14 THE ALPINE FLORA 



spreading a tiny mat of soil about the upper edge. Our 

 narrowest pockets are by comparison chasms, as it were, 

 choked with mingled grit and humus. Not that one 

 even advocates the attempt to imitate them; to do so 

 would be to forget the enormous waste of vegetable life 

 upon the alps ; for one plant that survives and thrives, 

 how many never live or wither before they be well 

 sprung up ? But the fact that it is in such circum- 

 stances that alpines do best grow is [eloquent of the need 

 of a constant supply of soluble salts, well distributed, 

 and this can be only secured by deep and perfect drain- 

 age. Again an alpine is ever receiving a top-dressing. 

 There the process is natural. In our gardens it is, also, 

 essential it provides food for superficial roots, promotes 

 the formation of layers, corrects the action of frost in 

 lifting plants at the collar from the ground. For this we use 

 compost; if of grit, it will keep the soil cool in summer 

 and dry in winter, to save the leaves from damping off; 

 sandstone will absorb the surface moisture indeed the 

 benefits are well nigh innumerable. 



In conclusion the translator would emphasize the 

 importance of growing alpine plants from seed ; it is safe, 

 cheap and interesting. If for no other reason M. Cor- 

 revon's work ought to be welcomed because of those 

 pages in which he lucidly exposes the folly of the 

 amateur collector and teaches to the true lover of alpine 

 flowers a better way. 



Southampton, 1911. 



