The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-05-26

A mass of furnace clinkers, made
glazing white with lime-wash, and built
up into grotesque form unlike anything
ever seen in nature, is often dignified
by the name of rock-work. This mass
is, i'm the building provided with
"pockets," to hold quart or so of
earth, and in these are planted Tropao-
lums, Scarlet Geraniums, and Other bed
ding plants, which, in our hot summers,
present sorry spectacle, having no
"deepness of earth" A structure of
this kind obtruding itself in conspicu-
Gus place in the lawn, is one Of those
horrors one is forced to witness in his
travels. In spite Of this sham work,
rock-work can be constructed in a man.
ner that will be in good taste and afford
much pleasure. There are some places
in which rock-work may be properly in
troduced as feature Of the landscape;
but our purpose is to speak of it as a
place for growing such plants as will
grow better upon rocks than elsewhere,
as well as some that cannot be grown at
all in the open border. No one but q
real lever of plants will ever undertake
a rock-wOrk, as the plants which are
most at home in such situations are
usually delicate subjects that commend
themselves to our attention by their
modest beauty rather than by their bril-
liancy. Certain plants are found grow
ing naturally only upon rocks, where
their foliage can spread itself TO the sun
while their roots run down through the
earth filled crevices of the rocks into
the deep cool soil far below. This is
particularly the case with plants grow
ing in Alpine regions, and such can
only be cultivated with success where
the natural conditions are observed.
Other plants seem to flourish better
among loose stones, which probably act
as IA mulch. What are called Alpine
Plants are now becoming popular in
England, though we must confess that
the term Alpine" is made to include
a great number Of things that have no
mountain origin. We have already no.
ticed Mr. Robinson's work, " Alpine
Flowers for British Gardens;" u refer
ence to its list of plants will show that
the term "Alpine' is used in a very
comprehensive sense. In the work re-
ferred to, the author gives several illus
trations of artificial rock-work. They
should not be built up like a stone-wall,
but the stones should be placed so as to
appear as if they belonged there. What
ever crevices are left for the accommo-
dation of plants-and there should be
sufficiency of these-should be continu-
Gus until they reach the earth. In cases
where elevated masses of rock-work are
built up, the same precaution Of keep
ing open q communication with the
earth below. is to be observed. Of
course, a rock-work can be made of any
dimensions, according to the means and
tastes of the builder; but fortunately it
is not necessary to work on large
scale, as a small rocky bed can be made
with little trouble and expense, which
will grow Alpine plants i'll very salts
| factory manner. \ bed eXcavated to
the depth of about two feet, is to be
filled in with peaty soil and leaf mold !;
stones of different sizes are placed
around the margin to raise the bed
above the general level more soil is to
be added, and small and large stones
are so placed as to crop out from the
soil. A bed of this kind may be made
in a retired part of the garden, and
serve as the home Of many choice Al
pines .-American AdriculttriSt.