PREFACE TO THE ILLUSTRATED (FOURTH) EDITION. 



the same time, imagine that he hears the music 

 of running water and feels the soft breath of 

 springtide, the Author ventures to indulge the 

 hope that such pleasant, though imaginary, im- 

 pressions will be very potent in their effect. They 

 will indeed undoubtedly strengthen the pleadings 

 which this volume contains for the loving study and 

 cultivation of the most graceful and beautiful of 

 the plant forms which the beneficent Creator of all 

 that is good and beautiful has scattered with a 

 loving hand in such profuse abundance over the 

 surface of our world. May the figure of a ' Fern 

 basket,' depending from a spray of ivy ra this 

 title-page, serve gently to suggest that Nature will 

 lovingly lend herself to the plans of the Fern- 

 lover who desires to make the accessories of 

 Fern cultivation harmoniously blend with hi& 

 endeavours to preserve as far as possible, in his 

 extemporized Fern paradise, Nature's unadorned 

 simplicity. 



The eight illustrations in the part of the 



