59 
Management of Fern Cases . 
If broken with a clean edge half a shell makes a capital 
basket. It requires a sharp saw and some patience to cut 
the edge nicely if it is much jagged. The holes must be 
burnt in the shell, as they are apt to split if any attempt 
is made to pierce them with awl or gimlet, and, besides 
that, they are so hard that the best bit of steel breaks 
like glass against them. Make three holes for drainage, 
and two very small holes near the rim, exactly opposite 
each other, and use for suspending a silver string of 
the Spanish guitar, which will never rot, and is as soft 
