FOREWORDS TO NEW EDITION xvii 



could be given. This is more especially the case in 

 the artificial rock-garden, which is formed of bricks 

 and like material, covered with cement. Even if we 

 got such ugly things at little cost it would stop pro- 

 gress. They are rarely artistic, and they are bad for 

 the growth of plants. If we spend much in preliminary 

 effects, such as these rock-gardens give, there may be 

 little left for the main thing the plants and their care. 

 People who have natural rocks in their own pro- 

 perty, or near it, are not likely to make such 

 mistakes, and the true way is to begin modestly with 

 a few natural stones. A man who has seen the 

 mountains, and has his heart in the matter, ought 

 to do better with a few loads of natural stone than 

 with five hundred tons of artificial rubbish. In many 

 parts of the Alps the prettiest effects are obtained 

 from plants clustered round a lichen-covered stone, 

 with, it may be, a yard only of its point exposed. Such 

 stones not only look well, but are best for the plants, 

 the roots of which find all they require beneath and 

 near the cool stone. In that way, in many districts, 

 even where the natural stone has to be carried home, 

 such a beginning need cost very little. Where the 

 stone is on the ground, as often happens in the north 

 and west, it might become a question of planting 

 only ; but the idea is so much in peoples' heads that 

 they must make some kind of "rock" work, that even 

 in the Alps I have seen men making little artificial 

 arrangements, reminding one of what used to be seen 

 in villa gardens at home, instead of planting the rocky 

 ground ready to their hands. 



