THE CULTURE OF HEATHS. 



175 



managed, will flower in rotation all the 

 year; and even in the most limited collec- 

 tion of plants, there are none that will 

 give more satisfaction to the cultivator than 

 the heaths. 



Having had some experience in their 

 management, I venture to send the follow- 

 ing remarks on their culture, hoping that 

 they may be useful to some of your readers. 

 Not that I have any new or novel system 

 to advance, or wish to set up my practice, 

 as a model for experienced cultivators; but 

 only that I would describe a mode of prac- 

 tice which has been attended with tolerable 

 success, with the hope that this beautiful 

 tribe of plants will receive more attention 

 than it has hitherto done, and that heaths 

 should be held in the estimation among 

 flowering plants that they so worthily de- 

 serve. 



Heaths are widely dispersed over the east- 

 ern hemisphere. In Britain, more particu- 

 larly in the picturesque scenery of Scotland, 

 they are very abundant, and hold a promi- 

 nent place in the native flora of the country ; 

 the heather bells being held in high estima- 

 tion by all lovers of pasioral beauty, and 

 no less by their associations than their in- 

 trinsic charms, adding to the beauty of the 

 varied scene. To the Cape of Good Hope, 

 however, we are indebted for the splendid 

 varieties cultivated in our green-houses. 

 There, they have a wide altitudinal range, 

 which accounts for some of the varieties 

 being hardier than others; a few degrees 

 of frost being fatal to some, while others 

 will endure it without injury. For dis- 

 tinction, the strong free growing roots are 

 termed soft-wooded ; these make growths 

 eighteen inches or more in one season. 

 Those that are less robust, making sea- 

 sonal growths of only a few inches, are 

 designated hard-wooded ; the latter are, in 

 general, most beautiful, also requiring more 



care in their management than the former. 

 But there is nothing to deter any lover of 

 plants from attempting their cultivation, 

 although the contrary is very generally 

 supposed. 



The most important subject to be con- 

 sidered, is securing proper soil. Without 

 this, all attempts to success will be futile. 

 No attention will compensate for the plants 

 being potted in unsuitable material; and 

 here I cannot help remarking, that the re- 

 commendations of some writers on this 

 subject — the mixing together of minute por- 

 tions of different kinds of earths and ma- 

 nures for the growth of one kind of plant — 

 savors too much of mysticism for me, inas- 

 much as everything truly useful in nature 

 is characterized by simplicity, rather than 

 complexity. I have often thought that such 

 recommendations have a tendency to hin- 

 der, rather than advance, the purposes for 

 which they are intended. I have seen pre- 

 scriptions of this nature, which, if plants 

 succeeded at all in them, could only be 

 accounted for on the grounds, that the dele- 

 terious quality of some of the ingredients was 

 neutralised by an opposite quality in others. 



Heaths, like the Azalea and Rhododen- 

 dron, make very small, hair-like roots ; and 

 where these latter are growing naturally, 

 will be found a good locality to collect soil 

 for the artificial cultivation of the former. 

 This soil will be found full of decaying or- 

 ganic matter. Take up a handful of it, 

 and you will find a mass of thickly grown 

 fine fibres, feeling like a bunch of moss. 

 Examine it, and you will see that it is 

 chiefly composed of a black debris of leaves 

 and sticks, thickly interwoven with the 

 roots of surrounding vegetation. An inch 

 or two only of the surface should be taken ; 

 all below that is generally inferior, — the 

 organic matter in it being too much decom- 

 posed. 



