INTRODUCTION. 17 
and preserves the ferns from the injury they would 
: cause; then the first shower of rain washes them 
off the glass, and thence into the rain-gutter and 
the tank which supplies water not only for the 
fernery, but for the garden generally. Thus is a 
noxious article not only prevented from doing an 
injury, but actually turned to beneficial use. 
‘There are many active agents at work, charged 
with the duty of effecting that change which, amongst 
all created beings, is a necessary accompaniment of 
existence; and the office of every agent is to hurry 
forward the inevitable process; the softly descending 
rain which promotes the rapid growth of a sweet 
pea, and the burning sun which ripens its seed, are 
equally the unreasoning and the unavoidable agents 
provided for its destruction; wind and frost also do 
their part; and the result is always the same; the 
more you hasten maturity the shorter do you render 
existence, Now if we seck for the conditions most 
favourable to the healthy growth of ferns, and refer 
for the information to Nature herself, we shall find 
them rather in gradual and uniform, than in rapid - 
development; in protection from the sun’s rays; in 
