

40«5 TRANSPLANTING KALMLVS AUD EHODODENDUONS. 



recapitulating, that seeds may be preserved to any length of time, " safe and sound," 

 bv so reijjulating heat that it shall not abstract the moisture from the outer coat, 

 and so regulating moisture that it shall not rot it; and that aeeds may be made 

 to grow at any time, by so gathering and preserving them that the outer covering 

 never becomes absolutely hard; or, if once become hard, employing variations of 

 he:it and moisture to soften it. 



TRANSPLANTING KALMIAS AND RHODODENDRONS. 



BY WM. SAUNDEKS, LANDSCAPE GARDENER, QERMANTOWN, PniLADELPIIIA, PA. 



It is universally acknowledged that there are not two more beautiful evergreen hardy 

 shrubs than our native Rhododendrons and Kalmias. It is equally a matter of fact, 

 that although thoy form a principal feature in the composition of European pleasure 

 grounds, they are rarely seen in our own, and their real beauty and adaptability for 

 cultivated shrubberries are as little known as the rarest plant of foreign climes. The 

 efforts that many enthusiastic cultivators have made in introducing all the best foreign 

 varieties of fruit and ornamental trees and shrubs are highly commendable'; but, as 

 the late Gen. Dearborn once remarked when treating on a similar subject, we should 

 " first look at home and direct our attention to the beautiful, the grand, and the valu- 

 able, and endeavor to procure afterwards whatever may be found better or useful in 

 other regions of the earth." I think we are at fault in overlooking those plants that 

 are so highly valued in every country but their native one, and neglecting the good 

 that is within our reach for something that is supposed more valuable merely because 

 it is more difficult of attainment. 



This antipathy to native plants has frequently been dwelt upon by writers on horti- 

 culture, and has as frequently been met with the answer that they cannot be cultivated 

 without great expense and labor in preparing beds of suitable soil, selecting particular 

 locations, watering, mulching, &c., and after all the plants never attain that healthy 

 luxuriance they possessed before removal. It is the opinion of many that the plants 

 under consideration require a certain kind of peaty soil called by some "laurel earth," 

 which is to be found in deep ravines and swampy spots, without which it is utterly 

 useless to attempt their cultivation. If we investigate the subject we will find that 

 there is no reason for incurring all this unnecessary expense in the preparation of soil. 

 Both the Rhododendron and Kalmia are found in all situations, on clayey slopes, in 

 swampy marshes, on rocky knolls, and even in crotches of trees, under conditions 

 similar to the Orehidse of tropical regions, and I have cultivated them under glass, in 

 connection with Maxillarias and Stanhopeas, on blocks of wood, and in rustic baskets. 

 When the epiphytal species of the Sikkim Himalayas were first announced, European 

 botanists considered it quite startling that the genus should assume that habit. Had 

 they been familiar with the nature and adaptability of the American species, their 

 surprise would not have been so great, and it affords us another proof of the scantiness 



