8 ALPINE FLOWERS AND GARDENS 



even, it may still be lingering, these summer 

 visitors will frequently come upon bright patches 

 of the earlier spring flowers. But it is nothing 

 compared with what has gone before — nothing 

 compared with the sumptuous feast which has 

 earher been spread, to right and to left, on the 

 lower sun -favoured ground. What they find, 

 however, is an inspiring and suggestive sample of a 

 wealth which mere words utterly faD to picture 

 properly. Of tales of this wealth they will hear ; 

 their appetites will be whetted for the feast ; and 

 surely will they make mental resolve to encompass, 

 another year, this marvellous and distinctive 

 season. 



Because, then, the possibilities of the Alps are 

 not as yet known or appreciated as they should be 

 and, assuredly, as they will be, it seems safe to say 

 that they have by no means reached the zenith of 

 their popularity. Already, indeed, one can remark 

 a development in this direction. Already many 

 mountam hotels and pensions make arrangements 

 to meet an earlier demand upon their hospitality. 

 Already, quite early in ]May, British and other 

 Avayfarers may be found delightedly established in 

 many an ' out-o'-way ' place, indulging in day-long 

 rapture over the wonders so lavishly unfolded 



