The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-10-09
FERNS.

Of the many varieties Of foliage
plants in cultivation 1 find the fail
ures to be mostly with ferns.
There are SO many varieties that
cannot be grown outside of a green
house, and the amateur not knowing
this, often spends money for plants
that will last only a few days in the
hot, dry sitting room. Nurse them
as n may, they repay the care by
dying, and if a new frOnd should
happen to peep drought the ground,
it is only turn back and blast.
We find them not the sturdy palm
or refer plant, withstanding dust
and lack of care alike, but must ever
be on the alert that water vessels
on the stoves and registers + not
dry, thus keeping as much moisture
in the room as possible.
Wild fearns abound in all the
warmer States Of the Union grow
ing in the damp, dense shade of the
forests without any care whatever,
they attain a great size, and for
beauty they I unsurpassed. Some
do very nicely in the house, but the
cultivated ones are preferable, as
house culture does not suit their
wild, reckless taste, and they are
never as large or beautiful as when
in +bair no+ivo willis
The ferns are very mysterious lit
tie plants, as they produce no true
flowers but if we examine the back
of the frond we find little brown
! spots, which are the spore or seed
pods, that finally burst open, and
drop the fine dust they contain,
which, if great care is taken, will
terminate and grow ferns. These
spore pods are deposited on the diff
erent varieties in different ways AS
for planting these spores, n has to
be so very careful in order to make
them grow that it is as we'll or bet
ter to sond to a florist and get young
plants already started, and save the
bother and anxiety of waiting for
his spores to grow.
Soil from around an OldlOg or good
leaf mold and sharp sand make an
ideal soil for ferns. If the regular
fern pots are not o~btainable, fill the
ordinary flower pot one-third full of
Oh, ,,oNo1 ~, an .n4hnp Il 7o n CrO ~
terial, then u layer of moss to keep
dirt from clogging the drain, and
lastly the soil, then you + ready to
set out your plant. For very young
plants I use the small three-inch pots,
and in watering never water from
the top, but set them in a basin of
real warm water; this warns up the
roots, which is such a tonic to this
species of plants that they will
scarcely stop their growth.
The proper time to report ferns is
in the spring, as nature ordained
them to be partially dormant during
the winter months, starting into Wig
Orous growth about the first of May.
The scale and mealy bug are their
worst foes, and must be destroyed.
The sword ferns are we'll adapted
to house culture, as they withstand
dust, and do very we'll in a sunny
window, but if kept in the shade the
fronds will be of a rich green color,
while the sun makes them lighter.
They are easily prOpagated from
the runners, which send up young
plants, and if these are left with the
parent fern until two or three fronds
have matured, they will make fine
specimens in a short time.
The Boston sword fern attains the
greatest size, the fronds often grow
ing from four and a half to five feet
in length, by four to six inches in
an ordinary living room. There r
| several other sword ferns that grow
to quite a large size, and while the
fronds vary somewhat in width and
cOlOrs, there is not much difference
in hardness or grace of the plant.
Among the dwarfer sword ferns is
the NephrOlepis cordata compacta,
the fronds of which do not attain a
height of more thon n and a half to
two feet on a well-matured plant, with
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