GENERAL INTRODUCTION 233 



branch, and not the least important branch of practical 

 gardening. Certainly the most fascinating and the most 

 scientific but not " ornamental " nor indulgent to the 

 extravagancies of those with a weakness for "big" ef- 

 fects. 



For all this, it is not a difficult branch to master nor 

 one that should be considered the portion of aristocrats 

 in the world of " gardening gardeners". Observation and 

 intelligent interest alone are required. 



There is a wrong way of proceeding wholly condem- 

 nable. You uproot a plant on the mountain and remove it 

 straight into the garden. Ten times in a hundred, as a 

 rule, you may succeed, not oftener, because the time 

 chosen is usually the season of inflorescence. Down you 

 bring your treasures in triumphant confidence, only to 

 be disappointed of your hopes again and again. The 

 reason is easy to guess. Do we ever set about transplant- 

 ing a rose or other such plant under a full summer sun, 

 in the time in bloom? Yet this is how we treat the moun- 

 taineers in bulk. We see them flowering; promptly ad- 

 mire and as promptly tear them up. When their charms 

 disappear, we cannot tell one from another and no longer 

 care about possessing them. 



Methodical procedure, governed by common sense, is 

 essential, if we are to remove into our gardens with any 

 chance of success a native of the heights. First the change 

 must be made during the resting season. Therefore we 

 must learn to recognise our favourites when there is 

 nothing but the foliage and the general look to mark them 

 from their neighbours. This knowledge is quickly gained; 

 one soon acquires a kind of instinct or flair which helps 

 us to seize at once upon the characteristic differences 

 between species. Then the plant must be submitted to an 

 acclimatisation, that is, it must receive a special treatment 

 by which it gently grows accustomed to the novel cli- 



