THE BRACKEN. 131 



may be found growing on shallow though rich 

 beds of leaf-mould ; that is to say, under con- 

 ditions which compel the rhizome to creep hori- 

 zontally, instead of to grow down vertically. Then 

 in order not to break or injure the rhizome, the 

 plant should be removed together with the soil 

 in which it may be growing. Small specimens 

 should be taken with this object, as it is generally 

 impossible to get up the roots of the larger 

 growths. We remember going to Hampstead 

 Heath, some few years since, for a small Bracken. 

 We removed one, turf and all, bodily, and the 

 same plant is now growing bravely. As we pen 

 these lines, our Bracken has just performed an 

 extraordinary feat. We planted it between two 

 small rockeries amongst irregular blocks of stone ; 

 and during the summer it has thrown up its 

 fronds from its creeping rhizome in various direc- 

 tions. One morning we noticed what appeared 

 to be a broken tip freshly broken it seemed 

 of our Bracken frond lying on the top of one of 

 the rockeries which the plant had overshadowed. 

 "Those dreadful cats!" thought we; and we 



