LAKE MOHONK AND I'ICINITY. 



vestigation has proved there is no soil, a wind-driven 

 seed from a pine tree has found an opening large 

 enough to lodge. True to its hardy nature, in re- 

 sponse only to the moisture of the rock and the 

 sunshine of some long-past spring, it started into 

 life, sending its first tiny green needles to rejoice in 

 the sunshine and little tap root to cling to the rock 

 it could not penetrate. Unable to flourish like its 

 brothers in the neighboring forest, and rear aloft a 

 massive head of evergreen branches upon a tall 

 columnar trunk, it made the most of all its oppor- 

 tunities, and became in miniature a counterpart of 

 its gigantic relatives around. Most of these have 

 fallen by time, winds or the axes of man, but the 

 sturdy dwarfs defy the fury of storms, present no 

 attractions to lumbermen or wood-choppers, and 

 their strongholds of rocks protect them from the 

 all-destroying forest fires, to delight our eyes and 

 perfume the rarified air with their delicate balsamic 

 scent. Decades and perhaps centuries, botanists 

 tell us, have been spent by these little trees in per- 

 fecting their pigmy growths, perfect in trunk and 

 branches. He who would attempt their 

 cultivation must live as long as did the 

 patriarchs of old to enjoy the fruits of 

 his skill, or be willing to plant for his 

 children's grandchildren in their old age. 

 Laurels and birches festoon the sides of 

 the cliffs. Ferns and mosses carpet the 

 shady depths of the deep fissures and 

 rents among the enormous rocks. We 

 can imagine when the laurels are in 

 bloom that they present a scene unri- 

 valled for pink and white beauty, with 

 such a setting of rocky backgrounds and 

 canopy of forest leaves and mountain 

 skies. The alpine plants that abound 

 are an all season's delight to the bota- 

 nist, and furnish innumerable examples 

 of good arrangement to those interested 

 in rock gardens — suggestions without 

 number. We may copy the effects, but 

 our handiwork cannot attain what the 

 hand of nature has been ages in accom- 

 plishing. Servile imitations will be so 

 inferior as to invite failure, but we can 

 adapt our materials as well as our lim- 

 ited resources will allow. One of the 

 lessons to be learned here is how many 

 natural materials may be employed in 

 picturesque gardening other than the 

 beds and walks and plants, that too 

 many think are the bounds of the art. 

 Take some of the walks, for instance. 



Perhaps we start off over a gravel walk or drive 

 made as hard and compact as that about any i^esi- 

 dence, yet being near the hotel or on a much fre- 

 quented line of travel the necessity is apparent, and 

 they are not obtrusive even with their primeval sur- 

 roundings. In fact, none exist without a reason for 

 their existence, and in all the work here use is made 

 of the materials near at hand, and they do not force 

 themselves upon us in the unpleasant manner for- 

 eign matter would have done. Fortunately, good 

 materials seem abundant, but the labor of convey- 

 ing them where wanted in this mountainous region 

 must be tried to be appreciated. Rocks were re- 

 moved, mires filled in, and the whole covered with 

 gravel or broken slate, which packs down and drains 

 well, a feature especially desirable when there are 

 heavy mountain rains soon followed by sunshine. 

 If the roads are not perfect in all places, let us be 

 glad of what has been done ; and where else can up- 

 wards of thirty-five miles of private road be found 

 upon any one estate, rough or level ? Long drives 

 have been constructed on both sides of the moun- 



The Stairs among the Rcc 



