THE BRITISH FERNS. 
FERNS have long been popular plants; nor is their 
popularity confined to one class of society, and for this 
reason, while all Ferns are beautiful, some of them 
are so cheap as to be within the purchasing power of 
all, and others are so scarce and costly as to be worthy 
companions of all that is rich and rare among the gems 
of the Stove and Conservatory. 
The popularity of Ferns, however, does not rest only 
upon their beauty and their price, for they have, as an 
additional cause for their ready access to the good 
graces of the cultivator, that there is scarcely any place 
in which Ferns of some genera refuse to grow. Most 
of them thrive best in the shade ; others prefer the 
brightest light; a third group will live only on dry walls 
and chalky rocks ; a fourth succeed nowhere, except in 
abundant moisture; a fifth revel in the freest air of the 
mountain top; and a sixth flourish verdantly for months, 
and even years, within the close confinement of a 
Wardian case. Thus all purses and all situations if 
B 
