IV 
Preface. 
try my hand on a small volume adapted for the 
induction of the unlearned and unskilled in 
this pursuit, and here it is. Whether it will 
supersede any of the bad books or take lowest 
rank amongst them is for me a solemn problem. 
But I send it forth in hope that after a quarter 
of a century of hard work in the practical part 
of the subject, I may be better qualified to make 
a little book than some of those who, previous 
to writing, had acquired only a week or so of 
experience, and a very dim knowledge of about 
half a dozen species. As almost every fern in 
cultivation has names enough to fill a small 
volume, I have in every case adopted the names 
by which those recommended are best known 
in nurseries and gardens. The fearful question 
of nomenclature is thus avoided, and every 
fern may be found by the name it bears in this 
epitome. 
S. H. 
