PROPAGATION 143 



The seedlings may remain in these boxes or 

 pots till the following spring, by which time 

 they should have made good roots and may be 

 transferred to their final home, or, if required 

 for stock, be potted up into 2-|-inch thumb-pots, 

 which should be plunged in the sand or cinder 

 bed. Another method which may be adopted 

 in the case of stronger-growing plants is to 

 prick out direct from the seed-pot into a bed 

 specially prepared with fine soil. Plants so 

 treated will also require protection for a few 

 days from hot sun. 



If the instructions just given are carefully 

 followed there is every reason to expect that the 

 result will be a success. But, to give it every 

 chance, it is absolutely essential to obtain fresh 

 and fertile seed, to provide ample drainage in 

 seed-pots, keep them clean and free from all 

 weeds and moss, and, above all, to keep the 

 moisture even, for nothing proves more fatal 

 to germination than alternate conditions of 

 moisture and drought. 



Most alpine and rock plants lend themselves 

 very readily to propagation by division, espe- 

 cially that large and typically alpine family 



