63 



■choice outdoor fernery were in question it would be 

 pleasant to include such gems as the Oak, the Beech, and 

 the Limestone Polypodies (P. dvyoptevis ; P. phc^wpteris ; 

 P. Rohertiaimm or calcaveuni). But we are in search of 

 decoration under ordinary open-air conditions ; and we 

 want in particular ferns that are easy to please, as well as 

 'fair to see. Beyond all the rest the Common Polypody, 

 including its beautiful varieties, has power to give what 

 we ask. It is, perhaps, more widely distributed than any 

 of our native ferns, but if we are to understand properly 

 what it can accomplish we must visit such localities as the 

 County Cork, where it abounds, and attains to perfection. 

 See that old domain wall, how the Polypody has possessed 

 ■it. Whole roods of it are coped with the waving green of 

 the fern. Where trees give shade, there the growth is 

 most luxuriant, but even in full exposure to sun and wind 

 the Polypody holds its own. If you pass inside and 

 examine the lower courses of the wall, and the moss- 

 covered ground at its base, there you will find great fronds 

 fifteen, eighteen, and even more inches long, These, how- 

 ever, are conditions under which all our decorative' ferns 

 will grow. What we seek in the Polypody is capabilities 

 all its own. Therefore we turn from the bottom of the 

 wall and look up, to find branch after branch of the great 

 forest trees turned into attractive natural ferneries by the 

 enterprising aspirations of our fern. Thus we have a fern 

 which, if it give its best results when shaded from full sun, 

 •can nevertheless be induced to face both sun and wind ; so 

 much we learn from the flourishing growth along the top 

 of the wall. The happiness of the colonies in the trees 

 further teaches that for considerable periods water may be 

 withheld. A single feature remains to the Polypody in 

 -common with all the ferns that have been visited. Like 

 the rest, it will have nothing to do with stagnant moisture. 

 Iln the treatment of all ferns good drainage, as the gar- 

 ideners call it, is essential. 



H. KiNGSMILL MoORE. 



'{To he continued.) 



