

The cultivation of Ferns is becoming a fashionable 

 pursuit. It is no longer confined to the botanist 

 and horticulturist ; almost every one possessing good 

 taste has made, more or less successfully, an attempt 

 to rear this tribe of plants. Ferns constitute so 

 beautiful a portion of the creation, whether they 

 ornament our ruins with their light and graceful 

 foliage, wave their bright tresses from our weather- 

 beaten rocks, or clothe with evergreen verdure our 

 forests and our hedgerows, that it seems next to 

 impossible to behold them without experiencing 

 emotions of pleasure. Years ^ before Ferns had be- 

 come to me as friends with familiar faces, I could 

 not pass them without turning to feast my eyes on 

 what I thought their excessive lovehness. It cannot 

 then excite much wonder, although I regret to say 

 it has incurred some blame, that I should turn aside 



-^/^/3 



