X INTRODUCTION. 



the difficulty of cultivating Ferns, and have met with 

 none myself, I will here describe the management 

 which I have found successful. 



Whenever I met with a Fern which I thought 

 would be worth the trouble of removing, I invariably 

 noticed the situation in which it grew — whether it 

 was naturally exposed to sun, rain, and wind ; 

 whether it grew on a horizontal or perpendicular 

 surface ; and whether its fronds were erect, hori- 

 zontal, or pendulous ; whether its roots enjoyed 

 depth of earth, or were simply 



" Moored in the rifted rock." 



And having thus minutely observed every natural 

 peculiarity, my next object, when the Ferns had 

 reached home, was, to copy Nature as closely as 

 I could ; not, indeed, to imitate rocks and mountains 

 by a structure of flints, Bath-bricks, or clinkers, but 

 simply by supplying to each, as far as possible, the 

 adjuncts which it naturally enjoyed : thus, some bog- 

 lovers, as Osmunda regalis, where placed in shght 

 excavations, which I could readily flood with water ; 

 others, as Ceterach officinarum, which, almost desert- 

 ing its native station on rocks, has established itself on 

 our mortared walls, I supplied with crumbled mortar, 

 carefully introduced between the stones, and placed 

 the root, so that, in all rains, and in the constant water- 

 ings in which ferneries rejoice, it should remain as 

 dry as possible ; for to the roots of some Ferns wet is 

 as injurious as it is needful to the well-being of others. 



