129 
Tree Ferns and Lycopodiums . 
or cocoa-nut fibre improves the peat for the purpose. 
Large pots or tubs are needful; the roots will bear a 
certain amount of cramping, but as a free growth is 
desirable—in fact essential—both to maintain the health 
besides developing the beauty of the plants, as much 
pot room must be allowed as possible, consistent with 
the sizes of the plants and the place they are kept in. 
Shade is of the first importance, abundance of moisture 
is indispensable. 
The most desirable greenhouse tree ferns are Dick- 
sonia antarctica , D. squarrosa , Alsophila australis , A . 
excelsa, Cyathea dealbata. The first named is the 
most useful and is extremely likely to prove a hardy 
plant for sheltered shady dells in the south-western 
parts of England and the warmer parts of Ireland. The 
beginner should avoid Alsophila capensis as risky, and 
the expert need be in no hurry to obtain it. 
The most desirable tree ferns for the stove are 
Alsophila glauca , A. armata , Cibotium scheidei , Cyathea 
arborea , C. microlepis. 
Let us now suppose that some obliging friend in 
Australia makes you a present of a lot of tree ferns. 
He has found some specimens with stems from four to 
five, or even six feet long; he has cut away all the 
fronds, and dug them up, without taking the trouble of 
saving any of the roots. In fact, they are stems and 
nothing more—stems, sans fronds, sans roots, sans 
everything. He leaves them out in the air for a few 
days to dry, and then packs them with shavings in a 
box; let him be especially careful that this box be not 
air-tight—that is their greatest danger. In this way 
9 
