6o 
THE FERN PARADISE. 
ing influence of plants and shrubs. The ferns 
especially resent the intrusion of the railway 
engineers. 
Dry, hard, bare cuttings may be made through 
the hills ; the turf, heather, and wild Brakes may 
be stripped off along the valleys ; the lines may be 
laid down, and everything done to make the scene 
look as commercial and uninteresting as possible. 
But the spontaneous influences which produce 
vegetable life will overcome all this. The rain 
comes down, and on to the softened earth the grass 
oeeds blow. Thistle and dandelion will send their 
germs in light and airy chariots, and fern spores in 
countless numbers will find their way where the 
navvy has ruthlessly stripped off the verdant 
carpeting to make room for the iron roads. Nature, 
indeed, everywhere more or less asserts her sway, 
and clothes our roads and railways with her 
charming dress ; but it is especially the ferns 
with which roads and railways have to contend 
in the charming county of Devon — the ferns which 
carry everywhere a soft and indescribable grace. 
You will always have time to enjoy the lovely 
