THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GLIDE. 131 



vented the possibility of the delicate fibres being ground, in travel- 

 ling, by gritty and gravelly particles : sometimes I had three or four 

 roots planted together, as it kept them more firmly in their places. 

 As long as I remained stationary during our travels, the boxes were 

 uncovered night and day, watering carefully when necessary, and 

 now and then examining them, in case of mildew, placing them in 

 the sun during the early morning for a few hours. During our long 

 journeys, my first care, after arriving, was to uncover the boxes, and 

 if possible give the plants fresh air throughout the night, and so 

 enabling them to bear the confinement of a box life. The process of 

 their culture on reaching home was as follows : — As soon as the 

 treasures were unpacked from their journey of many hundreds of 

 miles, they were carefully planted in some old boxes filled first with 

 cinders, then a compost of white sand, peat, and leaf-mould ; and 

 these boxes were placed in a moderate hot-bed, covered over at 

 night by a light frame of wood, with coarse, stout canvas stretched 

 over it to prevent heavy rain and wind injuring the young shoots. 

 The gentle warmth from this management, with occasional watering, 

 encourages the plants to form fresh roots, and, as soon as they 

 appear to make any steady amount of growth, they are planted off 

 into a rockwork constructed in the following manner : — Select some 

 large stones, as rugged as you can get them, with old trunks of trees 

 placed firmly on beds of clay, leaving plenty of hollow spaces for 

 planting. Throw iuto these spaces a deep layer of broken crocks, at 

 least one foot deep, then fill up with a mixture of leaf-mould, peat, 

 and white sand, equal parts ; cocoa-nut fibre refuse will do as well as 

 peat. Alpine plants love this soil, and good drainage, and if the aspect 

 of your rockwork i3 not too sunny, you will find very little trouble 

 in the culture of these lovely gems, except in the winter and during 

 the cold spring, for they are then deprived of their natural covering 

 of deep snow, and the cold thaws, followed by severe frosts, are a 

 great injury to them. This evil may in a measure be remedied by 

 fastening hoops of withy across the rockwork, and covering it with 

 a light canvas tacked to the hoops. This artificial snow keeps oft' 

 the effects of cold wind and severe frost, and can easily be removed 

 on warmer days. After the first year, branches of gorse bushes, 

 placed over the plants, protect them from frost without crushing 

 them. The result of this treatment has been very successful, and 

 my Alpine plants have flourished and increased rapidly, blossoming 

 in great beauty at the same season they formerly did in their native 

 land. 



It is very interesting to watch the growth of these attractive 

 plants, so widely differing in character; one may like to spread over 

 the rocks, another in decayed wood ; and the lovely Linaria alpina 

 delights in gravelly, sandy soil, which would prove too dry for the 

 Soldanella and others. Morell, in his " Scientific G-uide to Switzer- 

 land," tells us that the genuine Alpine class of plants of the moun- 

 tain region are remarkable as having no narcotic or poisonous 

 species among them, and that the predominant chemical element in 

 them is of an astringent nature, accompanied by a bitter taste. Tie 

 also tells us that " cultivation in the hill region has so complete!'-" 



