CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS 57 



the frost has lifted them at all out of the ground. If 

 it has, they should be pressed back into their places. 

 The best time of planting for most of the more dif- 

 ficult Alpines is the early spring, or, if they are raised 

 from seed, as soon in the summer as they are large 

 enough to plant out. It is risky, of course, to plant 

 out small seedlings in May or June; but, if they can 

 be protected from drought, they will be strong plants 

 by the autumn; and, though a few may succumb to 

 the winter, the survivors will be much more healthy 

 than if they had been enervated by the protection of 

 a cold frame. For the higher Alpines all naturally 

 like as much fresh air as they can get, and a winter 

 in a cold frame will often undermine their constitu- 

 tions. 



Whenever it can be done, the best as well as the 

 cheapest way of obtaining Alpine plants is to raise 

 them from seed. Most of them come readily from 

 seed if it is sown as soon as ripe, and this should al- 

 ways be done, if possible. When the seed cannot be 

 obtained as soon as it is ripe, it should be sown about 

 the end of March. The seed of the rarer and more 

 delicate plants is best sown in shallow earthenware 

 pans with, of course, a hole for drainage at the bot- 

 tom. The soil should consist of a mixture of sand or 

 grit and fine vegetable soil. The pans should be 

 very sharply drained with a mixture of crocks or 

 rubble filling about half the pan. The most impor- 

 tant point in the raising of seedlings is to keep the 

 soil always fairly moist; and it is a great help towards 



