NATURE 



[7»{}'4< 1872 



case also it would have looked unnatural to have had 

 curved lines ; and, although I once was tempted to try it, 

 and had made preparations for curving the river, I ordered 

 the materials away, so satisfied was I that straight lines 

 alone would look natural for the occasion. 



"With the exception of places where straight lines 

 look natural, 1 eschew them, and also geometric figures, 

 such as ovals, circles, octagons, as not suitable to the 

 horticulturist, and unpleasing to the eye. 



" In using curved lines beauty appears to consist in 

 an ever-varying amount of curve. They should be 

 parts of no regular figure, and the Indians have sup- 

 plied us, in the patterns of'their shawls, with forms which 

 ever please us. In arranging them we must be guided by 

 the eye, and frequently a variation of an inch or two makes 

 an important difference in the effect which is produced." 



But the charm of the book is the minuteness with whicli 

 every detail of the garden is described ; not only the 

 flowers and fruits grown in it, the varieties which are found 

 to answer best, and the best mode of cultivating them, 

 but the animals, birds, beasts, and insects, which frequent 

 it, or which have been occasionally seen in it. Mr. Smce 

 thus gossips pleasantly about his ferneries : — 



" For some years past ferns and ferneries have been 

 much admired, and have received great attention from 

 amateur cultivators ; and with good reason, as their grace- 

 ful forms are most attractive, their mode of growth 

 interesting, and the colour of their fronds enchanting. 

 Ferns should be grown by themselves, and not mixed with 

 other plants, for several reasons, the principal being the 

 necessity of a special situation for them, and their dislilce 

 to be interfered with. However, the rhododendron, and 

 especially the scarlet varieties of it, may be planted along 

 with ferns as a fitting accompaniment ; a climbing rose 

 growing wild, or a single-flowering scarlet thorn, may also 

 be employed with advantage. Before the fronds shoot 

 out in spring I like to see the ground, in large patches, 

 covered with masses of primroses at one spot, masses of 

 snowdrops at another, masses of the wild oxalis at a third, 

 and at other places carpeted with the wild hyacinth. It 

 is not usual for me to mix these flowers together, as masses 

 of colour, such as these flowers afford in their native woods, 



give variety to the scenery of the garden " 



" Experience has taught me that ferns like an abund- 

 ance 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 rockwork, 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, 



" IVly Fern Glade is placed on one bnnk of the back- 

 water, 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 polystichums, 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 r.ather than wet. In the driest spots we grow 

 polypody {^Polypoditiin vuli^ani), and in the wettest the 

 marsh fern {Lastraa Thclyptcris), 



"The Fern Glen is a more elaborate artistic produc- 

 tion, 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 iSalix 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 groM'th of all ferns. . . . 

 " My Fern Glade has given me so much pleasure, that 

 I strongly advise every one who has a waste piece of land 

 near his garden to make a fern glen. It will be a pas- 

 time in the winter evenings to design it ; the construction 

 of it — the transforming of the ideal conception of the 



mind into a living reality— will affjrd much pleasure ; 

 many a coimtry trip in the woods will be required to 

 furnish it ; and when furnished it will afford a spot for 

 contemplation and enjoyment, in which the designer may 

 fancy that the robins, warblers, and nightingales, which 

 never fail to dwell there, are pouring forth their gratitude 

 for the construction of such a deliglrtful retreat. 



" My Valley of Ferns is another spot in which I greatly 

 delight. It has a stream through the centre, and it is well 

 surrounded by trees. Here two or three varieties of male 

 ferns and of polystichums attain their highest perfection. 

 The magnificent Stntthioptcris raises its graceful and 

 delicate fronds in the early spring, and shows its finely- 

 coloured foliage when dying down in the early autumn. 



" In the heat of summer the beauty of a great mass of 

 ferny foliage, such as this place affords, cannot be surpassed. 

 The success of this valley of ferns appears to be due to 

 the protection afforded from cold winds by surrounding 

 trees, whilst the plants themselves luxuriate under light 

 and sunshine, withfree exposure to airwithout draught . . . 

 "At this moment I have nearly every British fern grow- 

 ing out of doors, but I could never succeed in cultivating 

 the Asplcnium marinum in that situation. This fern 

 grows wild by the sea-coast as far north as Aberdeen ; 

 nevertheless I have never been able to grow one in any of 

 my outdoor ferneries. It is a remarkable fact that the 

 Adiasitmn Capilliis-Vcncris (Fig. 9) has never proved 

 to be hardy with me, although I have it now grow- 

 ing well in the Fern cave. I have seen it along the 

 Mediterranean coast beyond Mentone, but only in par- 

 ticular situations, such as on a bed of sandstone, which 

 is permeable by water ; in this situation the fronds were 

 severely frosted in winter. I saw a plant growing at the 

 top of the Cathedral at Genoa, at a time when all the 

 fountains in the city were frozen. I noticed it again to be 

 plentiful at Pompeii and at Herculaneum, and also in the 

 ruins of Nero's Palace at Rome. But nowhere was the 

 maidenhair seen in such perfection as in the ruined 

 amphitheatre at Posilippo, near Naples. The under- 

 ground rooms and passages formerly used by the 

 gladiators, and for the working machinery of the amphi- 

 theatre (which is the most perfect of any now existing), 

 forms a series of caves, through the walls of which 

 moisture continually oozes, and here the maidenhair 

 luxuriates in all its glory. Some of the fronds were 

 eighteen or more inches in length, and the earthen walls 

 were covered with sheets of this lovely fern, standing out 

 at right angles from the wall or hanging down from the 

 roof. I must confess that, when I beheld this great and 

 glorious sight, I was more impressed with it than with the 

 thought that I was present on a spot where dramas of 

 blood were enacted centuries before. 1 speedily collected 

 a number of plants, to the no small disgust of the cicerone 

 who could not do the amphitheatre at his usual gallop, 

 and who shrugged his shoulders at my utter want of taste 

 in gathering useless weeds. Some of these plants now 

 grow at my garden in the Fern cave. The Adiaii/inii is 

 said to luxuriate in the orange groves in Spain, in which 

 country the fronds are used to make the syrup of capil- 

 laire, a pleasant beverage drunk mixed with water in hot 

 weather." 



Probably few are aware that in the clefts of that re- 

 markable formation known as the " limestone pavement," 

 in the west of Co. Clare, Ireland, the maidenhair fern 

 may be gathered flourishing with a luxuriance of growth 

 fully equal to that here described in Italy. 



Mr. Smce's "My Garden" is, indeed, a book which 

 ought to be in the hands of every one who is fortunate 

 enough to possess a garden of his own ; he is certain to 

 find some things in it from which he may profit. The 

 mode in which the work is got out— the paper, the print- 

 ing, and the binding — leaves nothing to be desired. The 

 style of the larger illustrations may be judged from the 

 sample we have given ; the smaller figures are in most 



