207 



but the other fern weeds above mentioned have come to 

 stay, and cannot, in the short space of life left to an elderly 

 cultivator, be exterminated. 



Lastrea decuvrens is a standing menace to the rest of the 

 community, being propagated by buds produced on the 

 roots. A small colony of ten plants have in a few years 

 become as many thousands, without any assistance on 

 my part. 



Onoclea sensibilis and Lastrea thelypteris are sometimes 

 troublesome, but not to the same extent as the above 

 mentioned, which are the chief sinners. 



It will be noticed that it is not the ferns produced 

 from spores that are the most formidable weeds, but the 

 scampering rhizomiferous and bulbiferous subjects. 



Micvolepia anthviscifolia, thoughtlessly introduced a few 

 years ago, and growing 2 to 3 feet, now requires most 

 drastic treatment in order to prevent its destroying every- 

 thing less than 1 foot high. 



My most troublesome non-fern weed is Eqaisetum 

 sylvaticum, which, as a general nuisance, is facile princeps. 

 It grows 2 feet, and can only be partially kept in check by 

 deep and persistent forking, the effects of which only hold 

 good for one season. 



The main rhizomes are met with at a depth of 30 inches. 

 The uninitiated would never suspect the existence of these 

 main arteries, which are as thick as one's finger. The 

 upper stratum of rhizomes, as thick as coarse packing 

 string, can be removed for years without sapping the 

 vitality of the whole plant, whose main roots may have 

 an outlet above ground 20 yards away. The plant grows 

 at an alarming rate, probably a foot per week. The hot 

 steaming conditions under glass in the bog fernery are 

 suggestive of the conditions prevailing in the carboniferous 

 ; epoch, and one can easily understand the deposition of 

 'the coal measures after experiencing the phenomenally 



