142 THE FERN PARADISE. 



A charming occupant for your " Fern Paradise " 

 is the Lady Fern. Whether in the house or 

 the garden it matters not, it will thrive well. 

 But remember that it lives upon shade and 

 moisture. These are its food and drink ; and 

 without them it will shrink and die. If in the 

 garden, place it in the shadiest corner of your 

 rockery, and when there you can never give it 

 too much water. But give it full freedom. 

 Place it where it can have ample space to 

 unroll and spread out its charming fronds. 

 If you would see these displayed in their 

 natural and graceful habit, their tips should 

 not touch any jutting fragment of stone. Al- 

 though planted in the lowest tier of your 

 rockery, it should stand on the crest of a stony 

 knoll, so that its arching fronds may be thrown 

 upwards and outwards, free of any surrounding 

 obstruction. There, in such a chosen situation, 

 it will exhibit the perfection of its gracefully- 

 arching habit. 



Have you a shady window in the house, on 

 which, facing north, the sun never shines ? If 



