FERNS, AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 
85 
Yet it may be assumed that the Fern tribe includes some of the most inte- 
resting of vegetable objects ; and their interest is chiefly derivable from the tender 
verdure of their foliage, and its remarkably elegant forms, as well as graceful 
disposition. The exquisite green of many Fern-leaves is, indeed, more permanently 
refreshing and delightful to the eye than the most brilliant tints of the flowers on 
some other plants ; while their charming figures and airy position are also of a 
particularly pleasing character. 
Ferns are interesting, moreover, on account of their half-epiphytal character, 
and from the peculiar manner in which their singular inflorescence is borne. This 
last is mostly found in small round patches, or long streaks, on the back of the 
leaves, (or fronds, as they are usually called,) and its colour is commonly brown. 
The person who knows nothing of botanical structure is often struck with wonder 
on plucking the leaves of a common Fern about the beginning of spring, when he 
observes rows of brown elevated spots on the under-side of the leaves, those near 
the top of the leaves being always less forward and less fully developed than those 
at the base. And although no regular arrangement of parts can be traced in these, 
as in the majority of flowers, they are, nevertheless, most certainly the inflorescence 
of the plant, involving the spores or germs of future ofiBpring, and producing 
a kind of minute and indescribable seeds, from which young plants may be 
raised. 
Such is the case, however, with the Polypodiums only, and with most of those 
kinds that have their leaves more or less pinnate or divided. Others of them bear 
their inflorescence in larger and more irregular patches, as the beautiful Adiantum 
capillus Veneris^ common on our old walls. And some, as the Scolopendriums^ 
which have simple leaves, without any divisions, develop their organs of repro- 
duction in long continuous lines, parallel with the edges and middle nerve of the 
leaves. A few likewise have the backs of their leaves covered with a lively golden 
or silvery powder. 
The value of Ferns, in ornamental gardening, consists, first, in their intrinsic 
beauty ; and, secondly, in their applicability to specific purposes. They are 
singularly useful for growing in very shady places, where few other plants 
will thrive ; for planting on rocks, where they will have but little earth and mois- 
ture to support them ; for covering unsightly walls, whether in houses or in the 
open air ; for suspending in rustic baskets from the roof of a stove ; for planting 
among trees or shrubs in large conservatories or stoves, to give variety and clothing 
to the ground ; for putting amongst the pseudo-bulbs of some Orchidaceae that are 
deficient in foliage, or, that present too great a mass of naked pseudo-bulbs ; and 
for enlivening and decorating any rustic work that is made of roots or other old 
wood. "We shall notice separately their adaptation for each of these objects, and 
afterwards advert to the necessity for giving them a shady situation, a moist 
atmosphere, and a soil principally composed of vegetable earth, properly drained, 
in order to cultivate them with any degree of success. It will be well, also, to keep 
