THE ALriNE GARDEN AND THE FLORA OF LE LAUTARET. 31 1 



Alps in general, and includes the systematic collection, which is all 

 that remains of the original plan. The rest of the garden is divided 

 into eight regions, each consisting of rockwork allotted to the fol- 

 lowing localities : — 



1. Jm-a. 2. Pyrenees. 3. Mountains of Mediterranean region. 

 4. Caucasus and Oural. 5. Eastern Alps, Carpathians. 6. Hima- 

 laya, Tibet, Altai", Siberia. 7. Arctic regions. 8. Various moun- 

 tains. 



In 1910 and 1911 these were all planted with seedlings raised in 

 the plain, or already existing in the garden. There are now 2,000 

 species in a flourishing condition. 



It is necessary to maintain a gardener for the five months of the 

 year (June to October), during which the garden is free from 

 snow. He must, of course, be a specialist, skilled in rock gardening and 

 in the cultivation of alpine plants.^ Day-labourers are also required, 

 and it is amusing to find that the ' ' casuals ' ' who are pressed into the 

 service are of much the same kidney as in this country. One tramp, 

 after working two days at five francs, gave up the job, " because he 

 found the stones too heavy to carry, and preferred his liberty on the 

 highroad to work ' ' ! 



It is further essential to have a reserve garden in the plain. Pro- 

 gressive acclimatization is necessary, and seeds and seedlings prove 

 the most satisfactory. Sowing in pots again is preferable to sowing 

 in the open, and this is best done in the plains. The University of 

 Grenoble, however, has no garden attached to it — not so much as a 

 terrace for its pots. By the kind offices of Professor Wilczek the 

 University of Lausanne allowed Lautaret (1908-9) to share with the 

 Thomasia garden (near Bex) a piece of ground in which alpine seeds 

 could be sown. Then in 1910 a tiny garden was hired just outside 

 Grenoble, which served as a nursery for alpine seedlings, and an experi- 

 mental ground for students. The Director of the Jardin des Plantes, 

 Grenoble, has given valuable aid by advice and materials, tools, &c., 

 to this venture, but the rent and upkeep fall on the Faculty of Botany. 

 There are no funds for a gardener, save an occasional day-labourer. 

 This year some six hundred species of plants have been transported 

 from the nursery garden to the Lautaret. These alone would have cost 

 over 1,000 francs, and justify the upkeep of the reserve garden. 



To sum up, the objects of the Jardin du Lautaret are both scientific 

 and practical. It is capable of becoming a highly important .station 

 for the comparative and regional study of alpine flowers, and a valuable 

 means of preserving such species as seem all too likely to die out. 

 It has already a large trade in the despatching of alpine seeds and 

 young, acclimatized plants; in 1909, 3,000 packets of seeds were sent 

 out to . all the principal Universities and Botanical Gardens of the 

 world. 



The Laboratory would repay development : it already has the 



* The present very capable gardener is M. Kobert Volut, of Grenoble, to 

 whom I am indebted for much help and information. — F. A. W. 



