00 THE FLORIST AND POJIOLOGIST. [ Apeil, 



coniferous trees being distributed throughout. The soil was composed almost 

 entirely of fine sand, covered with grass and common fern, which was trenched 

 in, and the plants, a foot high, put in at from 8 ft. to 10 ft. apart. They are 

 now that much in height, and completely cover the ground. On the upper part 

 of the bank, where the sand was poorest, they grow more compactly, and do not 

 spread so much, but the seed being distributed over the surface, comes up by 

 thousands. This bank is commanded by an eminence opposite, and when the 

 plants are in bloom they make a very grand show. Now, all over this bank the 

 rabbits have free leave and licence, and they burrow and breed by hundreds, yet 

 I have never found the leaves nibbled or the bark gnawed off. This is 

 undoubtedly owing to their instinct teaching them that the plant is poisonous, 

 for that such is the case we had ample proof here the winter before last, when, 

 during the prevalence of deep snow, some sheep, which had been left in the park 

 overnight and not fed, appear to have got their heads through the fence, and 

 eaten a considerable quantity of the leaves from the trees on the bank. In the 

 morning two were very ill, and shortly afterwards died, and on being opened, their 

 stomachs were found to be full of Rhododendron leaves, which, in the opinion of 

 the veterinary surgeon, had caused their death. Some others of the flock were 

 sick, but eventually recovered. It is my belief that hunger alone drove them to 

 feed on the leaves, because for years the plants could have been reached by the 

 cattle, yet I never saw any touched before. 



Many persons appear to have been deterred from planting this useful shrub 

 to any extent, because they have imbibed an idea that peat is necessary to its 

 successful cultivation, but this is one of the " fallacies of the faculty " ; and the 

 mistake has arisen from observing the requirements of a different class of Rhodo- 

 dendrons, viz., those which come from India, and which certainly are very particular 

 as to soil, it being found that a considerable amount of lumpy fibrous peat in the soil 

 is very conducive to their welfare. Hence it came to be supposed that all Rhodo- 

 dendrons required similar soil. The bright and beautiful colours which were the 

 great attraction in the Indian varieties, however, set the hybridizers to work, and 

 so successful have they been, that by continual crossings with the hardier varieties 

 from different parts of the world, such as R. ponticum, caucasicum, maximum, 

 and catawbiense, they have stamped a vast variety of shades of beautiful colours 

 upon a race which, for hardiness and usefulness in garden decoration, cannot be 

 excelled in any other genus of plants. Better than all, these modern hybrids 

 are by no means so particular as to soil, and many of the best of them may be 

 very successfully grown in a mixture of fibry loam, decayed leaves, and sand 

 intermixed. The foliage and manner of growth will generally indicate how 

 much of the Indian type prevails in the variety, and in proportion as that type 

 is predominant, so will the plant be particular as to soil. Where fibrous peat 

 can be procured as easily as other soils, it may be used with great advantage, but 

 the want of it need not deter cultivators from planting a large assortment of 



