COUNTRY VILLAS. 185 



but it is altogether unfit to be introduced into garden scenery, as an arttstical 

 object. In general, rockwork, to be truly natural, can only show the rock on 

 one side, or, at most, on two sides ; as scars, cliffs, precipices, &c., are seen 

 in rocky districts. The upper part of the rock should be covered with turf, 

 and trees, and bushes, and the inclination of the turf should follow the sup- 

 posed continuation of the rocky strata. Tliis mode is not only natural, but 

 has the advantage of being convenient ; because, by making the angle of 

 elevation of the strata more or less, according to the extent of the ground, 

 the covering of turf can, at a greater or less distance, be made to unite with 

 the level turf of the lawn. Where ferns, or plants requiring shade, are 

 chiefly to be cultivated as rock plants, the abrupt side or face of the strata 

 may face the north, and the talus, or sloping side, the south. Where early- 

 flowering plants are to be cultivated, such as the Californian annuals, the 

 abrupt side may face the south or south -east. It is almost needless to state 

 that on the sloping side, whicli may be called the back part of the rock or 

 hill, there ought to be no rocks or stones cropping out ; but, on the contrary, 

 the appearance ought to be such as to indicate depth of soil, where the slope 

 joins the level surface ; that being always the case in nature at the base of a 

 declivity. The covering of the rock, or hill, including the slope, and also a por- 

 tion of the adjoining lawn, may be planted with trees and shrubs, chiefly in 

 the picturesque manner ; as their appearance in such a situation, and dis- 

 posed in such a manner, is perfectly natural, powerfully supports the idea of 

 the truth of the imitation, and serves artistically to unite the hill with the 

 level surface. To render the imitation of the abrupt side, or face, of the 

 stratified rock artistical, all that is necessary is, to let the flowering plants 

 introduced in the clefts, fissures, or shelves (produced by one stratum pro- 

 jecting farther out than another), be of foreign kinds. Where granite or 

 basalt is the material used, the stratification, or lines of separation, may be 

 chiefly vertical ; but, in the case of sandstone or limestone, they should be 

 chiefly horizontal. The most intractable materials for forming rockwork 

 which is intended to have any grandeur of effect are, land stones, pebbles 

 from the sea shore, flints, and chalk-stones ; which, indeed, are only fit for 

 facing an abrupt irregular bank, to be planted with creepers or alpines. 

 Fig. 95. may be described as a mechanical representation of a piece of 



artificial rockwork, in the form of a scar, or precipice, rising from a flat 

 surface, and consisting of the cropping out of slrata that have a considerable 

 dip, or inclination. In this figure, abed show the face of the rock on two 

 sides, in which the lines of the strata, viewed in front, appear nearly hori- 

 zontal, in different beds ; each bed projecting somewhat beyond the one which 



