iSyi.] NOTES ON RHODODENDRONS. 103 



NOTES ON RHODODENDRONS. 



NO. III. 



With a situation sheltered, yet fully exposed to the sun, a competent 

 supply of suitable soil, a good amount of moisture, without wetness, 

 and an occasional watering when exceptionally dry weather occurs 

 during the growing season, Rhododendrons will grow vigorously 

 enough for all practical purposes without being stimulated with manure 

 in any form. Over-luxuriance is neither necessary nor desirable. On 

 the contrary, when the primary object is abundance of bloom, it is 

 rather prejudicial than otherwise, causing them to devote an undue 

 amount of energy to the formation of mere wood, to the detriment of 

 the flower-buds — and often inducing a second growth, which seldom 

 ripens in time to escape damage from early frosts. Any tendency of 

 this kind, whether arising, as is frequently the case, from excessive 

 moisture at the root, or the soil being too rich, should be checked 

 when the young shoots are sufficiently advanced to make it desirable 

 that they should ripen and form their buds ; and this may be effected 

 by simply removing the soil from round the ball for a few days, or 

 pruning the roots moderately with the spade. 



All the varieties, however, delight in rich manures, and in cases in 

 which the plants, by their weakly growths and sickly appearance, 

 indicate a deficiency of the supply of nourishment, an inch or two of 

 rotted manure, either forked in among the roots or laid on the surface 

 as a top-dressing, with a slight covering of sand or light soil, in the 

 course of the winter or early spring, will be found most beneficial ; 

 while the occasional application of a dose of liquid manure of medium 

 strength, when the roots are in an active state, and even when the 

 flowers are expanding, will work wonders in promoting their health 

 and enabling them to make robust shoots and fresh well-developed 

 leaves. We have seen a large collection, in which the plants had been for 

 years in a most unsatisfactory condition — rarely flowering, and producing 

 puny attenuated shoots — materially improved by such means. It may 

 at the same time be observed that such a state of things will not be 

 permanently remedied by mere stimulants, seeing that it is the result 

 of either an exhausted or unsuitable soil ; and the only effectual cure 

 consists in lifting the plants and completely renewing the compost. 



Considerable diversity of opinion has prevailed among cultivators as 

 to which mode of propagation is best calculated to insure permanently 

 handsome and healthy specimens. Some have contended that plants on 

 their own roots, either obtained from seeds or layers, are superior to 

 such as are grafted. We believe, however, that no universal rule can 

 be laid down on the subject. All the species are easily raised, and 



