2 
BRITISH FERNS . 
closed cases is to secure a moist atmosphere, and 
freedom from the all-pervading dirt and dust of cities 
To many plants the moisture thus secured is injurious, 
but to nearly all ferns it is peculiarly grateful, and to 
them, therefore, especially, this mode of culture is 
chiefly applicable. In Mr. Ward’s own book on the 
subject, he speaks of what may be done to imitate 
nature in the growth of ferns; how bits of natural 
scenery may be artificially built up, with water trick¬ 
ling down from elevated portions of rock, and flowing 
out of the fern-house in one continuous stream. In 
such a house each fern would find its natural position, 
and attain a luxuriance astonishing to those who have 
never tried the experiment. “ Each fern could be 
supplied with a proper base of earth or rock, and each 
could have the amount of light most suited to its 
fullest development.” Mr. Ward goes on even to 
suggest what he himself so beautifully carried out 
—the culture and growth of majestic tropical forms of 
vegetation under glass covering, such as may easily be 
constructed in a London yard. Tree-ferns, palms, 
and the numberless variety of mosses and ferns 
brought from distant regions, would here flourish in 
their native perfection. To begin, however, with 
something much less ambitious, we will suppose that 
we are visiting some rural district in England—Devon¬ 
shire, or the Isle of Wight—where the lanes and 
coppices are luxuriant with the bright green fronds of 
familiar ferns. With a trowel or some other instru- 
