choice Alpines are expected to live there.

=The material= may be either slabs of grey stone as at Kew, or the more
easily obtained "clinkers." =Clinkers= are really bricks spoiled in the
baking, having all sorts of excrescences on them which unfit them for
ordinary building purposes; they should always be ordered from a strictly
local contractor, as carriage adds considerably to the cost.

=The soil= should be a mixture of peat, sand, and loam; no manure should
be incorporated, the ="pockets"= for special favourites and plants that
have individual wants can be filled in at the time of planting. =One
advantage= pertaining to a rockery is that many plants which quite refuse
to thrive in a border will grow and flourish there, and the attention they
need is less troublesome to give; in fact, it is =a delightful form of
gardening=, especially for a lady, as there is no fear of the feet getting
dirty or wet, and a trowel, not a spade, is the chief implement used. A
small piece of turf, just a few feet wide, at the bottom of the corner
style of rockery, is =a great set-off=, and a vast improvement on a gravel
path.

=SUITABLE PLANTS FOR A ROCKERY.= The following are some of the best
flowers for a rockery. The _aubrietias_ are very pretty little plants,
having creeping rosettes of greyish-green leaves, and a perfect sheet of
mauve or lilac bloom about April. The effect is greatly enhanced when
=planted so as to fall over a stone= or brick; indeed, it is for those
things which are so easily lost sight of in a border that a rockery comes
in; they can be closely inspected there without much stooping.

The _arabis_ is a pretty plant, somewhat like the _aubrietia_ in habit and
time of flowering; hence, where only a small selection can be made, it
might be left out, as it is =a trifle coarse=. Such a term could never be
applied to the _androsaces_, which may be numbered among =the= _elite_ =of
rock plants=; they are evergreens, and do not exceed six inches in height;
they bear tiny but very bright flowers, varying from rose in some species
to lavender in others.

=APENNINE GEMS.= Some of the alpine anemones are lovely, notably _A.
appennina_, which has sky-blue flowers that open out flat on very short
stalks, surrounded by pale green denticulated foliage. _A. blanda_ is much
the same, save that it flowers a month or so earlier; they are
spring-blooming plants, and like moisture and shade, and will not do at
all if subjected to