MAY 111 



instruction, so ardent in exultation, so sanguine in 

 defeat, that every reader with a quarter of an acre at 

 his disposal must straightway be drawn into the vortex 

 and begin marking nursery catalogues. 



If one who passed that way many years ago, and still 

 pursues it with undiminished zest, may utter a word, 

 not deterrent, of a surety, but cautionary, that word 

 would be Festina lente! Begin on a modest scale, 

 rejecting at the outset ambitious schemes of mimic 

 Alps, miniature gorges, and make-believe moraines; 

 which things may follow when the wants of what is to 

 clothe them are well understood, although in truth 

 these sham landscapes seldom bring content. Better a 

 few yards of retaining wall, built without mortar of 

 course, against a bank or sloping terrace this as a 

 start, capable of indefinite production and modification. 

 Thereby may be provided the cardinal requirements of 

 mountaineers namely, deep soil to root in, rapid 

 drainage, and rock shelter to retard evaporation. 



The novice in rock gardening should learn to dis- 

 tinguish at the outset between what are everybody's 

 plants that is, plants from which everybody may 

 ensure a satisfactory display, and plants which demand 

 nice consideration in the matter of soil, aspect, and 

 general treatment. He should begin with the easier 

 class, many of which are quite as beautiful as the more 

 fastidious kinds. No difficulty will be found with the 

 rock cress (Aubretia), and the eye never wearies of the 

 various shades of mauve and purple, of which that 

 most generous herb supplies lavish sheets and cushions. 

 But the florists have been at work with this family, and 



