86 AMERICAN FERN JOURNAL 
I was quite amused to have the livery stable man 
remark more than once: “It does beat all, Mr. Clark- 
son, what bad luck you do have with the rain lately, 
when you hire this team.’’ Now, the truth was that I 
several times selected a day of gentle rain for a collect- 
ing trip, because ferns transplanted then nearly always 
kept on growing without the least setback, apparently 
never sensing that they had been moved. 
In bringing ferns to the garden, one is very apt, at 
first, to place them too near together, so that, as the 
crosiers unroll, they do not have a chance to expand 
without crowding each other. It really is astonishing 
the way the average fern will reach out as it unrolls. 
A few of the finest selected ferns, with plenty of room 
to spread out and show to advantage, are infinitely 
better than inferior and crowded plants. 
Although I planned originally to have only native 
shrubs, I found it expedient to modify this plan some- 
what. For instance, the common white lilac, which 
does not sprout very freely from the roots, proved to be 
very valuable as used in clumps for shade, because it 
could be moved about during May and early June 
without wilting badly, and I sometimes found it desir- 
able to change the amount of shade for special fern 
groups as the season advanced. The common purple 
lilac should not be used for this purpose as it sprouts 
freely from the roots and will spread all over the garden. 
Most ferns need more sunlight than I, at least, had 
any idea of, but in most cases they want this sunshine 
for only a limited portion of the day. 
Transplanting ferns during the hot days of summer 
is as a rule not particularly successful. If possible, 
ferns found at this time should be marked and moved 
later in the year, after the weather becomes cooler. 
CaRE oF THE GaRDEN.—From the deciduous trees 
growing in the garden it receives a generous shower of 
