The dormant fernery can be made very interesting, the plants in it keeping about the same all the winter, but growing toward spring; and, as many like the pleasure of filling their case every fall, this is as good a way as any to do, as it is a pretty ornament for winter, and in summer need not be cared for. Of the two thousand exotic species known to exist, but three hundred probably can be purchased in this country, and of these comparatively few are suitable to grow in the case. Most of the smaller-growing species for sale hereabouts will do - particularly those of Pteris, Doodia, and Adiatum (maiden-hair ferns). Gold and silver ferns require care, as the yellow and white farina washes off in watering. Besides ferns, Begonias, Dracaenas, and Marantas do well for the center of a case, and many others can be tried. Even if they do not succeed, there is a pleasure in experimenting.

In New England there are about the same number of ferns as in Old England - forty-five or six. About Salem, say within ten miles' radius, there are sixteen genera, twenty-nine species. Of these, few are suited to the fernery. The larger ones grow well in the garden, on the northerly side of a fence or building. Of the smaller ones, the ebony spleen wort, two or three of the Aspidiums or shield ferns, the Asplenium Trichomanes do well. The climbing fern will look pretty for a while, and some of the ferns which lose their foliage at the frost will, if their roots be planted just under the moss, grow toward spring - such as the beech ferns, hay-scented ferns, New York ferns, and others. The moonwort and common polypody, which grows everywhere, should never be left out; and the hart's tongue and walking ferns are valuable accessions, if they can be had. This comprises about all the native ferns of use that can be collected here; but there are many little plants to associate with them, which add much to the beauty of the case.

The partridge berry (Mitchella repent) can be gathered in bunches, regardless of roots, tucked in the moss and earth, where it will grow, bloom, and often fruit.

The rattlesnake plantain (incorrectly called adder's tongue), the Hepatica, gold thread, Linnea, all do well; and club mosses, winter-green, checkerberry all add to the effect. The larger foreign and native ferns may be grown in an open fernery, which should be in a room with as moist air as possible.

Do not drown your plants. Persons frequently ask: "How often shall I water my plants?" It is impossible to answer, except to say: "Whenever they are dry." With the same amount of water per day in a cold room, the earth in the flower-pot would be mud, while in a hot room it would be powder in a few hours. To avoid pests, mould, etc., sprinkle the ferns occasionally and give air an hour or more every day. Wiping off the moisture from the glass will take away many impurities. Cases sprinkled often seldom require watering, and it is surprising how long life will last on a small supply of water. I once planted in the bottom of an olive bottle a fern and some moss, corked it and sealed the top over with scaling wax, placed it upon a light shelf, and left it. The fern flourished about a year, and weeds which sprung up lived six months longer. Life lasted eighteen months in all, without the addition of a single drop of water.

Do not place the fernery at the southern window, in the full glare of the sun; an eastern or western one is better. Turn it around every week, that the plants may grow evenly. The case may be filled in August, to be established by winter. Some fill them as early as June, others not till October; but August is the best for tropical fernery. The natives need not be attended to till September, if you like. Not only may ferns be grown in cases, but some species are very beautiful as basket or pot plants.

A coconut may be formed, into a very neat basket by sawing off the top and burning holes half an inch across all over the shell, with two small ones at the top, opposite each other, for the wire to suspend it by. If in this a fern is planted which has running roots with leaf-buds, the effect is in time to cover the whole shell with the beautiful foliage, as these little roots find their way to every hole before long. For this Adiantum setulosum and A. Aethiopium are the best. . Baskets to hang in the top of a fern-case may be made of thin, pliable bark, wired together. Wire baskets, lined with moss and filled with earth, are fine for ferns with stems, which run on top of the soil, such as most of the Davallias, Polypodium aureum, a native of Florida, and others. The hare's-foot fern is one such, throwing out woolly feet in advance of the leaves. A log hollowed out on one end is most suitable to grow the stag-horn ferns upon. They will in time form huge crowns on the top of the log, while little creeping species may be grown successfully on the side at the same time, if wired on with a little moss and earth.

Hollow stoneware pillars are made with pockets in the sides, the center filled with earth, ferns planted in the pockets, and the whole covered with a bell-glass. Wire netting can be formed into a tube, filled with coarse earth, and ferns inclined to climb by rooting stems, as the ivy does, can be made to cover it with foliage. In feet, there is no end to the variety of designs that can be introduced into the fernery, whether it be a simple bell-glass or a structure one hundred feet long by forty wide and high Of this latter class of ferneries most beautiful ones are described in foreign books, where sometimes the side walls are of turf, covered with creeping Lycopods and ferns, while little brooks, mimic waterfalls, and ponds add both to the beauty of the place and to the air the moisture necessary for the health of the plants. This is called the natural cultivation of ferns and approaches as near as possible to their natural habitat. It is to be hoped that such will soon be established by our wealthy amateurs on this side of the water, as it is much more instructive than the ordinary way of growing these plants, and that there will be a steady increase in the already growing interest in ferns and ferneries.

The evening was made more enjoyable and the remarks much more interesting and clear by the exhibition of ferneries and plants upon the platform, illustrating the subject. They were chiefly as follows: A large black walnut fern-case (cabinet maker's pattern), containing stone grotto and choice tropical ferns, Selag-inellas, Begonia rex. etc., a square homemade case (large), containing native plants entirely; circular fernery (large), containing tropical plants; log with a fine specimen of Platycerium alcicorne (stag-horn tern) growing upon the top, other ferns and mosses on the sides; wire baskets, with Davallia; cocoa-nut shells, with maiden-hairs; bell-glass, with Adiantum capillus- Veneru or English maidenhair; also other ferns in pots, cut fronds, etc. Ferns suitable for ferneries, which can be purchased at the greenhouses at fifty cents or less:

Pteris serrulata,

Pteris argyrea,

Pteris longifolia,

Pteris tremula,

Pteris Cretica, var. albo-lin-eata, Pollaea rotundifolia,

Pteris hastata, Gymnogramma sulphurea, Pteris calomelanos,

Doodia caudata, Asplenium Mexicanum, Onychium Japonicum,

Adiantum capillus-Veneris, Pteris afflue, Pteris AEthiopicum, Pteris cuneatum, Pteris fulvum, Pteris hispidulum, Aspidium molle, Selaginolla Martensii, Pteris densa, Pteris Braunii, Pteris Kraussiana, Pteris uncinata.