54 AMERICAN FERN JOURNAL 
ConstructTion.—Having removed the turf from a 
strip along the fence averaging from thirty to forty 
feet wide and one hundred feet long, I staked out my 
paths, one long one running the full length, and several 
cross paths, the result being the dividing of the coming 
garden into nine various sized and irregular shaped 
“islands,” as I call them, on which to plant my trees, 
shrubs, and ferns. There was also a border from three 
to six feet wide extending along the fence a distance of 
about one hundred and fifty feet. None of my paths 
were built in a straight line, and I paved some of them 
with irregular stone, making them attractive in appear- 
ance, and also furnishing a firm dry walk for the early 
spring days when the ground is soft and muddy. On 
my “islands” I planted about thirty trees—sugar 
maple, red oak, American linden, moose maple, beech, 
red maple, willow,—these trees averaging from ten to 
fifteen feet tall, with good branching tops for shade, 
and I scattered them about irregularly to give as natural 
an appearance to my little “‘woods” as possible. As 
these trees grew larger, I, of course, planned to cut out 
more or less of them, keeping only the most desirable. 
Under the trees I grouped clumps of Mountain Laurel, 
Sweet-Pepper bushes, Azalea viscosa, Azalea nudiflora, 
Rhododendron catawbiense, and the common Barberry. 
I also raised the surface of all my “islands” several 
inches by spreading over them a mixture of peat and 
sandy leaf mould. This left my paths much lower 
than the rest of the garden, for I had planned these 
paths to also serve as gutters to carry off surplus water. 
Goinc Arrer THE FEeRNs.—All was now ready for 
the ferns. A horse of mature age, a wagon ditto, 
several suits of old clothes, and a good heavy grub hoe, 
all played important parts in my many collecting trips. 
The first of these was after the “big three,” the Os- 
mundas. At Pettingell’s swamp, a strip of wet woods 
