64 
The Fern Garden . 
CHAPTER X. 
THE ART OF MULTIPLYING FERNS. 
HERE are two modes of increasing ferns—by 
division and by spores. Both plans are easy 
enough up to a certain point, but we need not 
trouble ourselves about the point at which serious diffi¬ 
culty commences, for in truth no beginner should be 
troubled on that score. I will suppose you have a large 
plant of the common Male fern (Lastrea filix mas) or of 
the common Hartstongue (Scolopendrium vulgare ), and 
you wish to make more of it at once. The best time to 
operate is when the fronds are just rising in the spring, 
but it may be done at any time if proper care be taken. 
We take the plant out of its pot, or lift it out of the 
ground by means of a fork or trowel, and lay it on a 
board or table. Probably at a glance you will discover 
that a number of distinct crowns, each with a tuft of 
roots attached, may be easily removed from the outside 
by the use of a strong sharp knife. Separate such 
offsets, carefully disentangle their roots from the mass, 
and at once pot them in very small pots in the sort of 
mixture already advised for use in growing pot ferns in 
Chapter YI. Prepare the pots by putting in them 
plenty of small crocks for drainage, over them a thin 
wisp of dry moss, or a bit of fibre torn from the peat, 
