292 PRACTICAL GARDENING. 



high or nothing ; the only excuse for anything lower would 

 be to cover a mound with fragments of brick, flints, stones, 

 and slates, and each appear like the rock merely protruding 

 through, which, when covered with plants, would do better 

 than any paltiy elevation. But rock-work is one of those 

 features which are not necessarily part of a landscape garden, 

 and unless very judiciously managed, and of a respectable 

 extent and elevation, is far better omitted. 



The temptations to construct rock- work are, first, the pre- 

 sence of abundance of appropriate material, which would be 

 iu the way if not so appropriated ; second, the presence of 

 water, which is one of the most important adjuncts ; thirdly, 

 portions of high broken mounds, easily convertible to rocks, 

 so far as the surface is concerned ; fourthly, the presence of 

 excavations of any kind not easily convertible, nor without 

 immense labour filled up ; lastly, the presence of a deep valley 

 which is to be retained. Any, or all these circumstances, 

 naturally tempt one to introduce rock-work ; and in construct- 

 ing this, the evils to be avoided are, first, diminutiveness, than 

 which nothing is so destructive to the harmon}'- of the picture ; 

 second, smoothness, which detracts from the grandeur, if not 

 absolutely from the natural appearance of rock ; thirdly, 

 choosing a bad place ; fourthly, not attending to the sur- 

 rounding, or at least the adjoining scenery. A rock built up 

 in the middle of a lawn or park would look exceedingly 

 ridiculous alone, but a rocky scenery on the margin of a lake 

 might be perfectly natural ; the place should be a gradual 

 hollow slope from near the ground upwards, the outer surface 

 being made with chiefly very large fragments of stone, or 

 material in imitation of it, so as to form a bold rugged face ; 

 and here let it be above all things remembered, that rocks are 

 not in nature formed of lumps of glass, bits of carved stone, 

 broken ornaments, and such like, as one would fancy they 

 were from looking at scores of garden establishments ; they 

 are either chalk, or granite, or quartz, or sandstone, or some 

 other distinct material, and their fragments are all of the like 

 character, although not two may be of the same size or like- 

 ness. We have seen a very disting-uished amateur rock-work, 

 which has been so managed as to evade the responsibilities 

 heaped on us by the second commandment ; it is like nothing 

 " on the earth beneath, nor in the waters under the earth," 

 patched up as children make grottoes — not those with oyster- 



