20 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



but desirable ; tbe noble foxglove, whicb never sbows its beauty- 

 better tban in rustic scenes, and the pretty trailing tormentil, with 

 the violet and the primrose, have a perfect right to shine amidst the 

 herbage and pave the slopes witb flowers. But the walk through, 

 what shall we do with it ? Now here is just the place in which to 

 grow the beautiful spergula, and wanting that, if the hollow walk is 

 formed of peat, say only six inches deep, it may be planted with 

 that very common weed, the pearl-wort (Sagina procumbens). The 

 ground ought to be carpeted, and we have for choice spergula, and 

 sagina, tormentil, prunella, wild thyme, and a hundred more good 

 things that bear trampling on without harm. Why not mix ttiem 

 all together — better such a carpet than a gravel-walk. Nor is the 

 wild wood ivy unfit to share the praise that beauty brings in such a 

 scene. Let it run over the great tree- stumps, and here and there 

 climb to the top of a bank. The strong-growing ferns will rise up 

 through it like gigantic shuttlecocks of emerald green, upon a 

 lovely ground-work of dark glossy verdure. Let the rustic tone 

 prevail throughout : have no roses, or geraniums, or vases, or artistic 

 fountains. A stream of water, a tumble-down fountain, a rockery, 

 a clump of birch trees, a cave with water trickling through and 

 ferns clothing the sides and roof — these are appropriate accessories, 

 and " bespeak the hand of taste." 



As to conditions of success. Some ferns will grow in the most 

 commonplace soil, such as we might find in a good kitchen garden ; 

 but no progress will be made in the proper sense of the word with- 

 out plenty of heath-mould or peat, or if that is not to be obtained, 

 good leaf-mould thoroughly rotted, or wanting that a mixture of 

 chopped moss, cocoa-nut fibre refuse, and sharp sand. A great 

 many of the most interesting ferns love sandstone and sand, and 

 cannot be grown properly without these materials. Ferns that love 

 peat, such as the beautiful blechnum, and the lady-fern, will also 

 grow luxuriantly in rotten wood ; hence where tree-butts are em- 

 ployed, as in what we call a " rootery," these free-growing kinds 

 usually attain to a high degree of development. But a caution 

 here. Dead roots and all kinds of decaying wood are apt to produce 

 fungi in visible forms not always desirable, and in invisible forms 

 that are poisonous to the roots of every tree with which they come 

 in contact. Experimentum cruris. Bury a few old roots of trees 

 amongst your standard roses. They will soon produce masses of 

 white threads (mycelium), which will ramify and in time take hold 

 of the roots of the roses, and the roses will then begin to decline in 

 vigour, and will probably die if not relieved of the enemy. Every 

 kind of tree is liable to injury from this cause ; therefore in all cases 

 where rooteries are found, the prudent artist will consider if the 

 mycelium which is likely to be produced is likely to be productive 

 of mischief. 



A very simple, but decidedly picturesque mode of growing ferns 

 in a collection by themselves, occurred to us a few years since 

 through an accidental circumstance. "We had, in a yard adjoining 

 the garden, a large stock of faggots, tree loppings, bean-sticks, roots, 

 and other forest refuse, and amongst them a number of old uubarked 



