THE LADY FERN. 
273 
charming fronds. If you would see these dis¬ 
played in their natural and graceful habit, their 
tips should not touch any jutting fragment of 
stone. Although planted in the lowest tier of 
your rockery, it should stand on the crest of a 
stony knoll, so that its arching fronds may be 
thrown upwards and outwards, free of any 
surrounding obstruction. In such a chosen 
* situation, it will exhibit the perfection of its 
gracefully arching habit. 
Have you a shady window in the house, on 
which, facing north, the sun never shines ? If 
you have, choose that window for the Lady Ferns 
you may wish to grow indoors. Place the pots 
containing them, if you will, on the window- 
ledge, or suspend them in mid-window by a cord 
depending from the top, and holding a wire 
basket or other receptacle. The pot saucers 
should be kept half-full of water, so as to keep 
the beautiful plants moist and cool. Provide 
for them soil of rich loam, leaf-mould, peat, and 
sand. Then they will thrive luxuriantly in their 
adopted home; and from window-sill or mid¬ 
window will smile on you thankfully. 
