70 THE STORY OF MY ROCK GARDEN 



feature of them is the vigour which they show, probably 

 due to the interchange of pollen from one plant to 

 another, thereby introducing new blood, and the 

 increased vitality which usually follows it. 



The chief drawback to this form of propagating 

 is the liability of seeds not turning out true, due either 

 to their being incorrectly labelled or to the crossing 

 of various species one with another. This is especially 

 likely to occur with the encrusted Saxifrages, Dianthus 

 and Aquilegias. However, one can reduce the risk to a 

 minimum by purchasing seed from reliable firms, and 

 I really think that the little uncertainty attached to 

 this method makes it all the more enjoyable, because 

 the cultivator is never quite sure what he will get. 



I have found that one of the chief difficulties in 

 raising from seed is that when we can give only our 

 spare time to our hobby, the pots are liable to get too 

 dry occasionally, and in addition to this, the mere fact 

 of watering them overhead, however fine the rose of the 

 watering can, is likely to disturb the seeds, especially 

 in the case of very small ones, such as many of the Alpine 

 plants produce. How to obviate this difficulty was 

 the problem I set myself to solve, and the following 

 description of the plan I have adopted for the past 

 two years with very great success, may be helpful to 

 others who are interested in this branch of gardening. 

 I prepare the soil, and place it in the clean pots very 



