PREFACE TO VOL. II. 



HE general approbation bestowed upon tlie First Yolume of 

 " The Book of Choice Ferns," by numerous persons 

 holding various positions in the Horticultural World, but 

 all qualified to give an opinion on the value of such 

 a publication, besides being very gratifying to the Author, 

 also proves that he has succeeded in producing a work combining the 

 scientific classification of, and the results of scientific researches by, previous 

 authors of unquestionable merit, with his own descriptions based on popular 

 lines and made so simple as to convey a clear meaning to even the least 

 technically educated of its readers. Such was the Author's aim ; and while 

 he has spared no pains in making the work a trustworthy and really 

 genuine addition to the Garden Library, it has received at the hands of 

 the Publisher such special attention as to render it an ornamental book as 

 well as a useful work of reference. 



The frequent recurrence, in Vol. I., of popular expressions 

 explanatory of technical terms may have appeared unnecessary to the 

 scientific reader, but to the uninitiated this plan has gradually conveyed 

 a knowledge of these terms, which, as will be noticed, are now employed 

 with much more freedom ; and it is hoped by the Author that when the 

 work is completed, the majority of readers will have become thoroughly 

 conversant with the technical expressions contained in it. 



Strict accuracy in matters relating to the culture and the history, as 

 well as to the nomenclature of Ferns, having been the main object of the 



