THE FLORIST. 13 



moisture at this season from evaporation, any superabundance of 

 water will sodden the soil, exclude air from the roots, and hasten 

 decay. I feel that I cannot too strongly impress upon all cultiva- 

 tors the paramount necessity of attending to this suggestion, and 

 warning them against the adoption of Mr. Leach's theory. I may 

 add, that the natural humidity of our atmosphere during the winter 

 months is all but sufficient for the entire sustenance of this genus. 

 Speaking of the amount of cold the Heath is able to bear without 

 injury, 5lr. Leach says : " I have frequently had Heaths frozen so 

 hard, that a knife would not penetrate the soil [I am glad they were 

 not mine], and they have not received the least injury therefrom;" 

 further on he adds, "By following the above rules, I am satisfied 

 that Heaths may be grown from cuttings, large enough for any ex- 

 hibition, in less than three years." I willingly admit, that seven or 

 eight degrees, or even more, of frost will not destroy the plant ; but less 

 than half that amount will most unquestionably kill the next year's 

 flowers, as I have reason to know from more than one past occa- 

 sion : however perfectly the preceding year's growth may have 

 ripened its wood to all visible appearance, yet it is not sufficiently 

 matured with the embryo bloom on its summit to enable it to with- 

 stand safely any frost. As regards the time a Heath requires to 

 grow from a cutting to a specimen, I need scarcely say Mr. Leach 

 is again surely in error, and has not had sufficient experience. I 

 know not what sized plants Mr. Leach considers " large enough" 

 for such a purpose ; but if perchance he fixes his standard at such 

 specimens as we are in the habit of looking upon at the two great 

 metropolitan exhibitions, I fearlessly tell him that, with his best 

 skill, he could not grow even Cavendishii, the easiest of all Heaths 

 to manage, in much less than three times three years ; neither is 

 there one plant in a dozen we see at Chiswick or Regent's Park, 

 that is less than ten or twelve years old, and many much older. 

 To illustrate this assertion, I will present a hasty sketch of the 

 many shif tings, and the intervals between each, every Heath seen 

 at the metropolitan shows has undergone. First, as a cutting, three 

 months at the very least, and often twelve, elapse before sufficient 

 roots are developed to render the process of potting off safe, — a 

 2^-inch pot is generally used for this purpose ; in about ten or 

 twelve months after, a shift into a 3- inch pot will be required. 

 If the plant continue healthy, and receive no check, the succeeding 

 annual shifts may be thus regulated, viz. from 3 to 3^-inch pots, 4^, 

 5f, 7, 9, 11, and so on in similar gradations ; this is calculating upon 

 the plant having been kept growing by every available means, 

 otherwise it will be too rapid. Now, we all know a man may as 

 well keep his plants at home, as attempt to exhibit successfully, till 

 they have reached a size suitable for the last-named pot (and then 

 they must be first-rate varieties). Thus, eight years at the very least 

 are required, to bring the Erica to a presentable specimen from a 

 cutting. It is quite a different thing to grow-on a Heath from the 

 size usually sold out by a nurseryman, to what it is from a cutting, 

 and here, I think, is where Mr. Leach has made his mistake. It is 



