INTRODUCTION. 
alpines, such as Eritrichium and the Aretian Androsaces. To 
these a special quarter might be assigned in a special cliff, and 
the whole covered in winter with a light from a frame. Panes 
of glass poised singly over each specimen have their use, but they 
do not keep out the contagious wet from the soaked surrounding 
soil, nor is there any precaution that can prevent the whole air from 
being charged with humidity to an extent unbearable by the 
fluffy cushion. 
The problem of moisture has already been dealt with, that 
of aspect remains, and depends upon it closely. No alpine plant 
is a genuine lover of shade, and in gardens where the water-supply 
is sufficient they may all safely be trusted in the most sunny 
positions. If, however, the water-supply be poor or precarious 
and the climate especially torrid, then the more delicate and 
capricious of the higher alpines may profitably be given a site 
under the lee of some large rock, or on some ledge where the sun 
falls only for half the day. The danger from sunshine, however, 
is not really urgent, unless the soil be hard and bad, or the climate 
of an Arabian aridity; given good drainage, and light rich open 
ground, almost every alpine plant prefers an open and exposed 
position, with all the light and air it can get. In much hotter 
and drier countries than our own, success is attained by despising 
drainage and mixing a liberal proportion of Sphagnum-moss in the 
soil, as to make it a moisture-holding sponge. To English condi- 
tions, however, this method is quite unsuited, and inevitably 
proves fatal to its victims—as has, indeed, been pointed out by 
M. Correvon, the discoverer of this medium, who has had such 
triumphs by its means in the blazing heats of Geneva, where the 
winters are of a correspondingly ice-bound intensity. Nor must 
any word of such well-favoured cultivators ever induce an 
English gardener to underrate the paramount, absolute, and vital 
importance of perfect drainage. 
Yet another precaution may be suggested, though, like many 
others here noted, it will also be found occasionally insisted upon 
in the following pages. Do not plant your treasures in stately and 
cherished isolation. Root loves to wrestle in the ground with root, 
xlvii 
