so as to allow 
more head-room. A very small plant of Pteris cretica albo-lineata , put in late 
in the summer, threw up its fertile fronds so vigorously the next year that it 
became needful to peg them down, and the ensuing spring it was transferred 
to the centre of a very large case, principally to give it head-room, which it 
must have when it attains to its full characteristic growth. So much for the 
bright side of cocoa-nut refuse, or shall we add that it holds moisture 
tenaciously, never exhibits the slightest trace of any kind of mildew, and 
has a most pleasing appearance in the fern-case, its nice brown tint showing 
up the green of the ferns delightfully. On the other side, it must be said 
against the cocoa-nut refuse that the ferns grown in it are somewhat like 
those plants in our Lord’s parable of “ the Sower,” which sprang up from seeds 
sown on the rock and among the thorns, and which therefore had no power of 
durance. We will illustrate this by an experiment. Let us remove the top 
glass from each case until the sun shines on them, and in an hour’s time see 
what effect a little fresh air has upon the ferns. The hour has elapsed : those 
in the cocoa-nut dust are, in some instances, half dead, and their fronds have 
fallen like so many rags; others look slightly flagging, and will evidently 
be the better for a dewing and immediate shutting up. In the other case, 
he plants that are rooted in fibry peat and loamy mixture, are scarcely any 
the worse for the breath of air that has blown upon them, there is not one in 
a collapsed condition, and all are evidently of more robust constitution than 
those that have suffered so severely. But to make the balance as nearly as 
possible equal, the peaty soil does not produce so luxuriant and rapid a growth. 
The ferns come to perfection in it, but at a slower pace, and, in case of any 
accident, as of a square of glass being broken, or of neglect in watering, the 
ferns in the peat will suffer less than those in the cocoa-nut dust. It follows, 
from this, that the cocoa-nut dust is invaluable for the growth of seedling ferns 
and to help on young plants till they are of a size to be transferred to a more 
substantial soil; but that when a case is planted in such a way that there is 
