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with others. If the plants are disturbed about the grounds, those 

 that will endure partial sunshine, as the Osmundas and the ostrich 

 fern ( Struthiopteris Germanica ) may be used with very decora- 

 tive effect in various ways. The ostrich fern, especially, being 

 often six feet high, is coming into great favor for planting about 

 verandas and the front of buildings, and is now part of the land- 

 scape gardener's stock in trade. If this fern is planted in good well 

 drained soil and given plenty of moisture, it will soon form a 

 clump by means of its creeping stolons, that no other fern can 

 surpass. Other ferns show off well planted about the base of 

 trees, or in the shaded parts of sections devoted to wild flowers. 

 If the ferns are assembled in the fern garden care should be taken 

 to plant the large species in the back ground and in such a way 

 that they cannot crowd lesser species. 



The foregoing, of course, applies only to earth loving species. 

 The rock ferns must have suitable quarters, though many, includ 

 ing the rare little walking fern, will grow in well drained leaf- 

 mould. A rockery is easily built of any stones that may be handy 

 and may range in kind from a mere mound of stones and earth 

 to a well constructed wall with plenty of earth-filled chinks in 

 which to plant the ferns. The latter is best made in front of 

 another wall and the space between the two also filled with earth. 

 It is the prevailing belief that certain ferns will not live unless 

 grown on limestone. This is incorrect, though a few species may 

 possibly grow more thriftily when upon such rock. 



It is a curious fact that one of the ferns most difficult to trans- 

 plant is the common bracken, a fern that is abundant in the wild 

 state nearly everywhere. This is because the rootstock is long 

 and provided with few roots and also buried deeply in the earth. 

 My method is to select small plants with as much root stock as 

 possible, and wait for them to develop, which does not take long. 

 I have sometimes planted them on top of the soil by forming 

 a small mound of earth around them, adding to it as the rootstock 

 logins to spread. 



When one has established in his ground all the ferns of his 

 own locality and begins to sigh for more species, he should re- 

 member, if he lives in the East, that Western America has many 

 species that are perfectly hardy. Most of these are species re- 

 lated to his own forms and much of interest can Ik* found in 



