PREFACE. 



Beginners in Fern culture are very much 

 perplexed by the abundance of books on the 

 subject, and their general unfitness to afford 

 the aid a beginner requires. Almost everybody 

 has written a book on ferns, it having become 

 the fashion to consider a knowledge of the 

 subject rather a disqualification than otherwise. 

 When the blind attempt to lead the blind the 

 result can be safely predicated, and no doubt 

 the myriads of bad books on ferns that swarm 

 in the cheap book shops have done their full 

 share of mischief. "We have fortunately plenty 

 of good books on the subject, but for the 

 most part they are technical and elaborate, and 

 shoot over the heads of beginners. Some of 

 my fern-loving friends have persuaded me to 



