MAKING THE ROGK GARDEN 19 



Lessons from Nature. The veriest tyro has recognised 

 the fact that igneous rocks are always found in an irregular 

 collection, scattered here and there in no harmony of 

 design. So, in building with such as granite and whin- 

 stone, the specimens should be used to represent a chance 

 group of rocks. Corners will peep through the soil and 

 suggest a mighty boulder underneath ; large pieces of 

 rock will lie partially buried in the ground, and occasionally 

 one may rest almost totally upon the surface. Small 

 stones can be built up to represent a giant crag ; cement 

 is justifiable to elaborate this principle, but the greatest 

 care should be exercised to conceal all parts where it 

 has been employed, and to use as small a quantity as 

 possible. 



Sedimentary or stratified rocks retain fairly regular 

 lines and forms ; sometimes, indeed, the strata are con- 

 torted by a long past rending of the earth's crust, but in 

 all cases the lines of formation can be followed distinctly. 

 Now, in copying from natural rock structures, it would 

 be the height of folly to model our rockeries on these 

 frigidly regular parts, such as may be seen along the 

 face of a quarry or on the tall crags that are found at 

 various parts of our coast. Our aim must be to avoid 

 such uniformity in order to obtain impressive effect ; 

 variation must enter into the work must be, in fact, 

 the very essence of the work and picturesqueness can 

 scarcely be attained along with scientific regularity. 

 Fortunately, stratified rocks are frequently found broken 

 up and scattered about in all directions, thus affording 



