MINIATURE GREENHOUSES. 
103 
can be obtained for a sum that will come within the limits 
of a light purse. It must be large enough not to crowd 
the plants that are put in it, or the plants must be few 
enough not to crowd each other, as a case with too many 
occupants can not flourish. 
Many pretty growths from the woods may be cultivated 
in a Wardian case of generous dimensions, and made to 
bloom a couple of months earlier than they otherwise 
would. Trailing arbutus delights in it, and who does not 
delight in trailing arbutus ? It should be transplanted in 
October when the buds are formed, and will bloom under 
this mode of culture in February or sooner. The pretty 
little partridge-vine, with its tiny evergreen leaves and vivid 
berries, like coals of fire, fairly revels in moisture, and does 
its best and prettiest in the Wardian case. The pure, 
snowy-looking blood-root (sanguinaria Canadensis) should 
also find a place here, for “ though the sanguinaria can not 
be considered a showy plant, it has few equals in point of 
delicacy and singularity. Hepatica, too, with its pretty 
white and purplish-blue blossoms and clumps of heart- 
shaped leaves, will mistake January or February for April 
in the warmth and moisture of a glass residence. Many 
others, with all the mosses (and especially the greenhouse 
lycopodium), will do well. 
One of the prettiest of Wardian cases is made of an 
oblong shape, half octagon, and filled with the different 
varieties of ferns, gracefully arranged, the taller ones at the 
sides, and the low-growing varieties in front. In the cen¬ 
ter is a miniature fountain (requiring a convenient water- 
pipe), which is both ornamental and useful, as its constant 
spray keeps up the moisture in which ferns delight. 
An aquarium, which affords conveniences for animal 
life as well as for plant life, can also be made in various 
sizes and at various degrees of expense. A gallon or two- 
gallon glass jar, without the cover, can be used for a small 
