MEANS TO THE END. 
165 
pended by wire either in mid-window or else¬ 
where. There are clay brackets for supporting 
Fern-pots, and rustic-looking pots of the same 
material for fastening to walls—holes being per¬ 
forated for nails to hold them with. Clay is also 
brought into requisition for imitating rustic wood- 
baskets on the plan of crossed bars. These clay 
contrivances can be suspended, wherever it may 
be desired, by wires fastened at their tops. 
In the disposition of Ferns upon a lawn, tree- 
stumps are not unfrequently utilized for growing 
Ferns. There are clay imitations of these tree- 
stumps, made of various shapes and sizes. The 
especial recommendation of clay in the manu¬ 
facture of Fern utensils is its porousness, by 
reason of which the Ferns grown in them are 
kept well drained, and attract the fine rootlets of 
the plants, which cling to the damp and porous 
sides of the pans, as they do to soft, porous stone, 
feeding on the moisture. Ferns, however, it 
should be remembered, grown in such pans must 
be kept constantly moist, and the direct action of 
the sun’s rays should be kept from the sides of 
the pots, otherwise the fine, fibrous rootlets which 
