PREFACE 



LOVER of nature feels the fascination of the 

 ferns though he may know Httle of their names 

 and haliits. Beholding them in their native 

 haunts, adorning the rugged cliffs, gracefully 

 fringing the water-courses, or wa^'ing their 

 stately fronds on the borders of woodlands, he 

 feels their call to a closer acquaintance. Happy would he 

 be to receive instruction from a living teacher; His next 

 preference would be the companionship of a good fern 

 book. Such a help we aim to give him in this manual. 

 If he will con it diligently, consulting its glossary for the 

 meaning of terms while he quickens his powers of observa- 

 tion by studying real specimens, he may hope to learn the 

 names and chief qualities of our most common ferns in a 

 single season. 



Our most ])roductive period in fern literature was 

 between 1878, when Williamson published his "Ferns of 

 Kentucky," and 1905, when Clute issued, "Our Ferns in 

 Their Haunts." Between these flourished D. C. Eaton, 

 Davenport, Waters, Dodge, Parsons, Eastman, Under- 

 wood, A. A. Eaton, Slosson, and others. All their works 

 are now out of print except Clute's just mentioned and 

 Mrs. Parsons" "How to Know the Ferns." Both of these 

 are valuable handbooks and amply illustrated. Clute's 

 is larger, more scholarly, and more inclusive of rare species, 

 with an illustrated key to the genera; while Mrs. Parsons' 

 is more simple and popular, with a naive charm that creates 

 for it a constant demand. 



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