House and Garden 
used like any other constructive material, 
often for their own sake, and usually as 
decoratively as circumstances will allow. A 
boulder gray with the storms, and variegated 
with the lichens of ages, is a beautiful thing 
in itself, as is a squared block of limestone, 
or a marble panel, and each of these can be 
arranged in harmonious composition with 
others of the same kind or even with each 
other. And the principles underlying the 
with much care, and even much ingenuity, 
of stones so placed together as to seem a 
real natural rock formation. Such things are 
costly to make and, as a rule, do not justify 
the pains spent on them, but they have their 
occasional uses. There are some excellent 
examples at the New York Zoological Park, 
where the wolf, fox and bear dens are built out 
of stone so carefully matched, and with the 
joints so ingeniously colored or disguised, 
ANOTHER PORTION OF THE ABBOTSBURY GARDEN 
composing of boulders or tufa do not differ 
from those of building up dressed granite or 
brick. Each and all can be arranged to 
develop their peculiar beauties, and rough 
rocks are one of the resources of the outdoor 
decorator just as any other building material, 
and it remains for him to use them with the 
reserve and discrimination that he would 
bestow on any other kind of ornamental con¬ 
struction. 
Sometimes one meets with a structure made 
that they seem, even after some examination, 
to be parts of the primeval rock upon and 
against which they are built. 
The consideration of all these instances 
may fairly lead us into an attempt to draw 
broad distinctions, to separate the good from 
the bad, and even to formulate a few general 
principles of design or lines of reasoning. 
Numberless examples will unite to show 
that artificial rockwork may be used for 
piers, retaining walls, paneling in dressed 
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