been raised, because Mr. Barnes had raised an identical 

 form some ten or twelve years previously. Mr. Barnes, 

 however, could make no success of growing his plant 

 and, in despair or in disgust at its ingratitude for what he 

 thought good treatment, he eventually handed it over to 

 Forster of Salford " to see what he could make of it." 

 As Mr. Forster lived in the heart of a smoky town the 

 fern very soon died, without having been seen by more 

 than a very few people. To the best of my recollection, 

 however, it was identical v»^ith Clapham's and Cropper's 

 plants. There was the same limp habit, the same 

 yellowish green colour with occasional streaks of reddish 

 brown, the same cutting and cresting, and the same 

 difficulty in cultivation. Let us hope that the end of 

 Cropper's fern may not be the same as that of its two 

 predecessors, at least for a long time. Mr. Cropper was 

 probably the only person who ever grew a really healthy 

 looking and symmetrical specimen of this fern. His 

 success was probably due in the first place to the 

 extremely favourable conditions under which his plant 

 grew {i.e. in a greenhouse excavated out of a clayey hill- 

 side) ; secondly, to the inherent energy of a new seedling 

 plant ; and lastly, but not least, to the enthusiasm with 

 which he cared for his new baby. His untimely death 

 was a sad loss to the cult of a true fern lover. Peace to 

 his ashes. 



The fact of an extreme form like this having been 

 raised three separate times encourages one to hope that 

 other lost ferns may be re-found or re-raised. What 

 Nature has done once she can do again, and it may be 

 that some of our present members may live to see again 

 ferns like Moly's and Wills's lost ane^ulare pulcherrinnnnSj 

 Benbow's and other vanished treasures. 



F. W. Stansfield. 

 Reading, April 29th, 1914. 



I am afraid that if Dr. Stansfield is unable to throw 



