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lished in this strange place is something of a puzzle. Where 

 found the ferns were growing only a tew inches in height, yet 

 were so plentiful that they rilled nearly every crack in the wall 

 and were wedged so firmly between the rocks that an iron, made 

 for the purpose, was needed to remove them. About two hun- 

 dred were collected and planted in the garden, in both shade 

 and direct sunlight. The fern is doing well between stone steps 

 in an exceedingly dry and sunny position, and it is also thriving 

 as well in quite dense shade. 



Gray's Manual gives the habitat of this fern as "calcareous 

 rocks;" but I -find that with this fern, as also with many others 

 that are generally found on limestone cliffs, no addition of 

 calcium to ordinary soil is necessary for their culture. The rock 

 in the garden here is in general a mica schist and should contain 

 no calcium, and the soil in which the ferns were planted is a mix- 

 ture of decomposed mica schist and wood-soil lying above the 

 same rock. There would seem to be a sufficient lack of calcium 

 here to prove that its over-abundance is not necessary for the 

 growth of the plant. It would be of interest, however, to know 

 the reason for the seeming preference of the fern for calcareous 

 rock when it can grow to perfection in size at least under other 

 conditions. Where the fern has been planted in very narrow 

 seams in rock of micaceous sandstone, it has grown only a few 

 inches in height and has peculiar rudimentary-like fronds, many 

 of which are simply round-reniform in shape. Here the lack of 

 root-room is the main cause, at least of their dwarf state, as where 

 the seams are wider the fern has attained its normal size and 

 appearance. 



When introduced into the garden in 1895 and '96, the ferns 

 were only two or three inches in height, but now where root- room 

 has been sufficient the plants have fronds eight to ten inches long 

 and with two or more years' growth should form plants of the size 

 of which the fern is capable. — F. W. Barclay, Haverford, Pa. 



FERN STUDY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



IN your remarks in connection with the different lines along 

 which the interest in ferns has developed in the United States 

 and here I cannot altogether coincide. Here, as with you, the 

 first step was the giving of "attention to the life histories and 

 comparing forms as nature made them ;" the next was the discov- 



