i 7 8 



THE SWAN AND HER CREW. 



sheet lead, which was to make it perfectly water-tight. They 

 then made a wooden framework, with a pointed roof, to fit on 

 the top of it. This they glazed with ordinary window-glass, 

 and painted all the wood-work black. It was now ready for 

 the soil. First they put a layer, about two inches deep, of 

 broken sandstone, in order to ensure perfect drainage, and 

 mixed witli this were some lumps of charcoal to keep it pure. 

 Then they filled up the box with earth, mixed in the proportions 



COS? 



OAK FIRN. 



following : one-third pan of garden mould, one-third part of 

 sand, and one-third part of peaty earth, with an admixture of 

 dead leaves. In the centre of the rockery they built up a 

 framework of curiously water- worn flints, and then they carried 

 the affair in triumph to Mary's room, where they planted the 

 ferns she had received from her friend glossy, whole-leaved 

 hart's-tongues, delicate, black-stemmed maiden-hair, ladder-like 

 polypodies and blechnums, feathery lady-ferns, light green and 

 branching oak-ferns, and many another species, which, notwith- 

 standing their removal from the Devonshire lanes, grew and 



