FERNERIES. 385 



great attractions of an outdoor fernery. I have many plants, and 

 many should always be grown. 



Of all the acclimatized ferns, the Adiantums are remarkable for 

 their beauty. I have already mentioned that the A. Capillus-Veneris 

 grows with some difficulty. I find that A. formosum stands the 

 hardest frosts, but throws up fronds only two or three inches high. 

 However, the North American variety, the A. pedatum, is a plant 

 of surpassing beauty ; it throws up fronds about a foot high, and 

 then forms a flat top. Out of doors it is not only one of the most 

 beautiful of adiantums, but also one of the most lovely of all ferns. 

 I have many specimens, and no fernery can be perfect without several 

 of this splendid fern. It is not very commonly cultivated. 



The Athyrium or Asplenium goldianurn, var. pictum, is a very beau- 

 tiful fern, but not of sufficient size to be of great importance ; never- 

 theless single specimens are charming. The N othocJilana Maranta is 

 another excellent fern, which, though not very large, survives the 

 hardest winters. 



The Onychium sensibile, the fronds of which turn brown upon the 

 slightest touch, or upon exposure to the rays of the sun, lives as well 

 in our climate as the common English ferns. We grow plants of 

 the Onychium japonicum, which do not thrive so well out of doors as 

 some persons assert. 



The Davallia Novce Zelandia lives through most winters, and the 

 beautiful Todea pellucida through some ; but both T. pellucida and 

 T. superba, and the fine filmy fern HymenopJiyllum demissum, live out 

 of doors with me if simply covered with a pane of glass. 



The above list comprises nearly all the exotic ferns which can 

 be safely depended upon, and the acclimatization of foreign ferns 

 does not offer much prospect of large success. 



There are numerous ferns which we plant out for the summer and 

 take back to our houses, like bedding plants, in autumn. This plan 

 admirably suits many tree ferns. In my forest of ferns I plant out 

 Cyathea medullaris, which forms superb fronds many feet long, and 

 which is much improved by this treatment. 



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