"At Estevan the natural soil which is chiefly of a forbidding sort of clay, was excavated to a depth of two feet and the first four inches filled in with beach stones about the size of an egg; after that six inches of gravelly grit and the remaining fourteen inches were given a mixture of two parts finely cut leaves, one part and one part of a gritty sand. Into this the Gentians were planted and the whole strewn over with fine gravel." Elsie Reford, "Gentiana Macaulayi, variety Welsii, at Estevan Lodge, Grand-Métis, P.Q. Canada"