THE CATCH-FLY. lo9 



and air. Shelter they may have to advantage ; Ijut the 

 slieltev of a near ledo'e or shelf or cap of rock is far 

 liettev fur Uu'ni than the shelter of near walls or trees, and 

 a close, damp spot is one in which they will suffer from 

 frost sooner than in any open place that is not literally 

 plouii'hed by the east wind. But with all such plants losses 

 will occur, and it is a part of the Alpine gardener's duty 

 to provide accordingly, which brings us face to face with 

 the golden rule. 



A ri^ekery may l)e furnished at l.)ut small cost, and may 

 be kept furnished and for ever lieautifal, and for ever 

 changing in its beauty, with but little troulile, jimvided 

 the selection of ]ilants be made to suit a certain limited 

 range of resources. We have advised our readers on this 

 elementary, cheap, and pleasing system of rockery manage- 

 ment. The iberis, saxifraga, sedum, campanula, thymus, 

 poteutilla, and innumerable other genera offer us plants 

 that will grow almost anywhere, and that no winter will 

 destroy. For the rockery that is to take care of itself 

 there is Ud dearth nf plants, and many of them are 

 eipuil in lieauty ami human interest to any that the 

 world carries on its flowery breast. But tlie enthusiast 

 in phmt-collecting does not content himself with these. 

 He will go into regions where difliculties ])revail, and take 

 plants from the mountains that will, if they can, resent 

 the removal to the garden, where there is no certainty of 

 snow to protect them in winter, and no certainty of ever- 

 trickling moisture amongst stony grit to keep them growing 

 happily in summer. The collector meets the difficulty with 

 a golden rule, which consists in having duplicate j.lauts 

 of all the kinds that might slip through his fingers, these 

 duplicates being in pots pr(.)tected by frames, constantly 



