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my home lot and lost all their sterile fronds by the trampling of a 

 horse tied out to graze. In the case of 0. cinnamomea, however, 

 the sterile fronds are usually all present, often as perfect as ever, 

 but sometimes turned brown and about dead. 



We have never in the past marked any clumps to be able to 

 say positively whether the same plants fruit twice in one year 

 or not. Will try to do so this fall and watch next spring to see 

 if the same clumps send up fertile fronds then. 



FRANCES THEODORA PARSONS. 



Without doubt the writer who has done the most to pop- 

 ularize the study of ferns in America, bears the name of Frances 

 Theodora Parsons. To her belongs the unique distinction of 

 publishing the first book on ferns for the general reader — a book 

 that one does not need a botanical education to understand. Al- 

 though first issued less than four years ago, "How to Know the 

 Ferns" has already gone through two or more editions, and will 

 always remain one of our most valued contributions to the litera- 

 ture of ferns. 



Mrs. Parsons began life in New York, December 5, 1861, as 

 Frances Theodora Smith. She first married Commander Wil- 

 liam Starr Dana, of the United States navy (who died abroad), 

 ?nd as Mrs. William Starr Dana wrote "How to Know the 

 Wild-flowers" (1893), "According to Season" (1894), an d 

 ' riant s and Their Children" (1896). All of these have been 

 most successful, especially "How to Know the Wild-flowers," 

 which according to report has sold nearly seventy thousand copies 

 — a most phenomenal circulation for an "out-of-door" book. An 

 enlarged and illustrated edition of "According to Season" is 

 now in press. 



On February 8, 1896, she married Prof, James Russell Par- 

 sons, Jr., Secretary of the University of the State of New York, 

 and also an author of note on pedagogical topics. At present 

 they reside at Albany, N. Y. 



Mrs. Parsons' work is characterized by an easy and graceful 

 style, coupled with a thorough understanding of her subject. Her 

 books are conspicuously free from the slips so common to many 

 writers who attempt volumes for the general public. To Mrs. 

 Parsons and to Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons we are indebted 



