THE FERN PARADISE. 



But nature conquers everywhere in Devon shire. 

 Even its iron-lined roads are subdued by the 

 softening influence of plants and shrubs. The 

 Ferns, especially, are heedless of the intrusion of 

 the railway engineers. Dry, hard, bare cuttings 

 may be made through the hills ; turf, heather, 

 and wild Brakes may be stripped off along the 

 valleys; rails maybe laid down, and everything 

 done to make the scene look as commercial and 

 uninteresting as possible. But the spontaneous 

 influences which produce vegetable life will over- 

 come all this. Rain comes down, and on to the 

 softened earth grass seeds blow. Thistle and 

 dandelion will send their germs in light and airy 

 chariots, and Fern spores in countless numbers 

 will find their way where the navvy has ruth- 

 lessly stripped off the verdant carpeting of the 

 ground to make room for iron roads. Nature, 

 indeed, everywhere more or less asserts her sway, 

 and clothes our roads and railways with her 

 charming dress ; but it is especially the Ferns 

 with which roads and raihvays have to contend in 

 the charming county of Devon, to which these 

 beautiful plants lend so soft and indescribable a 





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