130 THE FERN PARADISE. 



the scene was really charming to behold. No tall 

 grass, no plants, or shrubs of any kind were inter- 

 mingled with the sea of feathery Brakes which, 

 waving in the wind, conveyed to the mind a 

 weirdly graceful idea of fairy-land. 



The Bracken is, indeed, the free wild fern 

 of the forest ; possessing preeminently a tender 

 and romantic grace. It is the fern of the forest, 

 as distinguished from the fern of the wood, grove, 

 or copse. Transplanted, it will retain all its de- 

 lightful characteristics in the fern garden. We have 

 read in some fern books that the Bracken cannot 

 be cultivated at all in gardens and rockeries; in 

 others that its cultivation is extremely difficult. 

 But both statements are erroneous ; and the mis- 

 take has probably arisen in this way : Great care is 

 necessary in taking up the Bracken from its wild 

 habitats, in order to secure a proper quantity of 

 rhizome and of root ; and without this care the 

 rhizome is liable to get broken. The latter pene- 

 trates the soil to some depth, and to transplant 

 tt successfully, you must dig deeply down. 

 The best plan is to remove such specimens as 



