120 IRccKs ane lUatcr. 



with plenty of peat or leaf-mould mixed in. This soil, when 

 used, must be firmly packed down to the surface of the 

 bottom soil, as it will dry up very quickly if it is separated 

 in the least. The crevices and pockets should be vertical 

 or oblique, capable of catchiug rain and of letting off super- 

 fluous moisture. 



In planting the rockery, none but suitable and charac- 

 teristic species should be selected. All the coarser herba- 

 ceous plants are better excluded, the dwarfer forms being 

 preferable, and these also should be proportionate in size 

 and in harmony with the position of the rockery, as it may 

 be located either in a shady wood or in a perfectly open 

 and sunny place. Shrubs and subshrubs of a dwarf habit 

 are appropriate, such as berberis, cotoneaster, many of the 

 choicest ericaceous plants, dwarf conifers; and among vines 

 and creepers, ivy, perewinkle, matrimony vine, periploca, 

 and climbing roses. No plants should be allowed to en- 

 tirely overgrow aud hide the picturesque outlines of the 

 rocks. 



Water in a small garden cannot, as a matter of course, 

 be very elaborate in design. A transparent miniature lake, 

 or a pebbly stream, oval or circular cisterns with a more or 

 less regular outline, and playing fountains, may all be 

 formed artificially. But when the ground has such natural 

 advantages as a lake or river shore, or a small brook, much 

 can be done to enhance their beauty and to modify the 

 banks and shores if they are too steep or too formal. Such 

 modification may involve considerable work, but as a rule 

 much can be done by taking advantage of any depression 

 in the ground that may be deepened without too arduous 



