BRACKENS. 



93 



gave to a correspondent tlie result of his experience in 

 the cultivation of this fern : " Bracken grew naturally in 

 such glorious health and profusion v^here we were then 

 located, that we thought, on having a piece of ground 

 lying idle which we wanted to make into a canal, it would 

 be the easiest thing imaginable to dig up a lot of under- 

 ground roots (rhizomes), and plant it without any more 

 ado. Accordingly we put this plan into execution : but 

 the result was exactly as we were foretold by a long- 

 headed old gardener, that not fifty per cent, of the roots 

 grew, and the place looked the mangiest piece of ground 

 you ever saw. "We then took counsel with our old gar- 

 dener friend, who said that to grow Bracken at the first 

 start required as much preparation of the soil as for a crop 

 of potatoes. The covert is everything that could be 

 wished now, and this is how we proceeded : We had the 

 ground well dug early in the winter, to get it well 

 moulded by the frost. In March we took up as many of 

 the underground stems (rhizomes) as we wanted, we drew 

 out drills about 2 inches deep, and, about a yard apart, 

 laid the rhizomes in the drills pretty thickly, and covered 

 with soil. "We kept them clean from weeds for the first 

 year, and watered those plants which required it." 



This fern is very astringent, containing much tannic 

 and gallic acid, and has been used as an anthelmintic. 

 Lightfoot gives a full account of the many uses to which 

 it has been applied. He says, " It is an excellent manure 

 for potatoes, for, if buried beneath their roots, it never 

 fails to produce a good crop. Its astringency is so great 

 that it is used in many places abroad in dressing and 

 preparing kid and chamois leather. In several places in 

 the JSTorth the inhabitants mow it green, and, burning it 

 to ashes, make those ashes up into balls with a little 

 water, which they dry in the sun, and make use of them 

 to wash their linen instead of soap. In many of the 

 western isles the people gain a very considerable profit 

 from the sale of the ashes to soap and glass makers. In 

 Invernesshire we observed that the people thatched their 

 houses with the stalks of this fern, and fastened them 



