CHAPTER XX 



Edna's Fernery 



Edna's fernery was built of stones in the shade of 

 the house and the pockets were filled with rich leaf- 

 mold. The boys helped her with the rough work 

 and she dug up the terns in the woods and planted 

 them. Never before did she have any idea that 

 there were so many different kinds of ferns There 

 were big ferns and little ferns, in wet places and dry 

 places, on rocks and soil and the bark of trees, and 

 each wanted a place in the fernery just like the one 

 it lived in. 



She began with the rock-loving ferns, then put the 

 big ones that needed deep soil in front of her rockery 

 and finally brought in the sun-loving ones and plant- 

 ed them farther out in the yard. xAll had to be wa- 

 tered, some more than others, while a few died and 

 had to be replaced. New ones were found, too, on 

 many of her walks, and the boys brought her a beau- 

 tiful tree-fern from far up the mountain side, which 

 she received with delight. 



Among all her ferns, Edna saw very few that she 

 had seen in Virginia. One of these was the royal 



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