May 2, 18C5. ] 



JOURN'AL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDEN-ER. 



333 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



of 



M'ntb 



Day 



of 



Week. 



Tn 

 W 

 Th 



F 



8 

 Son 

 M 



MAY 2-8, 1865. 



Oak and Vine foliate. 

 Horse Chestnut flowers. 

 Medlar flowers. 

 Pheasant lays. 

 Mountain .^sh flowers. 

 3 Sunday aftkr Easteh. 

 Laburnum flowers. 



Average Temperature 



Raiu in 



last 

 38 years. 



Sun 



Sun 



near London. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Day. 



Nifht 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



C2.5 



39.1 



50.3 



13 



32af4 



22af7 



61.8 



40.2 



51.0 



17 



80 4 



24 7 



62.1 



38.4 



50.4 



13 



28 4 



2.5 7 



62.5 



390 



50.2 



20 



26 4 



27 7 



61.3 



38.9 



50.1 



14 



24 4 



28 7 



59.1 



40.0 



49.5 



16 



2i 4 



30 7 



58.9 



39.0 



48.9 



16 



21 4 



32 7 



Moon 



Rises, 



Moon 

 Sets. 



m. h. 1 m. 



58 10 62 



after. ' 21 



5 1 i 46 



7 2 10 



10 3 ' 32 



13 4 ' 54 



17 5 15 



Moon's 

 Age. 



8 

 9 



10 

 U 

 12 

 13 



Clock 



after 

 Sun. 



Day of 

 Year, 



42 



122 

 12 i 

 124 

 125 

 128 

 127 

 153 



From oliservations taken near Loudon durin? the last thirty-eight years, the average day temperature of the week is 61.2=", and its night 

 temperatura 39.2', The greatest heat was 81° oa the Gth, 1362 ; and the lowest coid, 20', ou the 2ad, 185-3. The greatest fall of raiu was 

 1.26 Inch. 



EOCKWOEE, 



iOCEWOEK as it occurs In 

 j^ature is of two kinds ; 

 the one with, and the other 

 witliout water, Eacli is 

 furnished witli appropri- 

 ate plants, but the best 

 examples are where the 

 rocky views are accom- 

 panied with, water. 



Though, water is very 

 acceptable, and in many 

 ways desirable in forming 

 roekworfc, yet it is often 

 introduced without any absolute necessity, for the absence 

 of water does not constitute a deficiency in rockwork, 

 some of the most picturesque forms of tliis occurring 

 on mountains, where it is mostly clothed with plants. 

 On the other band, rockwork accompanied by water is 

 tbe more beautiful; but good rockwork may be formed 

 without water, yet water is materially improved by a 

 judicious accompauiment of rockwork. It is, bowever, 

 absurd to form rockwork on the margin of water and 

 occupy the cultivable portion with, plants that grow on 

 lofty, di-y lidls, as is too often tlie case. Pope says, 

 " The principles of landscape gardening consist of — first, 

 tlie study and display of natural beauties ; second, 

 tbe concealment of defects ; third, never to lose sight 

 of common sense." Marshall cuts it short and em- 

 bodies it all in three words, "nature, taste, and utility." 

