Cultivation of Ferns. 49 



stances ridiculous. No true taste is displayed in the arrange- 

 ment ; they are always too insignificant : at best they are but 

 an uninteresting assemblage of stones ; and I am sorry to 

 have cause to add, that they remind one more of the refuse of 

 a stone quarry, or the heaps which Mr. Macadam has ordered 

 to be laid by the road-side, than as objects capable of yielding 

 the least pleasurable idea. 



Of all artificial scenery, a flower-garden should be the least 

 disfigured by any kind of ruggedness, unless it be on such a 

 scale as would be respectable in itself, worthy of the talent of 

 the designer, and produce that effect which we often feel in 

 the wilder scenes of uncultivated nature, and which we might 

 desire to imitate. 



To obtain such effect, I would propose that advantage be 

 taken of any natural mound abutting on the side of the flower- 

 garden ; or, if no such thing exist, I would advise forming 

 an artificial mound, by a collection of all kinds of rubbish and 

 earth which may be near the spot. The face of this mound, 

 next the garden, I would make as precipitous as possible, in- 

 serting into it as many massive fragments of stone as could be 

 piled thereon, clothing the whole with alpine trees, shrubs, 

 and herbaceous plants. To make this feature more complete, 

 I would have water led to the top by pipes, which might be 

 allowed to trickle over a jutting stone, or ooze out from a cre- 

 vice of the same, into a pool or basin at the base. Here would 

 be a correct resemblance of what is often seen in the mossy 

 dell, and a suitable habitat for our beautiful alpine and aquatic 

 rareties. I am, Sir, &c. 



Blmidford, Feb. 20. 1827. Geo. M'Leish. 



Art. XVI. Observations on the Cultivation of Ferns. 

 By Mr. James Housman. 



Sir, 



The very valuable communication, with a list and figures 

 of ferns, in a former number of your Magazine (Vol. IV. p. 1.), 

 reminded me of something which I had written on the same 

 subject; and, though I could have no wish to interpose any 

 thing of my own in preference to any communication which has 

 had precedence of mine, yet I beg leave to suggest whether the 

 papers might not throw some light on each other, and more 

 fully illustrate the history of Ferns, and bring into notice what 

 I consider a beautiful and too much neglected tribe of plants. 



Vol. v.— No. 18. e 



