PART I.] CULTURAL 77 



"RAISING ALPINE PLANTS FROM SEED. 



" A few words may be in place here about raising alpines 

 from seed ; for constant succession is necessary, the duration of 

 their life in cultivation being, for many obvious reasons which 

 need not be discussed here, far shorter than in their native 

 home. Eeproduction from seed, where seed can be obtained, 

 ensures the healthiest and finest growth, and there is no better 

 way of getting seed than in saving it yourself. In several cases 

 the first hint I have had that a plant has ripened fertile seed 

 has been the recognition of a seedling near the parent, and this 

 experience has taught me always to look carefully for seed after 

 the flowering of rare specimens. I need not say, therefore, that 

 I disapprove of the practice of cutting off flower heads as soon 

 as they wither ; in some cases the seed-head is nearly as 

 ornamental as the flower, but I have before said that discretion 

 must be used, even in this, as seedlings of some things are 

 troublesome from their number. When ripe seed is gathered 

 I recommend its being sown at once. It is then more likely to 

 come up quickly, and as all such plants as we grow on rockeries 

 are better sown in pans, there is seldom difficulty in keeping 

 small seedlings through the winter. The greatest enemy we 

 have in the process is the growth of Lichen, the worst being 

 the Marchantia or Liverwort fungus, which completely chokes 

 tender growth. A coating of finely sifted burnt earth on the 

 surface, and a piece of flat glass laid over the pan, especially if 

 no water is used for them unless it has been boiled, reduces 

 this trouble to a minimum. But sowings of choice and rare 

 seed should be carefully watched, and the fungus picked off at 

 the first appearance. Many alpines seem never to form seed in 

 cultivation, and must be reproduced by division or cuttings. 

 The skill required to do this varies greatly with different 

 subjects ; where a shoot can seldom be found more than half an 

 inch long, as in the case of two or three hybrid alpine Pinks, 

 the striking needs delicate manipulation. Other things grow 

 very slowly, though not long-lived, and a constant succession 



