70 



IRISH GARDENING. 



MA^' 



Treatment of C 



olleet 



eel Al 



■»ines. 



K\ \\ II IMm . l.K.l 



I^oi.i.owixei 111 

 ' a liMii- ill <\\\K. 

 tliioui^li iIk- 

 uliiv.-li >(."\i.Tal plant: 

 aiul inanv k'lt in 

 llial livalisc I .1 



ni\ artitU- on 

 t lor Alpines 

 Pyr.'iK'cs in 

 \\ lm"*.' nanici-l, 

 iiK'tl, bt'L-ausc in 

 n.it i-tioposo to 



Joal in tlctail. \U\[ in lliis ticaliso 

 I propose to (.k'ai with oach plant 

 and its particular noci-is ai'tci it has 

 l-»ecn ruthlessly torn from its mothei- 

 L-arth antl >.on\eyei.l in \arious 

 manners to its new eomnieieial 

 home. 



It would be well to lirsl recant a 

 lew of the incidents oi' collection. 

 When one start.s out on a climb the 

 first thint^- that an experienced 

 collector watches is that he is iii;htl_\ 

 loaded. Thus a knapsack is about 

 the best mode oi' carryinj^' one's 

 plants over the rugo^ed earth, and 

 \ et I suppose there are a few o\ we 

 .\lpine lovers that really like to treat 

 our clierished g'ems in sucii a manner, for, 

 speaking^ fig^uratively, when collecting; there is 

 only time to grab a handful oi' these cherished 

 gems by the throat and cram them into the far- 

 most corner of the knapsack, which is heated 

 on one side by the sun and on the other by one's 

 back. Kach fresh lintl is pressed on its former 

 companion until the bai^ is full, when another 

 effort is made to find still more room in the 

 already crowded receptacle. 



When you reach ycnn^ hotel one feels the tiring 

 strain o\' the da\-, so that the plants ha\e to 

 remain in that condition till morning when, 

 in haste again to gain the unbeaten tract, they 

 are tilted first forenuist in tlie coi'iier of the 

 hotel bedchamber, much to the disgust of the 

 chamber maid, unless \our francs are free 

 enough to close her word\' member ; even then 

 she regards you as fit onl\- for some other 

 charge than hers. 



After some five or six da}s ol' such sundr\ 

 collections the plants are despatched home in 

 a basket in which the air has a free access. 

 Now, it must be remembered that at the time 

 of the year which I write the plants are well 

 ripened in the lower Alpine ranges, as a i-esult 

 I g-ave no water in any form until they were 



p.tcked loi Ireland, when a judicious sprinkle 

 was gi\ en because a more copious would have 

 caused heating and the plants would have 

 anixed home only fit loi the rubbish heap. 



e>l the plants collected in the higher Alpine 

 ranges and in (.lani|-> |Maces a difierent rule was 

 made I left all m\ collections of the damp 

 Kneis such as Paiiiassia, ringuicula, (ientiana, 

 aiul high range jilants siu li as Drxas, Androsace 

 pyrenaica, \c., until the last three days o\ my 

 stay, and so managed to return home with ni} 

 dry loxers antl bog subjects in \er\ much one 

 condit iiMi. 



I returnei.1 r/i/ I'aii, Paiis and London, antl in 

 this journey o\ fifteen hundred miles or more 

 m\ plants were without an}' attention beyond 

 a gootl shaking'' b\- the railway men, which 

 stopped perspiration by the plants, and for once 

 a rough handling of one's baggage served for a 

 useful purpose. 



However, to the more needy remarks oi this 

 tieatise. When the day of sorting came it was 

 a task needing great patience and care. 'i"he 

 plants were scattered over the lloor o\ a dark 

 shed and hea\ily watered, and in the cool air 

 soon reco\ered enough to gi\e sufficient 

 character to place them in their specific order. 

 Having accomplished assorting- I set to work to 

 reconcile these new prisoners of fate to their 

 alien suri-oundings, w liich in some cases is no 

 eas\ task. 



Primula \ iscosa was one of the plants which I 

 made a raid on, and it is wonderful the varying 

 beautiful forms that ha\ e llowered with me this 

 season, but this plant is best on Point \'igne- 

 male, lor nowhere over the whole of the 

 luiropean Alps I have ne\er seen anything to 

 approach the form that grows there. 



In the treatment of this plant I divided up 

 into single crowns, trimmed off the dead leaves 

 from their long- stems, which, by the way, 

 remain for sexeral \ ears as a protector against 

 excessi\e frost and moisture, then I cut oflf the 

 root which had become somewhat dry and 

 inserted eacli crown as cuttings, with about 

 two inches of stem singl\- into three inch pots, 

 using a mixture of two parts sandy rubble, one 

 part leaf and one part rich loam, potted them 

 firmly, gave a good soaking of water and 

 placed them into a shady cold frame, with 

 about six inches of ashes underneath the pots 

 to afford very good drainage, as these plants 



