72 THE STORY OF MY ROCK GARDEN 



wards, and one end of the pipe passed through the 

 wall of the frame, which was made watertight about it 

 the other end being closed up. 



Into this frame I then put pieces of brick, broken 

 to one inch cubes, to the depth of four inches, and on 

 this a layer two inches thick of the same material but 

 of half-an-inch cubes. When this was levelled over 

 I arranged a second piece of lead pipe along the back 

 of the frame and lying on this rubble bent it up when 

 it reached the side and passed it through the wall, 

 and connected it to the bottom of a small barrel 

 standing just above the level of the frame. This pipe 

 was also perforated at intervals of one inch where it 

 lay on the rubble, and the openings downwards. I 

 then spread over the whole a layer of the coarser parts 

 of peat moss, to prevent small particles from sifting 

 down between the rubble, and upon this I put to the 

 depth of seven inches, fine peat. 



It will be seen from the foregoing, that if the seed 

 pots are plunged to their rims in this fine peat, and the 

 little barrel filled with water, the latter will run out of 

 the perforated pipe and soak the rubble, and pass off, 

 through the perforated outlet pipe at the front. 



During its passage through the frame, capillary 

 attraction will cause the peat to absorb water and 

 impart it to the pots and their contents, thereby 

 keeping them always at an even state of moisture 



