INTRODUCTION TO FERN LAND. 



tiful of the British. Ferns. Yet beautiful as are 

 the varieties of which we shall speak, they are 

 within the reach of all who may choose to gather 

 them, and that is our reason for devoting especial 

 attention to these varieties. 



Gentle reader, will you follow us in imagination 

 whilst we endeavour to describe to you some 

 Devonshire lanes which are familiar to uy ? And 

 please remember that, exquisitely beautiful as 

 they are, they are nevertheless but types of thou- 

 sands of other lanes that the ordinary tourist may 

 find for himself, in his rambles after Ferns in 

 the c Fern-paradise ' of England. When we have 

 described these lanes, and have noted the Ferns 

 which we shall find in them, we will try to show 

 how every one may have in his own home, 

 wherever that may be, a real ' Fern-paradise. 5 





