THE ROCK BORDER 97 



half -inch sieve, finishing off the remaining three or four 

 inches with similar chips passed through a quarter-inch 

 mesh sieve. A sprinkling of sifted soil, half loam and 

 half leaf -soil, on the surface, to be washed in by rain, 

 will complete the work, and a really satisfactory moraine 

 is the result. 



Substitute for Stone. Some may not care to purchase 

 expensive stone. It is possible to dispense with it 

 altogether. The substitute does not perhaps look quite 

 so well as the real thing, though it can be given a 

 fairly natural appearance, and the plants do not object 

 to it. The method I adopt is to obtain from the builder 

 a number of oblong or square concrete blocks such as 

 are used to form an edge along the pavements in town 

 and suburb. With a little care one can transform these 

 into very presentable " rocks " of varying size. There 

 must first of all be a firm foundation, consequently 

 several of them are buried in the soil to enable one to 

 build up a steady and satisfactory " rock." Having made 

 the lowest slabs thoroughly firm by ramming the soil 

 round about them, one proceeds to place other blocks on 

 top of them, to such a height and width as are essential 

 to the size of " rock " required. It is important to place 

 a layer of soil, say two inches thick, between each of the 

 concrete blocks, thus filling all crevices, whether horizontal 

 or vertical. The completion of the work will give us 

 a more or less regular erection of slabs and stone, firmly 

 built. 



The plants ought next to be put in ; in fact, when 

 H 



