24 OUR ROCK-GARDEN 



Having got our material together, the next very 

 important step is to make a wise use of it. The 

 stones must not look as though they had merely 

 been shot out of a cart and left there. When 

 Nature makes a land-slip, and clothes the fallen 

 matter, as Nature only can, with rich tapestry of 

 bramble or fragrant honeysuckle, and throws her 

 glorious sunlight over all, the heart is dull indeed 

 and the eyes dim that cannot enter appreciatively 

 into so fair a scene ; but the attempt to reproduce 

 the impression of this at home by merely emptying 

 out a barrow-load of stones is predoomed to failure. 

 The bases of the stones should all be sufficiently 

 buried in the earth to give the feeling that the 

 masses are rising from it, and not merely lying 

 on the surface. If our stones are of homogeneous 

 character, and our observation of nature and study 

 of geological text-books go deep enough a not 

 very exacting requirement a suggestion of stratifi- 

 cation is a welcome feature. 



So very much must depend upon the space 

 and material available that it is impossible to lay 

 down any general rules, but we may just say that 

 wherever practicable it is always better to have 

 one's rock-work curved more or less, or angular, on 

 the ground-line, rather than straight. As such 

 a matter once established is not an easy thing to 

 modify, both on account of the bulk of the material, 

 and the injury done in moving the things planted 



