FERNS, AND THEIR MANAGEMENT, 
87 
means of some contrivance for giving the wall a rough irregular face, so that it 
may receive the Ferns to be placed against it, and be capable of holding at least a 
little earth and moisture for their support. The readiest way of so preparing a 
wall is to fasten against it rude pieces of wood, such as the protuberances often 
I found on elm-trees, &c. and to cover the face of the wall with these in as varied a 
i manner as possible, leaving holes here and there for the insertion of the Ferns, and 
! finally, nailing bark over the whole, should the wood employed not be already 
covered with bark. 
A wall so faced, and planted thickly with the stronger-growing Ferns, in soil 
i put for them into the interstices or cavities left for that purpose, has a very pretty 
: effect in a stove. Rude pieces of rock may, however, be similarly used for placing 
against the wall ; only they must be fastened to it by mortar or cement. The 
plants may even be kept in pots, if sufficiently large cavities be left for inserting 
! these ; though there is little advantage to be gained from this plan beyond the 
probability of securing a more regular supply of water, and the facility it gives for 
removing the specimens, should they be required in another place. 
One circumstance in reference to this practice must not here be lost sight of; 
and this is, that it will not do to adopt it on a wall exposed to the south, unless 
that wall be shaded by tall trees, or tree-like shrubs, or, in the case of houses, by 
a canvass or other covering to the roof. A wall with a northern, or north-western, 
or western aspect, will be in every respect preferable, 
i It is singular that this mode of concealing ugly walls has not been pursued in 
the open air, especially in gardens of very limited extent, as those in the vicinity 
of towns, and still more particularly in reference to those walls which are not much 
open to the rays of the sun. By a little ingenuity in the disposal of the roots or 
rocky materials so used, and the intermingling of Ivy and flowering plants with 
the Ferns planted upon it, the whole might be made very interesting. The wood, 
or roots, or rock, (or any substitute for the latter,) might even be piled up against 
the wall, in a tolerably broad mass at the base, and gradually narrowing towards 
the summit, and made a receptacle for Ferns principally ; thus converting a dis- 
pleasing object into an extremely agreeable one. The main thing to be attended 
to is to guard against giving the masses so produced the appearance of mere heaps, 
and to avoid that tameness and wall-like character which it is the prime intention 
of the entire proceeding to remove. The outlines of all the materials employed, as 
well as their grouping, should be as bold and rugged as practicable ; and the basins 
' left for receiving the plants should be kept out of sight as far as they can be, and 
by no means be made at all conspicuous. 
I By putting Ferns in rustic baskets, and hanging them up in the stove or orchi- 
daceous house, another good purpose will be answered. Some of them are very 
nearly epiphytal, and would thrive well enough in moss if they had plenty of 
moisture and shade. They might, therefore, even be fixed to a single log of wood, 
and assisted by a small portion of moss, and they would produce a charming 
