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We learn that the taste for cultivating Ferns began 

 at Berlin, about the year 1820 ; the Germans then can 

 claim the honor of first introducing them to prominent 

 public notice. Leipsic, Vienna, Brussels, and subse- 

 quently England followed suit, when John Smith, then 

 curator of the Kew Botanic G-ardens, soon gathered 

 there a collection which had few equals. Canadian 

 Ferns are noticeable for their gracefulness and diversity, 

 not for their size, — like some of the gigantic Australian 

 Tree-Ferns. 



Not wishing to scare the young student by an array 

 of jaw- breaking latin words, we will give the popular 

 names of the best known Canadian Ferns from Paxton's 

 Hand Booh of Canadian Ferns — a small manual 

 issued from the press of Middleton & Dawson, Quebec, 

 in 1868, by John Paxton, then gardener to Mrs. James 

 Gibb, at Woodfield. 



1. Adder's Tongue Fern. 23. Polypody, Common. 



2. Brachen, Common. 24. " Three-branched. 



3. Bladder Fern, " 25. " Woodland. 



4. " " Slender. 26. " Winged. 



5. Beech " 27. Eock Brake, Purple. 



6. Buckler Fern, Terminal. 28. " Slender. 



7. " " Prickly. 29. Eattlesnake Fern. 



8. " « Holly-leaved. 30. Eoyal " 



9. " " Sweet-scent'd 31. Spleen Wort, Common. 



10. Chain " Common. 32. " Silvery. 



11. Cinnamon" 33. " Green. 



12. Clayton's I n t e r r u p t e d 34. " Black-stalked. 



Flowering Fern. 35. " Narrow-frond' d 



13. Gossamer Fern. 36. Shield Fern, Common. 



14. Heart's Tongue " 37. Fern Swamp. 



15. Hair " 38. " Crested. 



16. Lady " 39. " Marginal-fruited. 



17. Moonwort, Common, 40. " New York. 



18. " Tall. 41. Goldie's Fern. 



19. " Dwarf. 42. Sensitive " 



20. Maiden hair. 43. Wood " 



21. Ostrich Fern. 44. Walking " 



22. Oak " 45. Wooly " 



Amateurs would doubtless, — by consulting some of 

 the experienced landscape-gardeners at Cataraqui, Ben- 



