THE FLORAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 171 



matter, we treat of the heath under this head, but advise those who 

 wish to make the best of their time to purchase their stock, as the 

 propagation of the heath is a somewhat slow process, and consumes 

 much time. There are those, however, whose principal gratification 

 lies in the accomplishment of the most intricate and patience-testing 

 part of the craft, and to such untiring enthusiasts we owe our 

 thanks for very many of the beautiful hybrid varieties we possess. 

 Eaising from seed is interesting on account of the varieties it pro- 

 duces, and if two varieties are properly crossed by impregnation, 

 something differing from the parents will be obtained. In order 

 effectually to accomplish this, some experience by practice must be 

 attained, as the anthers must be extracted, by means of tweezers, from 

 the flower that is to bear the seed, whilst the stigma must be guarded 

 from injury, and have the pollen from some other variety applied to it. 

 "When the seeds are ripe and thoroughly dry, they may be sown at 

 once in pots of finely-sifted peat, pressed tightly into the pot, and 

 well watered before sowing, afterwards covered with a bell-glass ; 

 they may then be placed in any cool house or pit. where they can be 

 kept in an equable state of moisture. To this end, place them in a shady 

 corner untU they vegetate, when they must be placed quite close up to 

 the glass, until they are large enough to handle ; they must then be 

 potted singly in very small pots, known as thumbs. There is some 

 nicety required in handling these, and ind-eed all the heath tribe, for 

 their extremely delicate roots will neither allow of exposure to the 

 atmosphere, nor bear other rough treatment; consequently, all 

 things must be in readiness to do the work quickly. Whilst plants 

 are small, be they seedlings or cuttings, they must not be overpotted, 

 or the mass of soil will become sour before their roots reach the pots ; 

 therefore the smallest pots and finest peat soil, with a larger propor- 

 tion of silver sand in it than for larger plants, must be in readiness. 

 When potted, the pots being so small, would, if not protected from 

 the action of the air tipon their surface, soon get injuriously dry ; 

 have then a shelf, or tray with edges, standing up so as to hold suffi- 

 cient clean sand to plunge them up to the rim. The above direc- 

 tions apply as well to young plants from cuttings as from seed. 



Striking Cuttings. — Before preparing the cuttings, have in readi- 

 Dess the pots. The best for the purpose are those with a rim to 

 receive the bell-glass, and made by Mr. Pascall, of the West Kent 

 Potteries, Chiselhurst ; they are figured in No 7 of the Floral 

 "WoKLD. Having prepared the drainage, which should fill one-third 

 of the depth of the pot, the coarser crocks being placed at the 

 bottom, and the finer upwards, and carefully packed so as to keep 

 the soil from entering amongst them, fill to within a quarter of an 

 inch of the top with fine sandy peat, very tightly pressed in, and 

 the remaining quarter of an inch with silver sand. The pots, when 

 so filled, may be placed in a pan of water until thoroughly wetted 

 through, then gently lifted out to drain for a few minutes whilst the 

 cuttings are being prepared ; they will thus be watered without 

 disarrangement of the soil. Take the cuttings when the wood is a 

 little more than half ripe, or when they begin to turn brown ; and 

 as this will take place in different varieties at different seasons, 



