FERNS AS A HOBBY 



name correctly more than three or four of our com- 

 mon wayside ferns. 



In his introduction to the " Ferns of Kentucky," 

 Mr. Williamson asks: "Who would now think of 

 going to the country to spend a few days, or even 

 one day, without first inquiring whether ferns are 

 to be found in the locality?" 



Though for some years I have been interested in 

 ferns and have made many all-day country expedi- 

 tions with various friends, I do not remember ever 

 to have heard this question asked. Yet that two 

 such writers as Mr. Underwood and Mr. William- 

 son could imagine the existence of a state of things 

 so contrary to fact, goes far to prove the fascination 

 of the study. 



To the practical mind one of the great advantages 

 of ferns as a hobby lies in the fact that the number 

 of our native, that is, of our northeastern, ferns is so 

 comparatively small as to make it an easy matter to 

 learn to know by name and to see in their homes 

 perhaps two-thirds of them. 



On an ordinary walk of an hour or two through 

 the fields and woods, the would-be fern student 

 can familiarize himself with anywhere from ten 

 to fifteen of the ferns described in this book. 

 During a summer holiday in an average locality 

 he should learn to know by sight and by name 

 from twenty-five to thirty ferns, while in a really 

 good neighborhood the enthusiast who is willing 

 to scour the surrounding country from the tops 

 of the highest mountains to the depths of the 



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