EXPERIMENTAL CULTIVATIONS 203 



Some earlier experiments by the Viennese botanist, 

 Kerner, made between 1875 and 1880, are worthy of 

 consideration in conjunction with Prof. Bonnier's 

 more recent work. 



Kerner established an experimental garden near 

 the smnmit of the Blaser (7,243 feet), a mountain in 

 Tyrol, and the controls were grown in the botanical 

 garden at Vienna. Of a large number of annuals 

 raised from seed, many on the Blaser perished from 

 the severe frosts in spring. Those which survived and 

 flowered possessed extremely short internodes or 

 lengths of stem between the leaves. Also, the number 

 of internodes developed was often little more than half 

 those found in the controls. The number of flowers 

 was less, and they were smaller than in the controls. 



A biennial plant, an Umbellifer, experimented 

 with, produced only five umbels as against twenty 

 found in the control. The internodes were again half 

 as numerous, and the whole plant was less than a 

 quarter the height of the Lowland example. So also 

 with the perennials. In the case of the Grass-of- 

 Parnassus, the stem in the Alpine cultivation was 

 only one-third to one-quarter the height of the control, 

 and the size of the leaves and of the flowers was 

 smaller. In many species the flowers were more 

 intensely coloured. Thus, Kerner's researches agree 

 in several points with those of Professor Bonnier, 

 and he, too, was inclined to lay special stress on the 

 influence of the intense illumination of the Alps, as 

 being the chief factor concerned in these modifications. 



