FERN-PESTS. 175 



fumes evolved would be sure destruction to the 

 plants in the collection. 



Rabbits are in England complained of as inter- 

 fering with the out-door cultivation of ferns. But 

 the writer has found his chief trouble to arise from 

 the midnight revels of the cats of the neighbor- 

 hood, which seem in the spring (the time when 

 most damage can be done by breaking down the 

 new fronds, and uprooting the young plants) to 

 consider the "wild corner " a particularly favorable 

 place for their frolics. A box-trap, followed by a 

 short course of hydropathy whenever a patient 

 presents himself, has greatly alleviated this annoy- 

 ance ; and the evil, when dead, becomes a blessing 

 in the shape of a stimulant at the roots of pear- 

 trees and grape-vines. A friend has lost a fine col- 

 lection of out-of-door ferns by the ravages of hens, 

 which seemed to consider the young crosiers very 

 delicate food. All these and many other annoy- 

 ances must be met with good-temper, patience, and 

 mother-wit by every one who would be successful 

 in the culture of ferns. 



