A I'ERN GARDEN 
71 
veiled slope around tlie basin. It should he broken into 
irregular ridges or banks of earth, and this process would 
be aided by the free use here and there of great masses 
of misshapen rock, around and in the crevices of which — 
and wherever a shady nook or a jutting position might 
suggest a corner for a Fern — soil should be placed of 
the same composition as that already described for the 
boulder islet. 
The sides of the suggested cutting or excavation might 
either run by an irregular slope upwards, to the general 
level of the garden, or it might lead up to this level, by two 
or three paths, leaving between them, as a filling up of 
the remaining portion of the circumference, irregularly- 
piled up masses of rock, the shady nooks and crevices in 
which, facing the water, would afford congenial habitats 
for many of the smaller rock-and-water-loving species of 
Ferns. 
The general level of our Fern garden, above the sloping 
excavation, should be broken up into rocky ridges and 
irregularly-formed banks of earth. The free importation of 
great masses of rock will be found to be a great aid in the 
disposition of the garden into those irregular surfaces in 
which Ferns delight. The advantage of a plentiful use of 
stone, too, consists, it must be remembered, in its capacity to 
prevent the rapid evaporation of moisture from the earth. 
As to the kind of stone to be used, it should be, if possible, 
of the true stone colour, with here and there, perhaps, 
lighter and darker shades, — no grained or polished stones, no 
marble, no gaudy shells, no coral. None of the hideous 
monstrosities called c clinkers ’ will be admissible. Nor is 
it desirable to introduce those much-lauded abominations 
called ‘burrs,’ or conglomerations of brick from the brick- 
kiln. We would not preclude these humble conglomerations, 
if the means of the Fern lover prevent him or her from 
