248 
THE FERN PARADISE. 
what is requisite; but knowledge of and intel¬ 
ligent interest in the subject are not always to be 
expected even from professed gardeners, and the 
readers of this c Plea for the culture of Ferns 5 
will at any rate wish to have such foreknowledge 
as may help them to judge for themselves of the 
suitability or unsuitability of proffered soils. 
Fern-soils may be said, generally, to be of three 
kinds, consisting of leaf-mould, peat, and loam; 
and most of our old woods and forests will be 
found to furnish all three, oftentimes lying in 
regular gradation one over the other. Leaf- 
mould is a vegetable soil, consisting, as its name 
indicates, of decayed leaves. Naturally this soil 
—in places that have remained for a long series 
of years undisturbed—will be found on the sur¬ 
face of the ground, having been there formed by 
the accumulation and decay of the leaves which 
annually fall from the trees. Immediately under¬ 
lying the leaf-mould, peat—also a vegetable soil, 
but one consisting largely of root and other 
vegetable fibres—will often be found, though it is 
more particularly boggy and marshy ground that 
furnishes peat. Lower still we may come upon a 
