26 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS. 



(not stagnant) water, nearly all the English Ferns may be 

 grown. 



It will, as a matter of course, suggest itself to the planter, 

 that the most sunny, most exposed, and least moistened 

 positions on the rockwork should be appropriated to those 

 species which grow naturally in situations to which these 

 conditions afford the nearest resemblance ; while, on the 

 other hand, the kinds which naturally prefer the deepest 

 shade and the dampest soil, should be placed in the posi- 

 tions where these conditions are most nearly imitated. 



Perhaps, however, the most interesting occupation for the 

 amateur in Perns consists in the cultivation of them under 

 glass, either in pots, or planted in a Wardian case. All the 

 species admit of being grown in pots, and when developed 

 under the protection of a covering of glass, acquire more 

 than their natural delicacy of appearance. 



For general purposes the frame or case in which they 

 are grown should have a northern aspect ; the eastern and 

 western aspects are less favourable, though with attention 

 to shading during sunny weather, they may be adopted, and 

 are at least much preferable to the southern, even with the 

 advantage of shading. It is the heat, no less than the 

 brightness of such an aspect, which is to be avoided ; and 



