20 
THE ELOEAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
but desirable ; tbe noble foxglove, which never shows its beauty- 
better than in rustic scenes, and the pretty trailing tormentil, with 
the violet and the primrose, have a perfect right to shine amidst the 
herbage and pave the slopes with flowers. But the walk through, 
what shall we do with it ? Now here is just the place in which to 
grow the beautiful spergula, and wanting that, if the hollow walk is 
formed of peat, say only six inches deep, it may be planted with 
that very common weed, the pearl-wort ( Sagina procmibens). The 
ground ought to be carpeted, and we have for choice spergula, and 
sagina, tormentil, prunella, wild thyme, and a hundred more good 
things that bear trampling on without harm. Why not mix them 
all together — better such a carpet than a gravel-walk. Nor is the 
wild wood ivy unfit to share the praise that beauty brings in such a 
scene. Let it run over the great tree-stumps, and here and there 
climb to the top of a bank. The strong-growing ferns will rise up 
through it like gigantic shuttlecocks of emerald green, upon a 
lovely ground-work of dark glossy verdure. Let the rustic tone 
prevail throughout : have no roses, or geraniums, or vases, or artistic 
fountains. A stream of water, a tumble-down fountain, a rockery, 
a clump of birch trees, a cave with water trickling through and 
ferns clothing the sides and roof — these are appropriate accessories, 
and “ bespeak the hand of taste.” 
As to conditions of success. Some ferns will grow in the most 
commonplace soil, such as we might find in a good kitchen garden ; 
but no progress will be made in the proper sense of the word with- 
out plenty of heath-mould or peat, or if that is not to be obtained, 
good leaf-mould thoroughly rotted, or wanting that a mixture of 
chopped moss, cocoa-nut fibre refuse, and sharp sand. A great 
many of the most interesting ferns love sandstone and sand, and 
cannot be grown properly without these materials. Ferns that love 
peat, such as the beautiful blechnum, and the lady-fern, will also 
grow luxuriantly in rotten wood ; hence where tree-butts are em- 
ployed, as in what we call a “ rootery,” these free-growing kinds 
usually attain to a high degree of development. But a caution 
here. Dead roots and all kinds of decaying wood are apt to produce 
fungi in visible forms not always desirable, and in invisible forms 
that are poisonous to the roots of every tree with which they come 
in contact. Exp erim entum crucis. Bury a few old roots of trees 
amongst your standard roses. They will soon produce masses of 
white threads (mycelium), which will ramify and in time take hold 
of the roots of the roses, and the roses will then begin to decline in 
vigour, and will probably die if not relieved of the enemy. Every 
kind of tree is liable to injury from this cause ; therefore in all cases 
where rooteries are found, the prudent artist will consider if the 
mycelium wdiich is likely to be produced is likely to be productive 
of mischief. 
A very simple, but decidedly picturesque mode of growing ferns 
in a collection by themselves, occurred to us a few years since 
through an accidental circumstance. We had, in a yard adjoining 
the garden, a large stock of faggots, tree loppings, bean-sticks, roots, 
and other forest refuse, and amongst them a number of old unbarked 
