ROCKS AND ROCK-PLANTS. 
87 
It is to the consideration of the principles and conditions which ought to 
govern the formation of the latter class, together with a few remarks on some of 
those plants which are naturally more pleasing when placed upon them, that we 
purpose most especially to devote the present paper. With this view, then, let 
us first inquire what are the chief points in which the two descriptions of rock- 
work differ from each other. 
The professed aim of rockeries of the former kind being to copy the most 
picturesque assemblages of natural rocks, or by a tasteful and discriminate 
selection of the most interesting, to compile a structure that shall be both striking 
and free from those portions which, even in a natural scene, frequently destroy 
unity of character, it is necessary that it should be both at some distance from the 
mansion, and also that the fragments employed be large and massive. For, where 
a great thing is attempted — and a great thing it is to copy well the wild forms of 
natural rock— unless the means and material employed be perfectly adequate to, 
and in harmony with, the object attempted, the result must be puerile, and an 
effectual display of the impotence of the contriver. All the vegetation, moreover, 
which accompanies an extensive rockery should be subordinate to it ; and instead 
of constituting a prominent and leading feature, should be merely sufficient, and so 
disposed as to give relief and diversity to it. 
In the other description of rockwork, the construction must be ruled by very 
different, and in some respects opposite considerations. Here it is the plants, and 
not the rocks, which are mainly expected to contribute ornament ; consequently, so 
far from the smaller fragments of rock being objectionable, they are here rather to 
be sought after as furnishing a more extended number of crevices and suitable 
places for inserting plants. It is, moreover, necessary that the plants be more 
copiously distributed, to preclude the possibility of the real object ever being mis- 
taken. And, with regard to the situation, it is not by any means necessary that 
these should be confined to the wilder and more remote scenery of the grounds ; 
but on the contrary, they may be admitted to the more highly finished portions 
with propriety and advantage. 
But whilst the ruggedness and massive character of the more legitimate rockery 
must not be affected when the chief aim is to provide a proper site for the display 
of particular plants, it is equally inadmissible to fall into the opposite extreme, by 
adopting an even unvarying uniformity of surface and arrangement. In carrying 
out this observation, it is needful to indulge in considerable latitude to preserve 
harmony with the leading characteristics of surrounding objects ; and if so be that 
circumstances demand, let it lead from perfect ruggedness till it sinks into the 
polished border, forming an insensible bond of union between them. 
The vicinity of the flower-garden or plant- houses beside an arbour, or any 
much frequented spot, especially where there is a bank backed with a shrubbery, 
generally present an abundance of situations possessing an eminent suitability for a 
work of this kind. The margin of a basin of water may often be much improved 
