The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1924-06-05

Ferns grow old and die by sections,
and in digging about the root, if you
can pull off dead sections of the
crown, you are getting an old fern
that is not valuable. A young
healthy crown is usually about the
size of mans fist or it may be as
large as the hand. The frOnds ap-
pear along the top surface and if
they are bruised they are done for
the year Stepping on the crown
sets it back year. After the frOnd
starts to unfold, or unwind, the
slightest wound makes it turn down
and die at that point. In digging
ferns that are fully or partly un-
wound, there should be one person
to hold the fronds together at the
center while the other digs, or they
may be drawn together, wrapped
with soft paper and secured with a
string. Then in hosting them out of
the crevice and transporting them,
do not let them get bruised, and do
not let them sway with the motion of
the vehicle. If you do they will die
in every cell and fiber that is bent or
touched enough to strain it. Wrap
the roots with papers, burlap or
something to keep the soil from fall
ling away and keep them from the
sun. Set them out and wet them
right away and be careful not to
cover the crown with soil. Water
them every day for while if the
tops are growing, and nearly as often
if they are just starting.
In preparing the rootbed for ferns,
it should be made rich and mellow
at least a foot deep. The deeper
it is made mellow, the better it holds
the moisture when it is needed, and
the better is the drainage for the
cold season. When young and vigor-
Gus ferns are properly set and start
ed, they will be good for ten years
or longer if properly irrigated and
the sod kept from choking them.
They need to be set in places that are
shaded part of the day, and where
nothing tramples the roots or brush
es against the fronds or stems.
The fern is a very delicate thing;
precise in what it does; very much a
creature of habit. 1t takes the same
form every year and can be depended
On to cary out scheme for decora-
ton or trim every year the same
The fern is thing of art, rather
more than most other plants, and
f you have a spot where you want !
1 fern or a section of ferns to fill
n with something graceful and artis-
ic each year, panel that you want
illed, a nook or corner sprayed with
classy and artistic to last
hruout the season, consider setting
erns about ten or fifteen inches
part, and count on their growing
bout twenty inches high.
If you want fern stalks for use
With cut flowers, set them in some
,lace where they will not be seen
much, for when you cut out stalk,
hat space will be blank for the rest
# the year. When you cripple or
Ieform anything as artistic as fern,
t detracts from the beauty of the
pot rather than adding to 1t. Cut
lowers represent death and deform-
ty-death to those cut off and de-
ormity to the parent stalk, except
ng in such things as violets, sweet
eas and things that bloom better by
icing kept harvested. Lilacs, pc
mics and all those things that put
ut but one set of bloom in year,
nd merely present the beauty OF the
ush or plant the rest of the season,
hould be left where they grow, voic-
ng the Resurrection and the Life.
'erns put out no bloom, but In their
teadfastness they are an expression
( II am the same, today, tomorrow
nd forever"
-.f.-