FERN GROWING 69 



the tips of the Scolopendriums are all forked, and the same 

 peculiarity is found in a lane at Westward Ho. 



These are a few instances which illustrate that an abnormal 

 form may in time become the ordinary form of the locality. 

 The process is slow, because the mortality must be very great 

 where the seedling plants have to take care of themselves. 

 In the millions of spores that are scattered from one plant, 

 most of them fall either where there are no favourable places for 

 their growth, where accidents of climate, &c., destroy them after 

 they have commenced to germinate, or where other plants more 

 vigorous than themselves have smothered them out of existence. 



Let us take the case of the peculiar cruciate Lady Fern 

 known as Victorice or the crested Male Fern {Nephrodium 

 paleaceum var. cristatum) as examples ; they were large plants 

 when found, and must have had millions of spores carried by 

 the wind in all directions, yet no second plant of either has ever 

 been discovered. When spores of these are sown and carefully 

 tended, the amount of plants raised is only restricted by the 

 number of spores sown. 



It must be apparent to every one that in growing such 

 extremely delicate and minute forms of vegetable life, where 

 constant daily care is essentially requisite, we are able in an 

 artificial manner to materially accelerate their reproduction ; 

 and that we are enabled to obtain a pedigree of a score 

 generations in fifty years, producing changes in each generation 

 by a series of crossings, whilst in the wild state they will not 

 have changed, or only rarely be changed, from the normal 

 form. From the author's own crossing of Ferns a pedigree of 

 twelve and thirteen generations has resulted since i860, and 

 the author never now raises a normal form from their spores, 

 every plant is a variety. From time to time changes have 

 branched out from this pedigree in various directions. In 1842 

 the author began the cultivation of Ferns, in 1880 they were all 

 removed from Nottinghamshire into Monmouthshire, and for 



