October 20, 1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 349 
20th 
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Sale of Orchids from Madagascar at Mr. Stevens’ Rooms, Covent 
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[Garden. 
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23rd 
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19th Sunday after Trinity. 
24th 
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25th 
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26th 
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Apple and Pear Show at Hereford (two days). 
A ROCKERY FOR ALPINE PLANTS. 
HE cultivation of alpine plants is now attempted 
with more or less success in nearly every 
part of the kingdom. Visitors to my garden 
frequently tell me that they are going to make 
a rockerjq and ask for advice ; and though 
good advice on the subject, with full instruc¬ 
tions for the work, has often been given in 
pages, the last rockery I made has proved so 
successful that a description of it may furnish some 
useful hints to others ; and as I helped to place 
every stone on it with my own hands, I am able to tell exactly 
how it was made. 
these 
The length of the rockery is about 30 yards, and its direction 
from north-east to south-west, so that it faces south-east and 
north-west. It runs along the side of a level carriage drive, 
and the situation is quite open and away from trees. I own 
that for choice I prefer the side of a steep bank, or a hill 
sloping at an angle of about 30°, and having a south-easterly 
aspect, on which to lay the stones for a rockery ; but every 
garden has not this convenience, and a mound artificially 
raised answers very well, but requires more attention in 
watering during the summer. 
The total width of the base is to be 8 feet ; I therefore make 
a long mound of the native soil of the garden—stiff red clay, 
believing there is no better soil for a base. This is about 
5 feet wide and from 2 to 3 feet high. Now it must be re¬ 
membered that this may obstruct the surface water in heavy 
rain, especially on strong soils ; I therefore lay a line of agri¬ 
cultural drain pipes along each side at a convenient depth, 
carrying them to the nearest drain or outfall. 
The next consideration is the stone. Matlock tufa has the 
highest reputation in the neighbourhood of London as rockery 
stone, and is very expensive. Matlock is my native place, 
and I know the material well, and no doubt it is good ; but I 
doubt whether it is better than the rough irregular blocks of 
limestone, full of cracks and holes, which lie about the surface 
in the mountain limestone districts of Lancashire and the 
West Riding of Yorkshire. I have heard gardeners who live 
in those parts say they wished they could' get sandstone. My 
rockery is composed partly of the new red sandstone, which is 
quarried within a quarter of a mile, and partly of mountain 
limestone from Grange, in Lancashire. But everyone must 
use the stone he can most conveniently procure, preferring 
that which presents a rough cracked surface. I may remark 
that I do not attach great importance to the chemical com¬ 
position either of stone or of soil, not because plants have no 
preference, but because even if we know exactly the chemical 
conditions which suit each plant, it is so difficult to supply the 
materials in the right proportions and combinations. Mecha¬ 
nical conditions are at least equally important and far more 
easily proved. Ordinary coarse sand and broken stone, with 
loam and peat, and old dried mortar, as much from its me¬ 
chanical as its chemical qualities, can be made to grow almost 
any alpine plant if climate and situation are suitable. 
The more rough and shapeless the stones are the better. 
The largest I use are as much as two strong men can lift into 
their place. The lower part of my rockery is of sandstone, 
the blocks of which are larger and more regular, and the upper 
part of limestone. Along the base at each edge must be laid 
a foundation of stones of moderate size, at intervals of about 
their own width. Upon them must rest a row of larger stones 
tilted backwards, but after laying a few yards the rockery 
must be finished to the top before proceeding. This requires 
some skill in the selection of stones. The largest should be 
kept as keystones to lock together the smaller stones, but 
every stone should be so locked with its neighbours that a 
heavy man can step upon any of them without causing any 
displacement before a particle of soil is added to the original 
mound. This is a rule I invariably observe. Beware of trusting 
to soil to make the stones firm, if you do they will sooner or 
later give way ; but do not be satisfied till the biggest labourer 
in your garden can step and jump upon every stone without 
moving it. Be careful also to have as many overhanging 
ledges as you can. You may then add the soil for the surface. 
Mind it is clear from grass roots and weeds, or you will have 
trouble. I use loam composed of the top spit of an old pasture, 
adding about one-fourth of coarse sand and leaf soil, and 
fill the stones till they stand from 1 foot to 3 inches above 
the soil, leaving as many level pockets as I can. How and 
with what I planted my rockery I will tell another time.— 
0. Wolley Dod, Edge Hall. 
FRUIT TREES CANKERING AND BEARING. 
My pen, I fear has been idle of late. Alterations when 
extensive absorb, as most gardeners know, all a man’s time. 
Working by day and planning at night leave little oppor¬ 
tunities for press work, but the letter of “ S. S." tempts me to 
send you a brief and hurried note. 
First as to canker in fruit trees. I have seen more of this 
during the past two years than ever came under my notice 
before. When I say that frost is the immediate cause of 
canker, I do not expect everyone will believe me ; but let 
those who doubt, and who live in districts where Apple trees 
have been injured, look at the tops of the trees for evidence. 
During the winter of 1879 the late unripen ed growths of 
hundreds of Apple trees in the north were either killed or 
injured, and so far as I have seen not one out of a hundred of 
those frost-bitten growths escaped the canker. I can point to 
tops of trees that are full of it that were previously clean and 
healthy, and but for the frost there would have been few 
if any of the unsightly and injurious excrescences. We 
will now go a step further and see what is the predisposing 
cause of the injury, and we arrive at immature wood, and this 
is induced by low sites and wet soil. Low-lying positions 
should, then, as far as possible, be avoided in fruit-tree plant¬ 
ing, and wet soils and subsoils should be drained. Calcareous 
matter should also be added to all soils that do not contain it. 
No. 69. —Von. III., Third iSeries 
No. 1725.— Von. LXVI., Old Series. 
