56 OUR ROCK-GARDEN 



an entrance is given to the liberal rain-pour of 

 February. The March winds dry up the super- 

 fluous moisture, and make the soil fit for the recep- 

 tion of the seed, and then for the well-being of the 

 tender plant are provided the gentle showers, the 

 outbursts of sunshine, of April. 



The vitality of seeds is a point of interest that is 

 often impressed upon one's notice, plants suddenly 

 appearing in one's ground of which we had no 

 expectation, and which must have been resting 

 dormant for a considerable period. We have 

 known an instance where a piece of land that had 

 been laid down as a pasture for over thirty years 

 yielded an abundant crop of charlock on being 

 ploughed up. One finds, too, that following such 

 disturbance of the soil as results from digging 

 foundations, making wells, railway cuttings, and the 

 like, an entirely new series of plants springs into 

 existence, and not uncommonly some of these are 

 plants that are found nowhere else in the district. 



Every nature-lover, of course, knows and appre- 

 ciates the daffodil ; we figure it on Plate I., and it 

 certainly must not be omitted in our gardening 

 operations. The flowers are so refined in form 

 and so delicate in colour that we each year gladly 

 find room for them. 1 The daffodil delights to grow 



1 Ruskin tells us that u after all there are only three things 

 worth anything in this world, or probably in any other to 

 feel what is beautiful, know what is true, and do what is 



