FERN POOLS. 
Down in what is called the ‘‘Homestead Country”’ in lower 
Dade County the water from the Everglades finds its way through 
the rocky limestone strata to the sea by underground passages. 
The carbonic acid in the water dissolves the rock to such an 
extent that in places the roof falls in, and often the rock, earth 
and rubbish dam up the stream and form a pool. On the banks 
of these pools, especially those in the hammocks, many species 
of ferns and other shade and moisture loving plants spring up 
and flourish in rare luxuriance and beauty. 
On my first visit to this region I became infatuated with them 
and I wondered if it was not possible to make something like 
them in my own hammock. Shortly after my return I blasted 
out a space where there were but a few small saplings, wheeled 
away the rock to use for paths in the lowland, and finally sank 
the excavation to a foot or so below water level. I left the 
sides as irregular as possible, filled earth into the crevices and 
pockets, planted a lot of ferns and in a short time had a fair 
imitation of a natural fern pool. 
So I am not the inventor of the fern pool but only its discoverer 
and developer, and I shall not even attempt to patent it. My 
first pool was worked out near the swamp bordering the bay 
and I soon had land crabs in great numbers, not merely as 
visitors but as permanent residents. They didn’t come to 
admire the plants or the beauty of the landscape; they were 
there strictly for business. They ate nearly all my delicate 
ferns and what they didn’t eat they pulled out and destroyed, 
and I soon found that I could only grow the stronger and coarser 
native species in it. 
My next venture was made considerably farther away from 
the bay in high, dense hammock, and there I have been able 
by watching and occasional poisoning to keep my unwelcome 
visitors pretty well in check, and to grow plants with reasonable 
success. There is only a small pool sunk some ten feet in the 
rock, and it is well shaded by overhanging trees. On its sides 
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