72 FERNS IN THEIR HOMES AND OURS. 



speaks of many of the most beautifully-kept estab- 

 lishments of private owners ; and descriptions of the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and other public 

 conservatories, with lists of their ferns, are from 

 time to time published. Among the wealthy culti- 

 vators of exotic plants in this country, a large num- 

 ber own beautiful ferns, sometimes remarkable 

 examples of the more robust species ; but these 

 are generally grown with the shade-loving plants 

 in pots ; and few, if any, attempts have been made 

 to give up any large house to the natural culture 

 of ferns. Mr. Williams ("Select Ferns," p. 23) 

 thus describes the fern-houses of S. Mendel, Esq., 

 of Manly Hall, Manchester : " There are two fern- 

 eries in that place, a tropical and a temperate, 

 the former being 70 feet in length, 26 in breadth, 

 and 17 feet high ; and the latter 96 feet in length, 

 24 in breadth, and 16 high. They are situated at 

 some distance from the mansion ; and, to arrive at 

 them, a beautiful portion of the pleasure-grounds 

 has to be traversed. 



"Upon entering the tropical house, such a 

 display of enchanting fairy-like scenery suddenly 

 meets the sight, that a few moments' pause is abso- 

 lutely necessary to understand the transformation. 

 Commencing to look at the place in detail, one 

 becomes more enraptured at the taste and skill dis- 

 played in the arrangement of the rock-work. Here 

 a great bowlder is jutting out, there another, cov- 



