CHAPTER I. 
FERN HOLIDAYS. 
As we commonly see plants and shrubs in our towns, we 
notice an absence of that exquisite freshness of aspect which 
they wear in their native wilds. The purest air and the 
most perfect soil, and absolute freedom from the deteriorating 
influences of town life, produce, too, a beauty and elegance 
of form which cannot in their full perfection be attained 
under other circumstances. It is thus, at any rate, that God 
intends Nature to be, and not to wear the deteriorated aspect 
which it too often does when brought into association 
with man. 
How delightful, then, to seek the opportunity of studying 
Nature in her simplest, yet her most fresh and beautiful 
aspects ? And what so likely to conduce to the most perfect 
enjoyment of such wanderings afield, as the association with 
our rambles of some definite object ? The £ rural walk ’ 
through lanes — 
‘ O’er hills, through valleys, and by river’s brink,’ 
will be far more enjoyable if, for instance, it be made the 
occasion of a search after Ferns. 
A search for Ferns as the object of a country ramble will 
lead people into the woods and lanes, into the combes and 
dells, amid rocks and waterfalls, where there is the purest 
air and the most beautiful scenery, and where, consequently, 
relaxation being of the most pleasant kind, will the more 
certainly benefit the health both of mind and body. The 
