Part I. 



THE ROCK-GARDEN. 



because the rain falling on the sloping face of rock at I will 

 drop off at J, and miss the fissure G altogether, while that 

 falling on, the sloping face of rock at K will all run into the 

 fissure H. 



" There are, however, some plants, like the rare Nofhochlcena 

 MarantcB and Androsace lanuginosa, which so much prefer 

 positions dry in winter that a fissure like G would suit them 

 better than one like H. Such are rare exceptions to a general 

 rule. 



" The best and worst general forms of steep rockwork we have 

 tried are those indicated in Fig. lo. By making each rock 



5«5Sf 



Right, 



Fig. 10. 



Wrong. 



slightly recede from the one below it, the rain runs consecutively 

 into every fissure. Where the main fissures reverse this order, 

 almost everything dies or languishes. Care should be taken to 

 have the top made of mixed earth and stones — not of rock, 

 unless use is intentionally sacrificed to scenic effect. 



" Vertical fissiires (which suit many rare alpines best of all) 

 should always, as far as possible, be made narrower at the bot- 

 tom than at the top. If otherwise, the intervening earth, &c., 

 leaves the sides of the rock as it ' settles,' instead of becoming 

 tighter. 



"In M, Fig. II, as the total mass of soil sinks, it becomes 

 compressed against the sides of the rock ; while in N the soil 

 leaves the sides of the fissures more and more as the mass 

 sinks, and almost invariably forms distinct 'cracks' (separa- 



