INTRODUCTORY. 



how exquisitely cool and refreshing is the very 

 name ! suggestive of stately and luxuriant tropical 

 growths, of great straggling lianas hanging from 

 tree to tree, with here and there a wreath or a 

 mass of gorgeously bright or brilliantly white 

 flowers, and in the dense, shady underwood, tall, 

 verdant plumes, springing from a massive brown 

 stem, like the capital from a graceful column; 

 and, beneath them, great glossy leaves and fronds 

 of every variety of growth and form, luxuriating 

 in the fertilizing influences of moisture, heat, and 

 shade. Or, again, the Fern paradise may suggest, 

 as it does to Mr. Heath, the more modest and 

 easily-attained glories of the Devonshire moorland 

 and delicious ' green lanes,' where grow in rich 

 profusion so many English varieties of the lovely 

 flowerless plants, inviting the wanderer not 

 merely to admire, but to study and cultivate 

 these, the easiest of all Nature's children to 

 transform into happy denizens of our houses 

 and gardens. For, given proper soil and treat- 

 ment, the Fern, in most cases independent of 

 breeze and sunshine, will not droop like an exile 

 when removed from its favourite haunts, and 



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