100 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[MAY, 
we find an illustrated communication from Mr. James Backhouse, of York, whose 
experience in this matter is second to none. . His remarks are as follows :— 
“ Comparatively few Alpines prefer or succeed well in horizontal fissm’es. Those, however, 
which, like Lychnis Viscaria and Silene acaulis, form long tap-roots, thrive well in such fissures 
provided the earth in the fissures is continuous, and leads backwards to a sufficient body of 
soil. Whore the horizontal fissures 
are very narrow, as at a, owing to 
the main rocks being in contact in 
places, and leaving only irregu¬ 
lar and inteiTupted fissures, such 
plants as the charming Lychnis 
Lagasc<x, L. pyrenaicia, and others, 
bearing and preferring hot sunny 
exposm-es, do well. But many 
plants that would bear the heat 
and drought if they could get the 
roots far enough back, woiild 
quickly die if placed in such fis¬ 
sures, from the paucity of soil and 
moisture near the front. There¬ 
fore, it is usually better in build¬ 
ing rockwork with these fissures 
to keep the main rocks slightly 
apart by means of pieces of very 
hard stone (basalt, close-gi’ained 
‘ flag,’ &c.), so as to leave room 
for a good intermediate layer of 
rich loam, stones, or grit, mingled 
with a little peat.” 
As a rule, oblique and vorti¬ 
cal fissures are both preferable to 
horizontal ones, but care should 
Rockwork with Horizontal Fissures. 
A, Silene alpestris; B, Lychnis Viscaria; 0, Silene acaulis. 
be taken with oblique fissures that the upper rock does not overhang. A plant placed at G 
will often die, when the same placed at h will live, because the rain falling on the sloping face 
of rock at i will drop off at J and miss the fissure g altogether, while that fallihg on the 
sloping face of rock at k will all run into the fissure h. There are, however, some plants, like 
the rare Nothochlocna Marantcc and Androsace lanuginosa, which so much prefer positions dry 
in winter, that a fissure like G would suit them better than one like H. Such are some excep¬ 
tions to a general rule.” 
“Vertical fissures (which suit 
many rare Alpines best of all) 
should always as far as possible 
be made narrovrer at the bottom 
than at the top. If otherwise, the 
intervening earth, &c., leaves the 
sides of the rock as it ‘ settles,’ 
instead of becoming lighter. In 
M, as the total mass of soil sinks, 
it becomes comiiressed against the 
sides of the rock, while in N the 
soil haves the sides of the fissures 
more and more as the mass sinks, 
and almost invariably forms dis¬ 
tinct ‘cracks’ (separations between 
the soil and rock) sooner or later. 
The same principle applies to small stones in fissures. To prevent undue evaporation in the 
case of such fissures as M, stones larger or smaller may be laid on the top of the soil, care 
Doing taken not to cover too much of it, to the exclusion of rain.” 
“ I believe the best local positions for very high Alpines are narrow fissures catching the 
sun for several hom'S each day, but having a gentle slope to the northward; and if the rock¬ 
work can be so aiTanged that a high ‘ range ’ of ‘ crag ’ at its eastern end may cut off the sun 
till near noon from the great fissm’es above alluded to, so much the better. Screen from heat 
is worth double as much in the morning as it is' in the afternoon.” 
Wrong. 
Right. 
