106 CULTURE OF ALPINE PLANTS. 
CULTURE OF ALPINE PLANTS. 
BY AN AMATEUR. 
THESE very interesting plants have long been great favourites of mine, 
and it has afforded me great pleasure to observe that the last two sea- 
sons nearly all the principal horticultural and floricultural societies in 
and around London, also in the country, have admitted them to form 
a elass for collections of which prizes were offered and awarded. At 
the Chiswick, Regent’s Park, and Surrey Gardens shows, very exten- 
sive collections were exhibited, and they attracted the particular atten- 
tion and admiration of visitors. Let this class of plants be examined 
closely, and perhaps there does not exist a more lovely group in Flora’s 
train. 
The Alpine tribe of plants is composed of a general assemblage of 
such as are dwarf, small, and some requiring particular care in culti- 
vation. ‘The greater part are natives of Alpine situations; many on 
the hills of our own country ; some, however, inhabit our woods, and 
others are arenarious, sea-side, or bog plants. In fact, a collection of 
Alpines ‘properly consists of such plants only as grow on high moun- 
tains, whether of this country, America, Switzerland, or others. They 
are universally low, bushy, and mostly evergreen. In some of their 
native situations they are covered with snow the greater part of the 
year, and consequently never experience excess of heat or cold. In 
consequence of their vegetating at so great an altitude, theyjare sur- 
rounded by a light, thin atmosphere, mostly charged with moisture. 
The soil in which they grow is soft, black, and peat-like, filling up the 
crevices of the rocks, or forming a thin stratum on the surface. In 
England, Alpine plants are often planted out on rock-work and in 
shady borders; but experience shows that they never succeed well or 
long in such situations ; we therefore should endeavour to imitate their 
natural habits, and plant them in pots, protecting them in winter from 
too much wet, by placing them in a cold frame or pit, where they 
ought to be firmly plunged in coal-ashes. In addition to the glass, a 
covering of mats should be added in frosty weather, and, if very severe, 
left constantly on. This month they will begin to show signs of yege- 
tation, and should be carefully repotted, dividing such as it is desirous 
to increase. The pots in which they are placed should be 60’s, and 
most efficiently drained. The soil in which most of them will thrive 
should be composed of one-half light sandy-loam, and one-half good 
peat; if the loam be rather strong, a quantity, not more than one-sixth 
part, of fine white sand should be added, and a little well-decomposed 
leaf-mould will be a beneficial addition. As they are repotted they 
should be again placed in the frame, to protect them from heavy rain 
until they have taken root. Some few of them are annuals, and some 
of the perennials will have shed their seed during summer, and then 
die; it is therefore advisable to let the pots in which they grow remain 
undisturbed for a time, and in all probability a stock of young plants 
will make their appearance. Seeds of any kind which have been saved 
should now be sown in pots of finely-sifted soil, scattering them thinly 
on the surface, that the plants may have room to attain a considerable 
