i68 FERN GROWING 



envy ; but now Ferns with strikingly distinct characters are 

 raised in great numbers. 



The immense number of spores that are constantly being 

 driven about by the wind is incredible. Two years ago the 

 author filled half-a-dozen seed-pans with suitable compost, 

 and placed them in exposed situations for a few hours, and 

 then covered them with sheets of glass so as to prevent other 

 spores occupying these pans. In course of time the surface 

 was covered with prothalli, and in a few months later the 

 crop showed plants of the Oak Fern, Marsh Fern, Lady Fern, 

 Male Fern, Hart's-tongue, Bracken, Maiden-hair Spleenwort, 

 &c. There were many plants of the Oak Fern, although none 

 are growing in the neighbourhood. 



When the author began to cultivate foreign Ferns, within 

 a year twenty-seven species sprung up in a large pan in the 

 Conservatory at Lenton Hall, where they had no Ferns, and 

 which is a quarter of a mile away. In i860 the rain-water 

 off a walk was conveyed in pipes to a wall forming a sunk 

 fence ; the water came through the stones and kept them 

 moist, and in a year or two the stones were hid by hundreds 

 of Ferns, mostly the Asplenium Trichomanes, although this 

 species was not to be found within several miles. Near the 

 lake at Highfield House was a sandstone cliff covered with 

 ivy ; a portion was cleared to show the rock, and within two or 

 three years the Asplenhtm Adiantum-nigrjim appeared in pro- 

 fusion, although there were no plants of this species nearer than 

 the rocks of Nottingham Castle. Another example at High- 

 field House was a holly- fence on a sunken wall planted on 

 the eastern side of an orchard ; this became the home of a 

 vast number of the Hart's-tongue Fern, although this Fern 

 did not grow wild anywhere near the estate. It is thus only 

 necessary to form suitable situations with suitable soil, and 

 Ferns will soon take possession. The pit formed for Filmy 

 Ferns at Shirenewton Hall is cut through rock, and is four 



