78 THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



peat plants, if we give the analysis of a good sample of dry Bagshot 



peat : — 



Eine Sand , . . . . . 41-0 



Decomposed Vegetable Fibre . . . 26*5 



Flinty Detritus . . . . . 2.5-0 



Alumina ..... 4*0 



Oxide of Iron . . . . . 1"0 



Saline Matters . . . . I'O 



Muriate of Lime ..... I'O 



Loss ...... 0"5 



loo-o 



By this analysis we find that the soil most noted for the perfec- 

 tion to which American plants attain in it consists of about one-third 

 vegetable matter, and two-thirds fliut and sand. Travellers by rail- 

 way may often observe patches of our native ericas growing most 

 luxuriantly on steep inclines, consisting almost wholly of gravel ; 

 and on the other hand it is common to find rhododendrons in gar- 

 dens thriving on what is called "loam;" thus, we may say, the neces- 

 sity for peat of one particular description is not uniformly urgent, 

 and this allows of greater latitude in imitating it. 



Tlie nicest of all points in attempting to grow rhododendrons 

 and ericas in loam is to determine its suitabilitj^ for all loams are 

 not equally suitable ; and though the trees may live a few years in 

 a material into which they cannot push their hair-like roots, their 

 days are numbered, and they perish at last, having already become 

 scarecrows, and so their death, when it happens, is not lamented. 

 The loam in which Americans may be expected to thrive is one con- 

 taining a large bulk of vegetable fibre, a considerable quantity of 

 sand, and which when crumbled between the fingers, has* a soft, 

 silky feel, crumbling readily to powder, and not becoming pasty 

 when wetted. There is a bright auburn-coloured or hazel loam at 

 "Wanstead of this description, which is used by all the nurserymen on 

 the east and north of the metropolis, and considered by them the 

 most nourishing soil known. Ehododendrons and azaleas grow with 

 such luxuriance in it, that unless the position in which they are 

 planted happens to be extra dry, it is advisible to mix with it a large 

 proportion of poor peat, sand, or flint stones, otherwise the shrubs 

 do not flower freely until they have been several years planted, and 

 have exhausted the fatness of the soil in a rampant growth. Some 

 idea of the excellence of this soil may be formed from the fact that 

 hybrid rhododendrons planted in it have grown from fifteen inches 

 to near five feet in diameter in three years, and are so dense that 

 there is not space anywhere about their superfices into which the 

 hand can be introduced. The luxuriant growth of rhododendrons 

 in this loam is another proof that peat is not essential. 



"When neither loam nor peat can be obtained, the best possible 

 material for heaths and Americans can be generally obtained by 

 slicing the turf in a thin crust from thesurface of a waste or common. 

 Turf stripped from a sandy common may be chopped up and used at 



