EOCK, ALPINE, FEEX, AND WILD GAEDEXINa 



107 



.good hunt and successful finds of ferns than from 

 reading a dozen "books. Therefore our advice is to 

 -every one that would have a fernery, and grow 

 them well, to have a few fern-hunts first, and mark 

 their natural surroundings well. "We may not be 

 •able to reproduce them, but the nearer we can 

 approach to their natural conditions, the more beau- 

 tiful the femer}' will become. 



What Ferns Weed. — Ferns in their native 

 haunts mostly find four favourable conditions for 

 their growth. These are shelter, shadow, humidity, 

 and rich root-runs ; yet, how often do we see brand- 

 new ferneries set full in the eye of the sun, amid the 

 glitter and glare of red or white brick, stone, or com- 

 posite! That they will Kve at all under such condi- 

 tions, proves the tenacity with which they cling to life, 

 •and their marvellous power of adapting themselves 

 to circumstances. True, there are ferns, such as the 

 several species of the Spleenworts, and more notably 

 the Wall Eue, as it is commonly called, the Aspleniiim 

 Huta-muraria, that prefer the crumbling ruins, sun- 

 baked wall, or hard rock, to any other home. But such 

 ferns are almost as exceptional at one end of the 

 scale as the filmy ones are at the other. The latter 

 cannot live in the sunlight, and are so impatient of 

 drought, that they can only grow in a saturated 

 atmosphere, with their leaves enveloped in a per- 

 petual vapour-bath. 



Many ferns, however, can endure a fair share of 

 sunshine, of which we have a notable example in the 

 common Bracken {Pterls aqidlina), which will live and 

 thrive on commons so hot, dry, and poor, that they 

 cannot support any tree or shrub to afford shade or 

 shelter ; yet to see the Bracken in its "vigorous character 

 of the giant towering above all ferns, you must find it 

 in shaded woods, and with rich and deep root-runs. 

 The same holds good of the Scolopendrmn or Hart's 

 Tongues, the Lady Fern, and Male Fern [Athyrium 

 FlUx-fcemina and Lastrea Filix-mas) ; Polypods, Poly- 

 stichum, and others. But these ferns mostly reach 

 to a loftier stature and a fuller development when 

 partially shaded. 



Shelter for most ferns is, however, as indispensable 

 as shade. The winds make sad havoc with the stately 

 fronds of most of our finer ferns. The Osmunda regalis, 

 for example, the noblest of all native ferns, can hardly 

 stand up against high winds. It is either wrecked, 

 or if planted in windy places, so stunted that the 

 wind has little power on its dwarfed fronds ; and 

 it is so, in degree, with other ferns. Shelter is also 

 grateful to ferns, and favours their fall and rapid 

 development, and that perfect verdure which is the 

 perfection of beauty in femdom. Moisture at root 

 and top is of equal or more importance. Even those 

 ferns, such as the Eue Spleenwort, as seem to 



thrive in absolute di-yness, are often far more moist 

 at root than it seems. In the deep crannies and 

 crevices of rock, in the mortar joints of old walls, 

 hugging the imder edges of moss-clad porous copings, 

 the roots find unseen and inexhaustible stores of 

 moisture. But larger ferns, with thinner and more 

 porous fronds, need larger supplies ; and, indeed, on 

 porous bases it is difficult if not impossible to over- 

 water the majority of ferns in the open air in our 

 climate. Good supplies of suitable food are also 

 essential to success in fern-growing. 



It is quite a popular error to assume that ferns feed 

 chiefly or only on peat, earth, and water. The majo- 

 rity of them, on the contrary, revel in ^-egetable debris 

 and fibry loam, the former forming the warp and the 

 latter the woof of their daily fare. Dead leaves, the 

 decomposed stems of grasses, and the faded fronds 

 of the ferns themselves, constitute their favoui'ite 

 root-pabulum. Hence, on the whole, a compost of 

 equal parts of good peat, turfy loam, and leaf -mould, 

 ^vith a liberal dash of sharp, clean, and when prac- 

 ticable, silver sand, will grow almost any or all 

 ferns to perfection. But one of the lessons the 

 hunter for ferns in their native haunts leams is the 

 very useful and practical one that, other condi- 

 tions being favourable, ferns are by no means par- 

 ticular about soil. They may be found in fair 

 condition in almost all soils — fi'om loams stiffening 

 into clays, and peats running into sheer sands. In a 

 word, all the conditions of fern- culture in the open 

 air, and the plants themselves, are within reach of 

 every one who cares to grow them. Even those who 

 cannot go f em-hunting may purchase them cheaply 

 from growers or professional collectors at about a 

 penny a-piece. Much as this class are and have been 

 abused, and worthless as are at times the products 

 they offer, those who have knowledge enough to 

 examine into their state, and insist on ha%'ing plants 

 with good roots, may find many treasures brought 

 to their doors for a mere trifle. Our object in giving 

 such prominence to these facts is to show how ferns 

 and fem-culture may be brought within reach of all. 

 Even those who have no gardens but their areas and 

 back or front yards, a few feet square, may grow 

 ferns, while no plants equal them for house-tops, 

 balconies, and shady windows. The very facts of 

 their enjoying close shelter, and thriving best in the 

 shade, enable them to be grown in those very 

 places almost too dark and dank for the common 

 Ivy. Planted in such soils as we have indicated, 

 liberally washed over-head, and watered at the root 

 with pure and, if possible, soft water, ferns will bear 

 up their verdant fronds bravely among the dust and 

 dirt of great cities, and bring much of the grandest 

 greenery of rural life into the most pent-up courts, 

 areas, and gardens of crowded streets. Even the bare. 



