90 ALPINE FLOWERS [PART I. 



rare kind, the seedlings might be thinned a little, and the 

 thinnings dibbled into a nursery bed, but, by sowing rather 

 thinly, the plants will be quite at home where first sown till 

 the time arrives for planting them out finally. 



I am convinced that in finely pulverised earth, with, if con- 

 venient, an inch or so of cocoa-fibre and sand between the drills 

 to prevent the ground getting hard and dry, much better results 

 will be obtained than by sowing in pots. In the open air they 

 come up much more vigorously, and never suffer from trans- 

 plantation or change of temperature afterwards. 



ALPINE PLANTS RAISED FROM SEED IN POTS. 



Nevertheless, as few will venture the very finest and rarest 

 kinds of seed in the open air, how to treat them in frames is 

 of some importance, and the following notes on this matter are 

 by the late Mr Niven, of the Hull Botanic Garden, in the 

 Gardener's Chronicle. 



"Presuming that the selection of the seeds is made, and 

 that the seeds themselves are in the hands of the purchaser, 

 sowing should take place as early as may be in March. First 

 of all, the requisite number of 5- or 6-inch pots should be 

 obtained, so that each seed-packet can have a separate pot for 

 itself. Some nice light soil, mixed with a fair amount of sand 

 and leaf -mould, should be prepared, and passed through a coarse 

 sieve, keeping a sharp eye after worms, and at once removing 

 them ; the rough part which remains in the sieve should be 

 placed above the drainage in the bottom of the pots to the 

 extent of two-thirds of the depth, filling the remaining third 

 with the fine soil ; the whole should then be well pressed 

 down, so that the surface for the reception of the seeds may 

 be half an inch below the brim of the pot, and tolerably even. 

 Each packet of seed should then be sown, and covered with a 

 sprinkling of fine soil, which should be pressed down by means 

 of a flat piece of wood, or, what will be perhaps more readily 

 available, by the bottom of a flower-pot. 



" The best guide as to the thickness of covering required is 



