272 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
this ridge is mainly composed, and which shows itself in imposing 
outcrops at various points, is of a porous nature, and is geologically 
known as Lower Tunbridge Wells sandstone, a rock which has proved 
admirably adapted to rock-garden purposes. 
The site of the Rock-garden is a rounded hill with a steep escarp- 
ment towards the north-west. When we went to Brockhurst eight 
years ago, we had no idea that within a few feet of the surface of what 
we called the " Banky Meadow," in which our cows grazed, there was 
a mass of solid rock some 30 feet thick. In fact, we had just previously 
bought many tons of very similar stone from a quarry four miles away, 
when making our first Rock-garden. This was situated on a wet 
grassy slope below the lawn, and descended to the upper of a succession 
of four ponds that flow from one to the other down a small natural 
glen. We soon discovered that the wetness of the bank was due to 
a large spring rising from the natural rock below, and as soon as the 
spring was enclosed in cement walls we had a fine flow of beautiful 
clear drinking water, which, at its source, appears to have a uniform 
temperature of about 51 0 F. throughout the year. This stream was 
conducted in a winding channel through this first Rock-garden, so as 
to form miniature waterfalls and pools, and ultimately descend into 
the head of the pond. The flow is sufficient to keep all the ponds 
fresh, so that trout breed and flourish in them, and attain to a con- 
siderable size. We are fortunate in having five or six natural springs, 
and there is a large one in our Wilderness on the other side of the new 
rock-garden that, is sufficient to work a ram, which pumps water to 
our reservoir a quarter of a mile away in sufficient quantity to supply 
all our needs both for house, garden, laundry, &c. I hope to make 
good use of the two or three smaller springs later on. 
But to return to the rock-garden. It was not until we were 
planting some new Rhododendrons at the edge of the " Banky 
Meadow " that my gardener discovered that he had come on to a 
piece of rock. After getting this out, we found that there was more 
underneath. This discovery suggested the idea of making a small 
rock-garden close at hand by taking a small piece off the field ; but 
I must shorten a rather long story. As we proceeded our ideas grew as 
more and more rock was found, but before we were able satisfactorily 
to complete our increasingly ambitious designs we ran short of rock 
at the spot where we were working. This led to making boreholes 
towards the top of the hill to ascertain if there were rock there also, 
and it was the discovery of an almost limitless supply of rock here 
that led to our gradually making a deep pit or quarry into the hill, 
from which we raised great masses of stone to the surface, at first with 
Jim poles and a pulley, but later with a large crane. The stones, 
when brought to the surface, w T ere guided down the hill on wooden 
rollers, which ran over a track made with boards. As the rock-garden 
below the hill grew, and in doing so gradually approached nearer to 
the quarry, so the size of our excavations grew. It was then that the 
idea occurred to us of cutting right through the intervening ground, 
