FERNS 



2154 



FERNS 



Alberta boundary line and twenty miles north 

 of the Montana state line. The city is served 

 by the Crow's Nest branch of the Canadian 

 Pacific and also by the Great Northern and 

 the Morrissey, Fernie & Michel railways. The 

 place was settled in 1898 and was incorporated 

 as a city in 1904. It was almost completely 

 destroyed by fire in 1908. In 1911 the popula- 

 tion was 3,146; in 1916 it was estimated at 

 3,500, English, Irish, Welsh, Italians and Slavs 

 predominating in the foreign element. 



Fernie is located in an agricultural district 

 well adapted to the growing of fruits and veg- 

 etables. The coke industry is represented by 

 500 bee-hive ovens. Other industries of im- 

 portance are saw mills, machine shops, railway- 

 car shops, foundries, breweries and factories 

 for making fruit boxes, furniture and building 

 material. Noteworthy public buildings are 

 the $100,000 provincial government building, a 

 $100,000 customs office and post office, and a 

 courthouse. 



FERNS, jernz, a large and important group 

 of flowerless plants, whose delicate and beauti- 

 ful foliage adds to the attractiveness of the 

 woodlands, and whose habits of growth and 

 reproduction are most interesting. There are 

 about 4,000 species, found both in the tem- 

 perate regions and in the tropics, and ranging 

 from minute forms whose delicate, filmy leaves 

 resemble moss, to the great treelike ferns of 



South America and the Pacific Islands, which 

 rise to heights of forty feet or more. 



In all except the tree ferns, the parts of the 

 plants that are seen are the leaves only, for 

 the stems and roots are underground. Upon 

 the under surfaces of the leaves, or fronds, 

 are found round, brownish spore cases, which 

 contain countless minute bodies known as 

 spores. When these become ripe, the cases 

 burst open, and the spores, falling to the 

 ground, sprout and produce a tiny, heart- 

 shaped leaf, which is entirely different from 

 the parent fern. Upon this plant are produced 

 the organs from which, in time, a new fern will 

 spring. This method of reproducing is called 

 by botanists alternation oj generations. 



Some ferns grow on the ground, others live 

 in the water, and some attach themselves to 

 other objects. The latter, known as climbing 

 ferns, lack the strength to hold themselves up, 

 and so twine about other objects for support. 

 Among familiar varieties of ferns are the as- 

 paragus fern, bearing leaves like tiny spines; 

 the brake (which see) ; the beautiful dicksonia, 

 lady and New York ferns, with long, plume- 

 like fronds; and the delicate maidenhair 

 (which see). 



Fern beds make a delightful nook in a school 

 garden. These plants are hardy and will grow 

 from year to year with little care, if planted 

 on the shady side of the schoolhouse. The 





