so with plants, it surely is, that for their owner to 
partake of the real enjoyment to be gathered from 
them, they should he propagated, — we had almost 
said created, nursed, their wants administered to, 
and their drooping heads revived from the crystal 
fountain’s refreshing cordial, by his own hand; 
they then become to him as the smiling children 
of an indulgent parent, and afford the gratification 
intended by Him who gave them for our pleasure. 
The collections of small plants, cultivated in 
pots, and usually called alpine plants, contain very 
many which, like the Silene saxifraga, are in reality 
not alpine, but the inhabitants of marshy places, 
damp rocks, or shady woods, w hich cannot bear con- 
stant exposure to our summer sun, in a dry par- 
terre. The minute fibrous roots of many of these 
are few in number, or running near the surface of 
the ground, are unable to absorb sufficient moisture 
to supjrly the demand of the leaves, whilst evapo- 
ration of their fluids is rapid, from exposure to heat. 
The really alpine plant, too, requires that other 
peculiarities of its economy be attended to ; for, 
although the inhabitant of a rigorous climate, it 
has, in its native spot, the protection of a snowy . 
covering in winter, which shields it from all sud- 
den alternations of temperature, till its brief alpine 
summer bursts on it abruptly, and forces it on rapid- 
ly to luxuriance and maturity. These plants re- 
quire protection from the alternating of our frosty 
nights and sunny days. An equalization of the 
temperature and humidity of the atmosphere about 
his plants, should be the aim of the cultivator of 
alpine subjects. 
