ARTIFICIAL ROCK WORK. 65 
believe is still, the demand for them, that any one ac- 
quainted with the subject will know that the Alps, the 
Appenines, and every mountainous chain in the moderate 
climates have been ransacked for the purpose of adorning 
these faint imitations of nature’s stupendous piles, 
The first and great care in erecting rock work is to see 
that it does not resemble a pile of loose stones, the next 
that it is not built in a regular form, such as the segment 
of a circle or right line, as I have seen recommended in 
some works—then that the fragments of rock be of widely 
different sizes—for instance, a few small stones may fill a 
large interval between heavy masses, but there must 
neither be a mass of immense blocks together, nor a num- 
ber of small ones piled on each other. It is by no means 
requisite that. the whole rock work should constitute one 
mass; @n the contrary, more variety is produced by hav- 
ing it in separate masses, with passages occasionally nar- 
row and ruggedly rising, so that it is necessary to climb 
over a slight impediment to make the circuit some 
art is required in arranging the crevices, so that the soil 
fit for each plant be not washed out by heavy rain, and 
the roots laid bare; the moss which grows on the surface 
of barren rocks is excellent for filling the lower part of 
these interstices, and in cases where plants that love a 
damp soil are cultivated, a garden pot with the hole stop- 
ped to hold water, and another with the plant placed in 
it, may be easily concealed—where there is water which 
might be made to trickle over the rock work this aid is! 
not required. Due attention must also be paid to the 
aspect. Some flowers only open in the sunshine, others 
are only half hardy, for these the south and sheltered side 
is appropriate; ferns and many others, love the shade, and’ 
will not support the parching rays of the sun, these may 
clothe the northern aspect. 
Thave already made the remark in a former communica- 
