OCTOBER. 235 



in their garden, but they happen to live in a country without stone, 

 or any thing of which they can make a fitting substitute, — and of 

 course in the midland counties there are many such ; but will not a 

 little ingenuity overcome the difficulty ? Are there no brick-kilns 

 or tile-works in the neighbourhood ? If there are, why you then have 

 a very decent substitute in the broken burrs and lumps of burnt clay, 

 which may be readily procured from thence, and which, by a little 

 management, assisted by good taste, in destroying the brick-like shape 

 and appearance of your materials, and in giving the mass a natural 

 outline, neither studiously broken nor tamely the reverse, may be 

 made into one of the prettiest spots in the garden. Always, if pos- 

 sible, choose a situation against a bank or rising ground ; carry in 

 your mind's eye any old quarry (which of all places, in a stony 

 countr}^ is the best by far of all,) which you may happen to have 

 seen, and follow that in its leading features ; and if you can contrive 

 to have a variety of aspects, why so much the better. Ferns (or very 

 few of them) will not succeed in the bright glare of sunshine ; but 

 the face of the rockery, which is unshaded, and to the south, may be 

 planted with Sedums and Arabis and little Alpine plants, interspersed 

 with a few Ferns, such as the Mountain Parsley Fern {Pteris or 

 Cryptogramma crispa), the Scaly Hart's Tongue {Grammitis CeteracK)^ 

 and the Wall Rue (^Asplenium Ruta muraria and Asplenium Tricho- 

 manes). 



The interest of the fernery will be much increased if there is a 

 small bog contrived in a shady corner, by puddling the bottom of a 

 basin of stones with some tenacious clay, and filling it with rotten 

 leaves and common moss, with some Sphagnum on the top of the 

 whole, and well saturated with soft water ; and if a small spring can 

 be directed into it, so much the better. In the bog will be planted 

 the Royal flowering Fern {Osmunda regalis), and at the edge may 

 be planted the lovely waving Lady Fern {Athyrium fcsminum), and 

 the two varieties of Filmy Fern (the Hymenophy Hum Tunhridgense 

 and Wilsonii), and varied by a tuft of Myosotis palustris, and the 

 compact bright- green little Cornish Moneywort {Sihthorpia euro- 

 paa), and ivy-leaved Campanula {Campanula hederacea), and the 

 common Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) ; in fact, once turn your at- 

 tention towards the subject, and many lovely and interesting plants 

 will suggest themselves, — the Water Ranunculus and Alisma among 

 the number. 



If the fernery could be contrived on the edge of a piece of water, 

 either large or small, it would be a great advantage, as then you 

 may cultivate the aquatic plants and rushes, and Equisetums, which, 

 with the Ferns, Mosses, and Lichens, might be grouped in endless 

 variety, and form of itself a spot of unceasing and most interesting 

 study ; and there we may contemplate the wonderful works of Na- 

 ture, and learn to praise nature's God, our common Maker, " to 

 whom all glory." 



Cornwall. Alpha. 



