Types of Rock 



would soon be crumbling to decay, with, possibly, 

 serious results. The magnesian limestone of the same 

 range of hills is also unsuitable, as much for the defect 

 already named as for its glaring whiteness, which ren- 

 ders it an eyesore. 



The Great Oolite of the Cotswolds is, on the other 

 hand, one of the most valuable to the rock-garden 

 builder, being good in colour, variable in size, usually 

 of a distinctly stratified character, and, above all, sym- 

 pathetic to plant life. Occasionally, even with this ex- 

 cellent rock, a little selection may be necessary, and at 

 such times the advice of the quarrymen who " work " 

 the stone is well worth while. Quite naturally even the 

 limestones are an exceedingly variable class, as witness 

 those of the range just referred to and others from 

 Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Of the serviceability of the 

 limestones from these districts one has but to remark 

 upon the thousands of tons which have found their way 

 from thence to Friar Park, Henley-on-Thames, where 

 for a score or more of years Sir Frank Crisp, Bart., 

 fashioned out of its majestic blocks the noblest 

 example of a rock garden this or any other 

 country has ever seen. From the utilitarian stand- 

 point no greater tribute could be paid to any 

 class of rock, save that of the garden itself, which 

 speaks in volumes at every turn. The rock employed 

 is that known as Millstone Grit, and is available from 

 blocks of a few hundredweights to others of ten or a 

 dozen tons apiece. Chief among the good attributes 

 of this rock, apart from the picturesque character and 

 boldness which are so ennobling in effect, is its porosity, 

 its apparent sympathy with all vegetable life, and that, 

 weathering down by exposure and climatic influences, 

 it is quickly brought into submission, soon losing the 

 one defect of quarried newness inseparable from the 

 greater rock masses. Weathered limestone (Fig. 2), the 

 result of long exposure, is also valuable, its dull grey 

 tone and that of certain Lichens and Mosses that often 

 find a home thereon rendering it highly decorative. It 



