THE FERN HOUSE. 
That which may profit and amuse is gathered from the volume of creation, 
For every chapter therein teemeth with the playfulness of wisdom. 
The elements of all things are the same, though nature hath mixed them with a difference, 
And learning delighteth to discover the affinity of seeming opposites : 
So out of great things and small draweth he the secrets of the universe, 
And argueth the cycles of the stars, from a pebble flung by a child. 
Tupper. 
O NE of the best possible of “ rustic adornments ” is a well-furnished 
fernery, both because of its constant attractiveness and the compara¬ 
tively small amount of labour and skill required to keep it in perfection. 
To institute comparisons amongst the various features of a garden is by no 
means, in order to assess their relative values, desirable. To one ardent 
amateur an orchid-house may afford the best amusement in the world; to 
another neither ferns, nor orchids, nor greenhouse plants, nor florists’ flowers 
may offer the slighest permanent interest; but this one may be happy in the 
orchard-house, and may consider the cultivation of fruit-trees in pots glorious 
pastime. Chacun a son gout . There cannot be a doubt, however, that for 
recreative purposes, and more or less of botanical study, a fern house will suit 
the tastes and convenience of a greater number of persons, especially in towns, 
than any other of the many elegant appendages of the household that might be 
fairly put in competition with it for favour and acceptance. The proba¬ 
bilities are all in favour of the fern house proving to be the most beantiful 
feature, even in a large and well-kept garden, but it is ten times more to be 
