261 



or whether they fall a prey to the colonics of frogs infesl ing 



the place, I am at present unable to say. I notice the 

 beetles drown in less than an hour, but the larvae can 

 stand four days' total immersion and still conic up smiling 

 and hungry. 



A fernery constructed on the above lines is not such a 

 tax on the time of the cultivator. 'The ferns take care of 

 themselves and can partake of liquid refreshment at any 

 time without having to ask for it, and beyond careful w ced- 

 ing require little attention. The owner can take his 

 annual holiday or attend to his general business with an 

 easy mind, "wrapped in measureless content" in the 

 knowledge that his treasures are in the care of nature 

 herself, the best of all nurses. 



Sale. H. Stansfield. 



[Our correspondent's views on culture are apparently 

 somewhat heterodox, but he has given abundant evidence 

 that he can grow ferns as well as most people. The con- 

 ditions which he describes — on the one hand a naturally 

 dry soil with sandy subsoil, on the other a quagmire with 

 water below — are neither of them ideal and are widely 

 divergent from each other, yet the same ferns are per- 

 suaded to flourish in both. It is clear that the methods 

 which will suit one position will not suit the other. 

 Moral : Let each cultivator study the conditions of his 

 situation and adapt his measures thereto. The secret 

 will perhaps be found in the maintenance of a soil which 

 is at once moist and well aerated. — Editor.] 



FERNS IN FLANDERS. 



The man who rides a hobby has always the pull over the 

 dull pedestrian, and especially so when the lines of both 

 are cast in places not cf the pleasantest. Life with our 



