12 



tives, for it naturalh' is found at the water's edge and needs 

 wet soil. It calls for a pool which is not always available. The 

 rootstock is often erect and sends out branches; from these, new 

 crowns grow. Thus the clump may be divided for more plants. 

 Traveling by rail from Yarmouth to Halifax one sees 0. regalis 

 growing in profusion adding much to the beauty of the land- 

 scape and so there is no surprise in seeing the fern featured in 

 the Public Gardens of Halifax. 



An effective planting of Pteris latiuscula was among rhodo- 

 dendrons which were planted as a hedge to screen the street from 

 a city lot. The ferns grew tall and rather sparsely, the rhodo- 

 dendrons and tree roots seeming to keep the fern roots in check; 

 for the bracken has a rootstock that is smooth, long, and creep- 

 ing. It is difficult to dig up and once established difficult to get 

 rid of. It can burrow downward for several feet it is meets an 

 obstruction and pass under the same or it may creep around it. 

 One is sometimes surprised to find shrubby Pteris plants in a 

 potato patch or a sandy wood-road through a woodland. One 

 planting of Pteris usually satisfies the owner of a fern garden. 



Bracken in British Columbia grows in great thickets and 

 does not by choice (although it grows there) inhabit neglected, 

 half cultivated land. It reaches its greatest luxuriance in rich 

 forest mold along trails, by streams and rocky hollows where 

 sun and air reach it fully. I have seen it growing beside young 

 hemlocks and rivaling them until they were eight or ten feet 

 tall. Many a fire-hollowed tree trunk had a bracken growing from 

 its centre. On the other hand a scrubby growth of this fern 

 may appear on a burned over hill top where there are no other 

 plants except dog-bane, wild strawberry and Listera under the 

 coming growth of scanty pines. Though a coarse fern it is very 

 beautiful when a scattered growth of it is seen on a hillside. I, 

 personally, would not omit it from the fern garden. It is so self- 

 reliant. 



There are many other ferns besides those mentioned that 

 will grow well for the amateur. Given space enough and running 

 water a real fernery could be established where one would be 

 tempted to collect, for example, variations of lady fern or make 

 picturesque plantings of evergreen species for \\'inter enjoy- 

 ment. 



MOORESTOWN, N. J. 



