The Cultivation of Flowers 
185 
sary — the next thing to do is to work out the ground plan. 
This should be very irregular, considering its size. The 
I surface soil should then be thrown out, and thoroughly 
cleared of weeds. The centre should then be filled with 
soil to form the mound, or miniature mountain, following 
the outline of the ground plan. The height should be 
about 18 in. for a small rockery, varying to 3 or 4 ft., or 
even more, in a larger one. The whole should then be 
covered with from 4 to 6 in. of stones, or even gravel, after 
which the rockery stones should be placed in position. 
They should all be placed sloping inwards, so that the soil 
will not wash out, and the water will be enabled to soak 
to the roots of the plants. The drainage will take away 
all superfluous water. After the stones are placed in po- 
sition the soil should be placed in among them, to a depth 
of from 10 to 12 in. On the small rockeries, some of the 
lesser stones may be left out until some of the surface soil 
has been put in. When the whole is finished, the planting 
should be done. The very early spring is best suited for 
this operation, as many of the plants flower early, and 
they should be thoroughly established before it is time 
for them to produce blooms. A background should always 
be thought of, especially with regard to a small rockery, 
and no better one can be had than evergreen shrubs, such 
as Box, Yew, &c. These should be sufficiently far away 
not to overhang the rockery. On a larger scale, larger- 
growing plants may be used, and the partially shaded part 
of the rockery may be given over to a collection of hardy 
ferns. The soil for such will have to contain a con- 
siderable amount of peat, or leaf soil, and tree roots may 
be used instead ot stones for the ferns to grow among. 
