GROWING MOSSES IN YOUR TERRARIUM
Follow this procedure: Collect moss plants from cracks in shaded walls
or moistgroundunder trees and from any cool, heavily wooded area. Look
for low green plants thatresemble acarpetof green. Wrapthe moss plants
with a smallamountof soil fromaroundtheir roots in waxpaperor newspaper.
You cantransplantthese mosses in yourterrarium.
You will observe: A mossplantcan be identified by its tiny green stem
with a cluster of green leaves encircling it. At the tips of the leafy stems and
hiddenby the leaves are theplant'sreproductiveorgans. Little tan spore cases
on slender stalks grow fromamongthe green leafy stalks.The spore cases each containtiny spores. Each spore, when it falls on
rich, moist soil, will become a new moss plant.
Mosses are valuable to man primarily because they hold down soil in a
forest and absorbwater the waythata sponge does. Therefore,theyprevent
the soil from being washed away byhardrains. Peatmoss,partlycarbonized
vegetable tissue formed by thepartialdecompositionof moss, is valuable as
a fuel when it is pressed and dried. Itcan then be used in place of coal. In
Irelandespecially there are famous bogs from which peatmoss is cut and
used as fuel.