ALS 



27 



ALT 



mediately, in sandy loam and rotten j 

 dung, and kept in a green-house, as 1 

 tliey will not require lieat. When the j 

 plants are about an inch high, they may ' 

 be potted singly into very small pots, 

 and kopt in a growing state till they 

 have formed their tubers; if suffered to i 

 die down before that period, they will i 

 never shoot again, which is the cause of 

 many persons losing them after they 

 have got tliem up from seeds. A. acu- 

 lifoUa is hardy. Tho seeds are sown 

 in heat in February or March, and the 

 young plants make their appearance 

 in about six weeks afterwards. When 

 strong enough, they are potted singly in 

 sixty-pots and shifted progressively into 

 larger sizes, as they require more room ; 

 and by autumn many of them are full 

 four feet in lieight. These should be j 

 kept cool, and rather dry during winter, i 

 and then planted out against a wall, 

 where thev are finally to remain. The | 

 soil for potting them in is light sandy 

 peat and loam: and when planted out 

 they should be also placed in a light 

 sandy soil, two feet deep, on a perfectly | 

 drv bottom. i 



ALTKRNANTHERA. Twelve spe- [ 

 cies. Stove herbaceous; except A. 

 frutescens, which is a green-house ever- 

 green. Cuttings. Light rich soil. 



ALTFLEA. Marsh mallow. Seven- 

 teen species. Hardy plants. Division 

 or seed. Common soil. 



ALTIXGIA. Two species. Green- 

 house evergreen trees. Cuttings and 

 seeds. Deep loamy soil. 



ALTITUDE, or elevation above the 

 sea, has a great influence over a plant's 

 vegetation. The greater that altitude 

 the greater the reduction of tempera- 

 ture, so much so that every GOO feet of 

 altitu<lc are believed to reduce the an- 

 nual temperature as much as receding 

 a degree trom the equator, either to the 

 north or to the south. But this rule is 

 far from universally applicable, for the 

 limit of perpetual snow at the equator 

 is at the height of 15,000 feet, whereas 

 in the 3-5ih degree of north latitude, the 

 limit is at 1 1 ,000 feet, being an average 

 of about 120 feet of altitude for every 

 degree of recession from the e(]uator. 

 In the 4.5lli degree, the limit is 8,400 

 feet, being an average of 146 feet for 

 every dpsiree ; in the 50th degree, 6,000 

 feet, or ISO feet for each degree ; in the 

 60th, 3,000 feet, or 200 feet for a de- 

 gree ; and in the 70ih, from 1,200 to 



2,000 feet, or abont the same for each 

 degree as to the 60th degree of latitude. 

 Now I know of no reason why the tem- 

 perature of elevations below the snow 

 line should not follow the saine gra- 

 dations ; and if this be so, these may 

 be taken as a rule. All plants growing 

 above 7,000 feet under the equator, 

 ought to grow in the open air, in tho 

 latitude of London. In general, the 

 same vegetation is produced at the same 

 distance tVoni the snowline in the same 

 latitudes; though, when a place is very 

 near to the pole, a better vegetation is 

 produced in a short period of summer 

 th:in in places near the snow line under 

 the equator, the plants in the former 

 being there exposed to uninterrupted 

 sunlight. 



" At the foot of Mount Ararat, Tour- 

 nefoot met with plants peculiar to Ar- 

 menia; above these he met with plants 

 which are found also in France ; at a 

 still greater height he found himself 

 surrounded with such as grow in Swe- 

 den, and at the summit, with such aa 

 vegetate in the polar regions. Baron 

 Humboldt, in his Personal Narrative, 

 gives us a similar account of the several 

 zones of vegetation existing in a height 

 of 3,730 yards on the ascent of Mount 

 Teneriffe. The first zone is the region 

 of vines, extending from the shores of 

 tlic ocean to a height of from 400 to 

 600 yards, well cultivated, and produc- 

 ing date trees, plantains, olives, vines, 

 and wheat. The second zone is tho 

 region of laurels, extending from about 

 600 to 1,800 yards, producing many 

 plants with showy flowers, and moss 

 ! and grass beneath. The third zone is 

 ' the region of pines, commencing at 

 1,920 yards, and having a breadth of 

 850 yards. The fourth zone is the re- 

 gion of Retami, or broom, growing to 

 a height of nine or ten feet, and fed on 

 by wild goats. The last zone is the re- 

 cion of grasses, scantily covering the 

 heaps of lava, with cryptogamic plants 

 intermixed, and the summit ofthe moun- 

 tain bare." — Farmer's Encyclop. 



" Of perfect plants, the Daphne Cne- 

 orum seems in Europe to hold the most 

 elevated station, since, on Mont Blanc, 

 it stands at 10,680 feet, and on Mont 

 Perdu at 9,036 feet high. The growth 

 of woody plants ceases on the Alps of 

 central Europe at the height of 5,000 

 feet ; and on the Riesengchirge at 3,800. 

 Oats grow on the southern Alps at 



