CULTIVATION OF FERNS. 29 



the last clause contradiftory, and that the temperature at high levels is uniformly 

 cold. This, however, is not the case. To any one who has traversed our snow-fields 

 and glaciers, it seems wonderful that they do not melt away at once, as the rocks 

 beside them become intensely hot by absorption of the sun's rays during the day. It 

 is a most curious sensation to lay one hand on stone, of which the heat can scarcely 

 be borne, and at the same time plunge the other into snow ; yet this can be done on 

 any sunny day in summer, on our high mountains. Our great mountain Ruapehu is 

 merely a vast heap of lava and volcanic sand ; and the consequence is that the snow, 

 as it melts, all soaks downwards and comes out in the form of large springs of ice- 

 cold water around the base of the mountain. Some of the springs are of such volume, 

 as to form small rivers at once, and beside them, in the full glare of the sun but with 

 its roots washed by the icy water, grows the Hypolepis millefolium, one of our most 

 lovely ferns. It only grows close to the springs, however, and for perhaps a hundred 

 yards down the stream-side. Beyond that distance it is not to be found, the water 

 having apparently become too warm for the fern, though almost cold enough to give 

 toothache to any one drinking it. The fern occurs in similar situations at Mt. Egmont, 

 and other mountains. It can hardly be wondered at that persons should fail to grow 

 it, as one would need a greenhouse and aconstant supply of ice to cool the water in 

 which the pot stood. I have several times tried in vain to acclimatise this fern ; and 

 plants of it, which I and other lovers of ferns have procured from Otago and Southland, 

 where it grows under less extreme conditions, have all died. Any one, therefore, who 

 should succeed in acclimatising it at low levels in the North Island would have reason 

 to feel proud, and would do well to sow the spores of his plant on the chance of 

 getting it to grow under more ordinary conditions ; as its lacelike foliage and bright 

 colour are beautiful in the extreme and greatly resemble those of the " Lace fern," 

 Cheilanthes Elegans, which is so great a favourite in greenhouses. It has been 

 acclimatised at Christchurch, and plants may, perhaps, be got from there. Others, 

 again, grow on the rocks, or in caves by the sea-shore, and require the salt spray, or 

 at any rate sea air, to cause them to thrive. It is a good plan to sprinkle these with salt 

 water occasionally. 



Another great cause of ill success in growing ferns is carelessness in taking them 

 up and transplanting them. I have already mentioned that the roots of ferns are 

 burnished with a sort of down or fur at their ends. This a6ls as a sponge to suck in 

 moisture for the nourishment of the plant. These furry ends consist of the most newly- 

 ^rown material, and are soft and tender. If, therefore (as is generally done), a person 

 clutches hold of a fern, and pulls it out of the ground, most of these tender root-ends 

 .are broken off and left behind, and the plant has to produce more in their place 

 before it can begin to imbibe nourishment from the soil. In the meanwhile, there is 

 nothing to support the fronds, which die ; and thus the absorption of carbonic-acid gas 



