WALL RUE. 41 



native wilds, and to have taken up its residence near 

 the habitations of men. It may almost be called the 

 Churchyard Fern, being so commonly found on old 

 churches and churchyard walls. In a charming little 

 book on the ferns of Devonshire it is mentioned espe- 

 cially as growing inside the tower of Morwinstowe 

 Church, and round about the sad memorials of the 

 drowned and shipwrecked sailors who lie buried there 

 in close proximity to the devouring element which 

 engulfed them. It is not a melancholy fern, and its 

 bright tiny fronds, springing from their resting-places, 

 serve to remind one of the new life which is to come, 

 and of the " haven of rest, where no storms shall 

 blow." 



We need walk no further from London than Green- 

 wich Park to see it flourishing abundantly on the 

 brick walls surrounding a part of the park ; and those 

 who are wishing to meet with it may find it most 

 likely on the first garden- wall they pass by. 



Those who desire to domesticate this fern will find 

 it difficult to remove from its native haunts, as its 

 wiry roots seem to intersect the bricks or pieces of 

 rock on which it grows. It should only be removed 

 with a portion of the wall on which it has fixed itself, 

 and then surrounded with brick rubbish, mortar, and 

 sandy peat. In this way it will often thrive well if 

 sheltered from the sun and cold winds. Mr. Newman 

 says : " It seems to disapprove of the attentions of the 

 gardener, to loathe his waterings and his syringings, 

 to despise his composts, and utterly to eschew the 

 confinement of a bell-glass." 



