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garden plot of about half an acre (50 by 500 feet), open, 

 wind-swept, and sunny, the only fencing being posts and 

 wire. The small " lean-to " was carefully placed by the 

 builder against the west wall of the house, hence it is shady 

 and cold each morning, sunny and hot each afternoon 

 throughout the summer. However, a good-sized tree of 

 Pviinus Pissardi that I planted to give shade to the green- 

 house is now beginning to be useful to the ferns inside. 



Out-of-doors the first consideration has been, and still is, 

 a determined fight against such foes as couch-grass, 

 creeping-thistle, convolvulus, coltsfoot, sow-thistles, etc., 

 to say nothing of a multitude of annual weeds. Quite 

 frequently I have cleaned banks and borders, planted them 

 with young ferns, and found all my care defied by a strong 

 encroachment of these weed marauders from over my 

 frontier. Moreover, besides weeds, I have been indebted 

 to neighbourly attentions from cats, dogs, poultry, pigeons, 

 and even pigs. At the end of my plot some oak trees 

 throw their leaves, and, deeming the resultant leaf-mould 

 good, I planted banks of ferns in their shade. Imagine 

 my joy when, returning home from a visit last Christmas, 

 I discovered most of my ferns uprooted, and learned that 

 two pigs had been diligently grubbing for acorns during 

 my absence. 



I am gradually overcoming the weeds by cutting out 

 deep paths. This results in what is sometimes known as 

 a " Devonshire lane " — a bank of soil each side of the 

 sunken path, on which ferns, etc. may be established. 



The battle against drought is ever with me, and, in 

 addition to the more usual methods, such as placing stones 

 around each plant, I have tried a plan which T venture to 

 recommend to our members' attention, in case they have 

 not already used it. There is a dwarf-growung " carpeting " 

 plant, known as the Corsican Nettle Moss {Hclxine SoleivoUi 

 [Corsica]). This keeps a bright green mat around the 

 crowns of the ferns, and greatly conserves the moisture 

 available. The first severe frosts blacken the foliage of 



