M4 IRISES [CH. 



Its only rival is its own near relative, G. verna, which 

 is not always easy to transplant or to grow, when re- 

 moved from its native haunts in Switzerland, or from 

 the grass cliffs over Gal way Bay. It does grow, however, 

 in great luxuriance in confinement, and is worth almost 

 any trouble involved in procuring the right soil and aspect 

 and treatment, if it only succeeds. Gentians must always 

 be firmly planted, and well trodden into light peat or 

 turfy loam, and the surface covered with grit. I have 

 sometimes found G. acaulis thriving much better when it 

 had found its way on to the gravel-path, where it had 

 actually been walked on for the greater part of the season 

 without any injury, than in the bed from which it had 

 strayed. The obvious reason is that it had found there 

 both grit and firmness, and the fact suggests the advantage 

 of making plantations of Gentian through the rough stone 

 edgings of our garden paths, and leaving them to their 

 own devices undisturbed for years and years. 



CHAPTER III 

 IRISES 



THE Iris family is remarkable for the number, variety, 

 and exceeding beauty of its members. In the brilliant 

 colouring of their flowers, and their accommodating dis- 

 position with regard to soil and situation, they are 

 unrivalled. When their value as cut flowers, and the 



