37 r 



Experience has taught me that ferns like an abundance of light, 

 although it is necessary to screen them from cold winds. For this 

 reason I always contrive that a belt of trees, or of rootwork or rock- 

 work, shall surround my ferneries, and at the same time that the light 

 of the sky may fall upon them from above without their being directly 

 exposed to the fiery rays of the sun. 



My Fern Glade is placed on one bank of the Backwater, and is 

 screened from the sun by a row of nut-bushes to the south. Here 

 many of the larger varieties of lady-ferns, interspersed with poly- 

 stichums, broad ferns, mountain ferns, and scolopendriums, are grown. 

 The royal fern flourishes near the river, but it is advisable to keep 

 the crowns well above the water, as their roots like damp soil rather 

 than wet. In the driest spots we grow polypody (Polypodium vulgare}, 

 and in the wettest the marsh fern (Lastrcea TJielypteris). 



The Fern Glen is a more elaborate artistic production, affording 

 many delightful little views and growing fine ferns. The whole is 

 well sunk into the ground, with little rivulets running through, affording 

 one or two boggy places. It is protected on the north by a bank, 

 with a hedge interspersed with trees, and on the south by trees. A 

 large willow-tree (Salix alba} on the south-west shades the sun's rays, 

 but still there is ample sky light overhead, which I find so desirable 

 for the growth of all ferns. In this glen a very large Osinnnda 

 regalis t from Ireland, with twelve crowns, shows 

 itself in great beauty. A lady-fern of largest 

 size stands forth in a similar manner. The 

 oak, beech, and limestone polypodies, with the 

 P. hexagonoptcrum from North America, flourish. 

 The Ad tan turn cuneatum grows, but does not 

 stand the severest winters. The holly fern and 

 the rigid fern likewise grow here, with Athyrium 

 flexile, Cystopteris fragilis, Asplcnium tricho- * K " hf>I r 

 manes y A. Adiantum-nigrum, A. I'iridc, A. Ruta-muraria, and A. septen- 

 trionale. The three English filmy ferns grow under glass, and also 

 one other, the Hymcnophyllum dcmissnm (fig. 86 1), from New Zealand. 



B B 2 



