xxxii INTRODUCTION. 



found available for the purpose, renders the adoption of 

 the practice, in so far as the procuring of materials is 

 concerned, easy. The bright beauty of spring flowers 

 rising in relief from a carpet, say, of the moss-like Saxi- 

 frage, or the still more compact, and in many soils not 

 less verdant, Spergitla pilifera, would be more enjoyable 

 on account of the cheerful contrast than when springing 

 from and often bedraggled with the soil. There would 

 be no more difficulty in keeping a border so carpeted 

 than there is in the ordinary way, and there would be no 

 increase of labour ; perhaps it would even be somewhat 

 diminished. To many mountain-pasture plants, carpet- 

 ing the surface in the way indicated would be a real 

 boon. Many of these plants die in cultivation from too 

 much exposure to the sun, and the variable condition of 

 the surface caused by the scrupulous cleanliness which 

 should prevail in gardens in order to make then enjoy- 

 able. With diminutive species that are easily over- 

 borne by their neighbours, such a plan is not practi- 

 cable ; but there are very few of these that would be of 

 much value as ornam.ents in the mixed border in any 

 way, for generally they are as difficult to keep in the 

 usual way as they would be in the other, and are there- 

 fore, in either case, better and safer in some place by 

 themselves, on rockwork or in pots. 



General Culture of Herbaceous Plants. — The mass of 

 herbaceous plants, being found in varieties of alluvial 

 soil, may be grown successfully in the ordinary soil of 

 gardens, or in such as general field and garden cultiva- 

 tion may be practised with success. Depth and the 

 mechanical condition of the soil is of much more im- 

 portance than the chemical composition to the great 



