7.2 
THE FERN WORLD 
obtaining better material. But wherever possible pure stone, 
soft, rough in surface, and absorbent in character, should be 
obtained. The reason for using such stone for rockwork 
and for the making of irregular terraces or Fern banks is this. 
Nature always selects such materials for the disposition 
of Ferns in a wild state. The absorbent character of the 
stone is essential, because it is thus able to store up 
moisture, and give it out again by evaporation. The 
irregularity of the banks to be constructed has, too, this 
especial advantage — a larger surface of absorbent material 
is created than could be done were the surface more level, 
and a greater degree of moisture is given off by evaporation, 
thus occasioning that humidity of the atmosphere which is 
so essential for the healthy and vigorous growth of Ferns. 
The soft, rough, damp surfaces of rock offer, too, an advan- 
tageous ground for the presence of mossy growths, which 
quickly spread in a green mantle upon such surfaces, thus 
adding greatly to the greenness, freshness, and beauty of the 
scene. Fern spores, too, will often germinate on the moist, 
rocky surfaces, and, ere long, seedling Ferns will peep out, 
their fibrous roots penetrating the soft bed of rock, and 
luxuriating in the hidden but palpable moisture. 
The straight — brick or stone — walls of such a garden 
can be deprived of their rigid and unpicturesque appear- 
ance, by the disposition upon and over them of portions of 
cemented rock or stone. Here and there, between rock and 
wall, openings can be left, and into the crevices upon a 
drainage of small broken stones or broken bricks, proper soil 
can be put, and Ferns planted. By such an arrangement 
the whole surface of the walls might be covered with ferny 
tufts, and the scene would be made most picturesque and 
beautiful. Or instead of preserving a higher level ‘for our 
Fern garden with a sloping approach, there might, as an 
alternative, be one — gradual and irregular — slope from the 
