CHAPTER VII. 
THE FERN HOUSE. 
THE Ferns are amongst our most favoured foliaged 
plants, and well deserve to be such esteemed favourites, 
for they are not like other classes of plants, most of 
which have a season of display, and then relapse into a 
state of comparative disinterest ; but the family of ferns 
as a tribe maintain an interest which never flags: this 
arises from their beautiful form and evergreen character. 
Let a class of plants be what it may as regards beauty 
while in foliage and flower, the day that it ceases 
flowering and loses its foliage it is looked upon (by an 
amateur at least) as a thing of the past; but it is never 
so with the family of Ferns. 
Since, then, ferns are so eagerly sought after, and 
appreciated by everybody, I am at a loss to discover a 
sufficient reason why we find so few glass-houses devoted 
entirely to the culture of this tribe, for there is no class 
of plants so easy to grow; although I know some per- 
sons do not succeed very well with them. In the first 
place glass-houses for growing them frequently are not 
situated where they should be ; and secondly, they are 
not glazed with proper glass for the situation the house 
occupies. I recommend that at all times a house, en- 
tirely devoted to the growing of ferns, should be con- 
structed so as to face the north or west, or north-east, 
