AN ALPINE ABC 



10. Plants of the same family should be 

 kept together where this is possible. 

 It is more interesting to have a saxi- 



masses of mountain dbris, stones of all sizes and 

 shapes, sand and shingle, all knit firmly together, 

 and containing the merest trace of primitive 

 vegetable soil, washed down from the rocky 

 heights. 



In our gardens the moraine must be made on 

 the same plan. It should face as near as possible 

 south-east, and be so arranged that its surface is 

 well raised above ground level, the better to afford 

 an easy view of its treasures. 



Let the main bulk be made up of stones varying 

 from the size of a man's head to that of his fist. 

 All the spaces between these stones are tightly 

 packed in the building with the " moraine mixture," 

 which is composed of fine quarry sittings, granite 

 or limestone chips, or any other similar material 

 which may be available. This is mixed with about 

 one-fifth of its bulk of topspit peat and leaf-soil. 



The whole must be not less than 18 inches in 

 depth, and should be bounded behind by rocky 

 walls. The surface should show a few weathered 

 stones half hidden in the general mass. 



A moraine built on the lines indicated here will 

 retain moisture for very long periods and, in dry 

 weather, may be watered with the rose. 



It is the larger stones which play the most 

 important part in retaining water, and if these are 

 of a porous nature, so much the better. Round 

 these stones the roots of the plants will cling, always 

 assured of those conditions which make life and 

 growth easy fir them. 



