14 
ROCK GAUDENS. 
hundred loads of dungfrom old melon and cu- 
cumber beds nearer to theground in the course 
of dressing. The individual who was thus em- 
ployed observing that there was so mueh stuff 
written about what would lix the ammonia, 
thai it was quite sickening, " That," says he, 
" is my way of fixing it — 1 put it all where I 
want it, and I warrant me ten inches of loam 
on top will i\x it where I want it, that is on 
the ground it is to dress." It is true that 
rank dung will not agree with many things, 
hut when it is put at the bottom, things won't 
go any nearer to it than they like, hut when 
it is turned up at the next season, the ground 
is lit for any thing. It is only the first season 
that some things do not get the benefit of it, 
but come to turn the ground over again to fix 
the next lot, the earth is richer by one-half 
than if the remains of old melon beds had 
been used; so it is with green crops ploughed 
or dug in, and with leaves and vegetable 
waste generally, instead of losing the strength 
which is wasting whenever you can smell a 
heap of rubbish, or a dung-bed, you have it 
all in the ground, and turn it up when you 
will, you have all the benefit of what would 
otherwise be going off in the atmosphere or 
soaking away in water. If, indeed, it be 
desirable to save rubbish and manures of 
different kinds, there is no way so rational as 
to put a layer of dung or of the rubbish, and 
a layer of the soil it is to he used on, alter- 
nately, and cover all with the soil; or if lime 
be a good dressing for the. land it is for, the 
layers may he of lime instead of earth; and 
when it is applied, it will be found that the 
ammonia has been fixed, as it is called, and the 
whole heap is rich alike. This is commonly 
done near the coast with sea-weed, which forms, 
after decomposition, one of the best manures 
that can be applied to a majority of the farms 
in the vicinity of the ocean. These manures 
are put on as ordinary rotten dung is ; that is, 
spread about the ground evenly, and either 
dug or ploughed in at the proper season. 
The chief modes then of applying manures are 
first in drills, as in the case of guano, bone 
dust, malt dust, and the various disinfected 
and prepared manures for that purpose; se- 
condly, in top dressing, that is, throwing it by 
hand all over the surface, either after the crops 
are up or before sowing ; thirdly, in a liquid 
state, by sprinkling all the ground with it by 
means of an engine or water-cart ; and lastly, 
by the ordinary means already spoken of, that 
is, spreading it over the surface, and digging 
or ploughing it in. These all admit of various 
methods of carrying out the general prin- 
ciple, and will form the subjects of future 
papers. 
ROCK GARDENS. 
In forming rock-work in a garden, there 
should be something like a boldness of feature 
and provision for covering many parts with 
plants. It should not be frittered away in 
small compartments, as if it were a grotto; 
for that is anything but good. It should be 
a feature in the distance : the outline should 
be bold; the ledges for plants broad and flat, 
as well as containing fissures, into which the 
roots of plants may be introduced. It should, 
in fact, present an appearance of rock which 
at one time had been solid, and broken into 
fragments by time or storms. It is far better 
to see a large rock split into two, and not far 
asunder, than to make up a mass of small 
pieces as if they had been swept off a heap. 
Large plants among small pieces of stone look 
too artificial; if the rocky pieces be very 
large, the small plants look natural. The 
place to select for rock-work should be where 
