INTRODUCTION. 
XI 
as possible, the adjuncts which it naturally enjoyed : thus, 
some bog-lovers, as Osmunda regalis, were placed in slight 
excavations, which I could readily flood with water ; others, 
as Ceterach qfficinarum, which, almost deserting its native 
station on rocks, has established itself on our mortared 
walls, I supplied with crumbled mortar, carefully introduced 
between the stones, and placed the root so that, in all rains 
and in the constant waterings in which ferneries rejoice, it 
should remain as dry as possible ; for to the roots of some 
Ferns wet is as injurious as it is needful to the well-being 
of others. With regard to Osmunda, and those plants 
which require perpetual moisture, the only effectual way 
of supplying it, is by planting them in a vessel (a grape- 
jar for instance) filled with bog-earth ; this could be im- 
mersed in the ground, and any degree of moisture might 
be maintained without trouble, as the vessel would prevent 
it from being rapidly absorbed by the surrounding earth. 
A fernery, to supersede the necessity for care and atten- 
tion, should possess abundant space, a pure atmosphere, a 
variety of surface, natural shade, and a natural fall of wa- 
ter ; but all these advantages can be so closely imitated, 
that I believe there scarcely exists in the United Kingdom 
a plot of a few square yards in which the zealous cultivator 
might not accomplish everything he desired, and, with 
attention, cause the artificial to exceed in beauty the na- 
tural fernery ; for the destruction by frost and wind, both 
highly injurious to Ferns, may, with a little management, 
be completely avoided. 
In my own fernery I possess but one natural advantage 
