1884.] ' THE ROCK GARDEX. 11 



THE BUCK CAEDEX. 



WHY should Forestry confine its attention to the giants of the 

 forest ? " Such might be a query dropped into our letter- 

 bos, signed Snowdrop and Spring Crocus. Our correspondents might 

 well stop here, for who has disputed their beauty since types were 

 used ? It seems fitting that all lovers of woodlands should give a 

 little leisure not onl}' to the study of the great larch and oak, but 

 also to their humbler fellow-occupants of our woods. This can best 

 be done on the rock garden. And while its dimensions may be 

 graduated to the proposed outlay, whether in substantial citizen's 

 villa, or in the humbler rural cottage, the subsequent outlay on its 

 upkeep may be as easily regulated. The plants collected in forest 

 walks may thus be studied in their life and beauty, and that too at 

 all seasons, — a metliod better far than by the use of diy-as-dust 

 botanical treatises. We therefore jiropose to add the Eock Garden 

 as one of the features of our Magazine. 



In the forthcoming number of the Transactions of the Botanical 

 Society of Edinburgh, Mr. Boyd of Faldonside, a Scottish veteran in 

 rock-gardening, gives the results of many years' experience. The 

 paper will be highly prized by workers in this special branch of 

 liorticulture. Meanwhile, here are some hints from it which may 

 interest beginners. 



THE WAY TO FOEJI A ROCKERY. 



In the rockery at Faldonside a series of beds are raised from 

 2 to 3 feet high, from 6 to 1 2 feet across ; and I have kept the soil 

 in every division level, so that in watering, the plant may get the 

 full benefit, and none run off — an essential precaution where rare 

 alpine plants are to be grown, othei'wise, if planted on a slope, they 

 soon die of drought. The natural soil in my garden is a damj), 

 lieavyish clay, consequently quite unsuited for the ci^ltivation of 

 Alpine plants. But as I have had large quantities of leaf mould 

 collected, I ha^'e used this along with a mixture of coarse .sharp 

 sand, ^vith a small rpiantity of loam, in the formation of my rockery 

 beds. This, I find, answers well for most plants, but there are a 

 considerable number which require special treatment ; some want 

 more drainage, others less ; some require a mixture of lime rubbish, 

 and others again a little i:)eat and loam. There are also several 

 classes of plants which, by their habit of growth, are well suited for 

 association with others in the Alpine garden, that require soil wholly 

 of one kind, such as peat-loving jalants and plants found growing on 