 London admits or advocates two principles, one of 

 " design or relatire beauty," and " imitation or natural 

 beauty," both very distinct, and the one perfectly in- 

 consistent with tbe other. Tbis is precisely the case 

 with, rockwork in gardens. There is no priaciple in 

 general, but a mixture of tastes that do not comprise 

 tbe rules contained in " the imity of the whole and the 

 connection of the parts." I have no liking for little 

 riUs, diminutive roclrs, and tiny lakes, for above every- 

 tbing tbis rule sbould be observed, " never to attempt 

 more than can be carried out upon a scale sufficiently 

 large to have a natural efi'ect." Placing a variety of 

 features in a small space so as to prevent any semblance of 

 ■utility, there being no natui-al beauty and no concealment 

 of defects, may add to tbe intricacy, but as a work of art 

 it is contemptible. It is not meant that no rock should 

 be smaller than that of Gibralter, no lake less than Win- 

 dermere, nor any stream smaller than the Danube ; but 

 rockwork is not to be formed by upsetting a cartload of 

 stones here, there, or anywhere, nor a pond made that 

 would hardly afford swimming-room for a pair of water- 

 fowl, or a rivulet for the purpose of putting over it a 

 rustic bridge. The greatest oversight of the present 

 age is the crowding of many features where there is only 

 space to exhibit a few to advantage. Every feature should 

 be such that a man of taste would have to " look up " at 

 itjfor if he does not do this he will " look down " upon it. 

 No, 214,— Vol. Till, New Semzs. 



Eockwork to appear in aU its grandeiu- should be bold, 

 rough, and extensive. It should form a feature in the 

 distance, have a bold outline, have broad and flat ledges, 

 fissures deep and shallow for the growth of plants — ia 

 fact, have the appearance of a rock, at one time solid, 

 but broken into fragments by storms or time. Diminu- 

 tive rockwork does not show what it is meant for, and 

 nothing is more paltry than a mound of earth covered 

 with a few stones for the sake of growing a small num- 

 ber of plants, though it may answer that purpose as 

 well as if the rock were 100 fest high. It is better to 

 see a large rock split into few parts and not far asunder 

 than to make up a rockery of small stones or a hun- 

 dred fragments. Large plants on large stones or pieces 

 of rock are natural ; the plants on or amongst small 

 stones are not only at variance with the character of the 

 rock itself, but look too artificial. Small plants on a 

 small rockery do not mend the matter, for however 

 small, they l.iok far too large for the places assigned them, 

 whilst they faU to hide the deception. The greatest fault 

 of most artificial rockwork is, that it is made on too 

 small a scale, affording no feature at a distance, and when 

 you come upon it it can be looked down upon and over 

 instead of the observer having to look up to it, unless, 

 indeed, it be a series of nooks, arches, and counterparts 

 of ruins that give an appearance of an old building, 

 where the Ivy may love to cling, but the Alpines be out 

 of place, and too large for their stations. In some other 

 eases rockeries can only be compared to a cartload of 

 stones emptied in a heap. True it is, that a rock of two 

 stones, or even brick?, or clinkers, will grow a plant as 

 well as if it were as high as a mountain ; but in landscape 

 gardening a rock should never be so low as to permit ot 

 a view over it. Eockwork, however, is not necessarily a 

 part of landscape gardening, and unless a necessity ap- 

 pear for its introduction, and unless it be judiciously 

 placed and managed, and of a respectable size and eleva- 

 tion, it would be far better left out. 



Tbe reasons for desiring rockwork are — first, a wish to 

 grow rock plants ; second, materials for the formation of 

 rockwork which would be in the way were they not so 

 appropriated ; third, a large broken mound or hillside that 

 is every way a defect, which being converted into rocks 

 would form a pleasing feature : fourth, the presence of a 

 deep ravine which it is desirable to retain ; fifth, excava- 

 tions, as old gravel-pits, quarries, &c., not easily fiUed up ; 

 and, lastly, a wish for alpine scenery. With tliese the 

 temptation to construct rockwork is great, and it is stiU 

 greater if there is water near. The evils are — first, same- 

 ness and diminutiveness, which destroy the eftect of the 

 picture and the rock -like appearance ; second, regularity 

 of outline or smoothness, which is destructive of grandeur; 

 third, selecting an unsuitable situation ; fourth, con- 

 structing rockwork without attending to the surrounding 

 scenery. 



Perhaps the best field for the study of natural rockwork 

 in Derbyshire and Devonshire, where there are some 

 magnificent examples. We may find rocks of all sizes ia 

 >'o. S66.— Vol. XSXIII., Old Skeies. 



