Cultivation of Greenhouse and Stove Ferns . 95 
CHAPTER XIL 
CULTIVATION OF GREENHOUSE AND STOVE FERNS. 
g^gRACTICALLY the only difference in the man- 
lllllPl agement of the ferns of the greenhouse and 
iyfe™ l the stove from those of the frame or cool fern- 
house consists in the increase of temperature propor¬ 
tioned to the character of the climates in which green¬ 
house and stove ferns are found growing wild. Various 
as are the climates and conditions in which ferns thrive 
on different parts of the earth's surface, they all be¬ 
come amenable to conditions nearly uniform when 
subjected to cultivation. Give the most delicate fern of 
the tropics treatment similar to what is advised for our 
native ferns, but with a higher temperature at every 
season of the year, and the chances are full ten to one 
that it will succeed perfectly. But undoubtedly it 
requires some judgment to assimilate conditions in 
the midst of which there occurs this important difference 
of temperature, and so we cannot expect to dispose of 
the subject of this chapter in any offhand or very general 
manner. However, we must beg the reader to recall 
the main points of our advice to this extent, that for 
outdoor, for frame, and for cool-house ferns, we have 
constantly recommended the use of a granular and 
