Fern Collecting. 5 



but as these are for the most part pretty well known I 

 shall not enumerate them, but proceed at once to make 

 some remarks on collecting ferns for cultivation. It is 

 only during the height of summer that the deciduous 

 kinds can be readily found by inexperienced collectors, 

 and it is at that season that fern hunting proves a 

 particularly agreeable pastime. It would be better 

 always if the ferns could be removed from their native 

 sites when first about to commence their new growth 

 in the ' spring, and this can be done sometimes by 

 searching in woods and hedgerows for old fronds, and 

 tracing them to their source. The roots should then 

 be taken up without injury to the crowns, and be at 

 once planted or potted as required, and assisted with 

 shade and shelter until established in the places 

 assigned them in the garden. Experienced collectors 

 may hunt for ferns during the winter to great advan- 

 tage in districts where they are known to abound, as 

 in the event of a mild season many of the deciduous 

 kinds will be still green; and evergreen kinds, such as 

 hartstongue and common polypody, may be better lifted 

 in winter than at any other season. But as a rule fern 

 hunting is a recreation for summer time, and any fern 

 may be taken up in the height of summer and be kept 

 with the utmost certainty for cultivation; the worst 

 that is likely to happen is the loss of all the fronds they 

 carry at the time of taking up ; but a new crop will 

 soon succeed them if proper care be taken. The fern 

 collector should be provided with aids and implements 

 adapted to the county in which he is about to make 

 explorations. Where only terrestrial and hedgerow 



