46 HAKDT BOOK OF 
rains and constant waterings, in which ferns delight, re- 
main comparatively dry : this is needful, because, although 
the species mostly abound in humid places, some are injured 
by too much wet. Bog earth, or leaf mould, will afford an 
excellent rooting for moisture-loving ferns. Possibly neigh- 
bouring trees, high walls, or tall unsightly buildings, may 
shut out a summer's morning sun, or even not permit a 
single ray to illumine some dark corner. This, however, 
need not perplex you : the corner, cheerless though it be, 
and necessarily damp, will afford a welcome habitat to. the 
Scolopendrium vulgare, or Hart's-tongue, which especially 
delights in old wells and humid places, and is nowhere so 
abundant as in deep shade and moisture. Notwithstanding 
these apparent predilections, it will be well to place ferns of 
dissimilar localities side by side, in the deepest shadow and 
brightest sunbeams ; such, for example, as the common 
Hart's-tongue, and its relative, the Scaly. You will then 
be able readily to observe how luxuriantly the one expands 
and seemingly rejoices, either in shade or sunbeams, while 
the other appears to pine for a more congenial habitation. 
It is all-important that ferns should be well watered, and 
yet as gently as possible. If you possess a garden engine, 
let the stream descend in an almost imperceptible shower ; 
if you have only a watering-pot, hold it high, and avoid a 
heavy watering. Nature teaches this : for rain rarely in- 
jures by its force even the feeblest flower. If the day has 
been cloudless, refresh your ferns, and that copiously, 
every evening during summer. In autumn withhold your 
hand ; such as conceal themselves beneath the earth in 
winter begin to prepare for their long sleep ; in others, the 
fronds have ceased to grow while some that remain green 
and render cheerful many a leafless hedge or rocky bank, 
have already their full size and substance developed. But 
however circumstanced, they all require perfect rest ; the 
sap scarcely circulates a state of vegetable quietc rss ensues, 
and they cannot be disturbed or stimulated with- .t injury. 
