The Rockery. G27 
We now come to consider the details or filling up of our 
picture, such as the shrubberies and flower-garden proper, with 
their various accessories. A fanciful method of planting, 
formerly more in vogue than at the present day, was a series of 
hedges and walks termed a maze or labyrinth, so arranged as 
to cause a considerable amount of walking to the uninitiated, 
-in order to arrive at the centre. Fig. 263 is a representation of 
a maze, designed by Claude Mollet in 1653. The hedges may 
be composed of Yew, Hornbeam, Beech, Arbor-Vite, or espa- 
lier fruit-trees, according to taste, and the distance apart 
according to available space, but it should not be great. The 
height of the hedges would be regulated by the nature of the 
ground, whether flat or gradually rising towards the centre. 
A rockery or artificial arrangement of stonework for the 
cultivation of Alpine plants is a thing not to be attempted by 
those who have not proper materials for constructing it, and 
ample time to devote to the care of its occupants. A rockery 
in perfection is one of the most expensive luxuries of garden- 
ing. A fair collection of Alpine and rock plants, it is true, 
may now be purchased for a comparatively trifling sum; but 
to keep them in health requires more than ordinary skill, com- 
bined with an intimate knowledge of their natural habitats 
and peculiarities of constitution. A tastefully constructed 
rockwork, in a suitable position, well clothed with the gems 
of the higher mountains and northern regions, is a continual 
feast for the lovers of nature’s more modest yet curious pro- 
ductions, and therefore we cannot pass it over without a few 
words. The scale of such a construction would naturally be in 
proportion to the extent of the garden and the site chosen. 
It should be as simple as possible, and all embellishments in 
the way of ornamental stones or other accessories should be 
eschewed. In the choice of site we must be guided by the 
wants of the plants—plenty of air, facilities for supplying water 
in profusion, and freedom from the drip of trees—and also by 
the nature of the ground at our disposal. Porous rock and 
sandy peaty soil, so disposed as to leave interstices large 
enough for the bigger plants, and to afford shade to those re- 
quiring it, are indispensable conditions. Every portion must 
be well-drained, for, though they revel in moisture overhead 
at certain seasons, they are almost without exception very 
impatient of stagnant water at the roots. In building a 
rockery, the principal things to keep in view are proper pro- 
$32 
