The ferns of Great Britain / illustrated by John E. Sowerby ... The descriptions, synonyms, &c., by Charles Johnson.

  • John Edward Sowerby
Date:
1859
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The ferns of Great Britain / illustrated by John E. Sowerby ... The descriptions, synonyms, &c., by Charles Johnson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    thickets, in the crevices of rocks, and in the mouths of wells, mines, and caverns, where they have little light, and enjoy an atmosphere of almost uninterrupted humidity. But while moist- ure is an important agent in securing, and even enhancing, that beauty which belongs to them in the wild state, drainage is no less neqessary to the preservation of the greater number, and must oe so far provided as to prevent the lodgement of water in a stag- nant state about the roots. The subjoined materials will be found more or less requisite to those engaging in the cultivation of this interesting tribe: viz. As draining media. 1. Shards, or fragments of garden-pots broken to the size of an inch, or larger. 2. Fragments of sandstone, limestone, slate, &c. for forcing into the soil around the roots, in planting. 3. Charcoal, broken into pieces, from the size of a filbert to that of a walnut. As soil. 1. Peat, or bog-earth. The best is that of a blackish or dark- brown hue, and spongy texture. 2. Decayed leaf-mould, or rich garden soil. 3. Loam. The best is of a yellowish hue, containing much vegetable fibre. 4. Sand. The white or silver sand being preferable, though not essential. 5. Mortar from old buildings. Where the collection is large or increasing, a compost, prepared by mixing the first four in equal proportions, is desirable, as being always at hand, and capable of modification as necessity may rc- quiie. The old mortar is onlv for occasional use, but a small
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