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"MY FERNERY." 

 By Mr. C. B. Green. 



Although nearly all our British Ferns, and their varieties, 

 are capable of withstanding a very low temperature, yet in 

 and about large towns it is desirable, in the interest of the 

 ferns themselves, to provide some sort of protection from 

 the dirt and dust and foul gases incident to all districts 

 where houses are crowded together. Hence my choice 

 varieties have been collected under glass, and although 

 this involves constant supervision and some self-denial? 

 still, '' the labour we delight in physics pain." 



For the benefit of possible imitators, I may say that the 

 dimensions of my small Fernery are 20 feet by 12 feet, 

 with corresponding head-room. On one side a rockery 

 about 3 feet wide runs the whole length of the house, while 

 on the other a border of the same width, including one end, 

 is the prevailing feature. This gives me a clear space of 

 17 feet by 6 feet, which is concreted, and on which I stand 

 my specimen plants in pots, or otherwise elevate them on 

 drain-pipes, as befits their beauty. 



Roller -blinds are preferred to screen them from the sun, 

 and top and bottom ventilation is adopted to secure a free 

 circulation of air. 



This, in short, is the arrangement of " My Fernery," and 

 now for the Ferns, its raison d'etre. In the frontispiece, 

 which is from a photograph taken as recently as August, 

 the Ferns on either hand in the immediate foreground are 

 representatives of one of the most amazing sections of our 

 lovely Shield Ferns. 



Polysticimm angtdave plumoso-divisilohum Esplan is worthy 

 of its elongated designation, and came to me as a bulbil 

 from our old friend Mr. Whitwell in 1899 ; while P. a. 

 plumosissiinum was sent me as a tiny plant by Dr. Stansfield 

 three years ago. This latter fern, however, while 

 characteristic of its name, is not quite so " sissimum " as 

 the one illustrated in " The Book of British Ferns," which 

 was presumably grown in a warm house. 



