^9 



of the Lady Fern sowing, we seek in vain for a long time 

 for the plain uncrested feathery form of the parent. Every 

 one shows evident cresting, which becomes more and more 

 marked as new and larger fronds arise, and presently we 

 manage to detect two which are plain and promise to repeat 

 the parent form, and in the end only these two do so. All 

 the others, about too, are beautifully tasselled throughout. 

 Presently, however, to our disgust, defects begin to appear, 

 the fronds seem to have taken too heavy a task upon them- 

 selves, and gaps and depauperations shew in all directions, 

 reducing the number of really eligible crested ones eventually 

 to two only. These two, however, continue to be perfect, but 

 one far and away excels the other in its plumose and tasselled 

 character. This one, therefore, is chosen and, being care- 

 fully potted up and brought on, yields in the second year a 

 few spores which the microscope shows to be perfect, and 

 which of course are sown immediately with, if possible, 

 extra care. The immediate parent of this plant, as also its 

 grandparent, the wild Axminster find, are, it will be remem- 

 bered, without the faintest trace of ta^selling, the first wonder 

 therefore of the batch in which it originated is that only two 

 plants were devoid of crests. Naturally, therefore, when 

 these spores, i,e. of the now christened " superbam," were 

 sown a batch of crested ones alone were looked for, but 

 instead of this that wonderful little brown smear in this case 

 broke into two quite distinct sections, one absolutely 

 devoid of a trace of cresting or even forking, the other a 

 series of highly refined and perfect cristate forms such as 

 had never been seen before, the symmetrical tasselling 

 extending in several cases even to the fourth degree " per 

 cristatum," the ultimate divisions being fanned at their tips, 

 and all the major divisions more or less heavily tasselled. 

 There were no rogues or defective plants at all. 



Several of the uncrested sections were obviously refined 

 reversions to the Axminster type, but the finest of all 

 the "plumosums" par excellence, the said P.D., so far tran- 

 scended all the others in size and development as to stand 



