548 
CULTURE OF HAEDY FERNS. 
possible to behold them without experiencing 
emotions of pleasure." Those who have paid 
any attention to ferns, will at once recognise 
in this an expression of their own feelings; 
and those who have not, we hope to start on 
the pleasing track. 
For the present, we confine our remarks to 
that group of hardy ferns which are indigenous 
to the United Kingdom. Even among this 
little group, consisting of upwards of fifty 
kinds, including within the species some well- 
marked varieties, there is considerable diver- 
sity, amply sufficient to render a collection of 
the more accessible kinds a feature of deep 
interest, either in a large or small garden. 
We must not forget to remind those who live 
in densely-populated neighbourhoods, and sigh 
almost in vain for any green thing about their 
dwellings, that ferns are just the very subjects 
for them. Even in the heart of London, and 
in the most confined districts of that metro- 
polis, ferns are cultivated with full success. — 
" Ay, but at an enormous outlay," some 
longing admirer of vegetation may exclaim. 
Not at all so. Nothing very expensive is 
essential ; expense may be incurred for orna- 
ment's sake, but this is beside the question. 
All that is required is comprised in this brief 
enumeration : — A few logs of rough, broken, 
otherwise useless stone, a little soil, and a 
close covering of glass, which latter, though 
the most costly item, is not at the present day 
so much so, as to place it beyond the reach of 
thousands who are by atmospheric circum- 
stances prevented from indulging in any other 
species of garden culture. Besides, such a 
structure may be of any size, from that of a 
common handlight — just space enough for two 
or three little ferns — to that of a good-sized 
greenhouse, capable of containing, not only all 
the indigenous species, but others of exotic 
origin. Mr. Ward — after whom the contriv- 
ances, known sometimes as Wardian cases, 
and sometimes as window-greenhouses, are 
named — has for many years cultivated ferns 
in the centre of London, in the way here 
alluded to, the essentials of which are a close 
glass covering to exclude the impure atmo- 
sphere, a shady situation, or artificial shade; a 
rough surface such as is afforded by rock- work, 
to which to fix the plants, and an occasional 
supply of water; this latter is not, however, 
often necessary, the close construction of the 
case preventing rapid loss by evaporation. 
On the subject of the wild ferns of Britain, 
a little book* has lately fallen into our hands, 
which we strongly recommend as supplying 
■ . . — g 
* A Handbook of British Perns: intended as a 
guide and companion in Fern Culture ; and compris- 
ing scienMfic and popular descriptions, with engrav- 
ings of all the species indigenous to Britain, with 
remarks on their history and cultivation. By Thomas 
a most complete and interesting description 
of all the species and varieties which are 
known to have been found in the three king- 
doms. Some of them are very common and 
abundantly distributed, and others very rare 
and local. We shall glance through this 
" Hand-book," and select a few passages 
which go to illustrate our subject, first of all 
remarking, that the book itself is of a conve- 
nient- size for the pocket, the descriptions of 
the plants are full, precise, and plain, the 
illustrations— of which there are upwards of 
fifty, (some of which, by the courtesy of the 
author, we are enabled to introduce in illus- 
tration of this article) — very faithful ; and the 
analytical tables introduced for the purpose 
of facilitating the discrimination of the genera 
and species on the part of learners exceed- 
ingly clear and explicit. In the introductory 
portion we are told, that — 
" The cultivation of ferns is a growing 
fancy, and one which deserves to be fostered 
and encouraged ; for, whoever admires ferns, 
must be a lover of nature. Their simple and 
ungaudy elegance — superlative though it be 
—has nothing in it to attract those whose 
eyes can feast only on the pageantry of flori- 
culture. A man may admire and esteem a 
flower for some characteristic which excludes 
nature altogether from any share of that 
esteem ; but nature and ferns are, as it were, 
inseparable; and there is, therefore, no group 
of vegetation, the culture of which is so pecu- 
liarly adapted as this, to 
' Lead through Nature up to Nature's God.' " 
Theq, follow some chapters on tlie struc- 
ture of these plants, in which they are defined 
as belonging to a group of the flowerless 
plants, in which stems and leaves are distin- 
guishable, and as consisting of a caudex or 
stem, from which issue the roots and leaf-like 
fronds, the latter bearing the reproductive 
organs or spores, in some cases on their edge, 
and in others at their back. Thus a fern may 
be divided externally into four parts, the root, 
the caudex, the frond, and the fructification. 
These parts are described at some length ; a 
portion of the description of the frond — which, 
by the by, the uninitiated would be apt to call 
the leaf — we select for extract : — 
" The frond is the most conspicuous por- 
tion of ferns, and that for the sake of which 
the plants are cultivated. Issuing from the 
caudex, which is a true stem, they ai-e in 
some measure analogous to the leaves of other 
plants ; and, in consequence, the term frond 
has, by some, been objected to as unnecessary, 
Moore, Curator of the Botanic Garden of the Society 
of Apothecaries, Chelsea. London : R. Groombridge 
& Sons, Paternoster Row; and W. Pamplin, Frith 
Street, Soho. 
