March 30, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOBTICOLTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



245 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



SOIL FOR EHODODENDRONS. 



W O genus of plants that I am aware of has 

 had more conflictinfj remarks made on its 

 cultwe than the Uhododendron. In my 

 younger days peat was thought indispens- 

 able, and to try the plants without it was 

 supposed to be something like trying to keep 

 fish alive without water. Eventually fresh 

 ideas were formed, and it was found that 

 failures in Rhododendron culture were caused 

 even by the peat itself — a certain kind of 

 which has to my knowledge done more harm to the 

 Rhododendron than has any other soil, for it has been 

 known to kill it outright. But accident, or rather the 

 unexpected result of some experiment in planting in 

 soils different from what is generally unierstood to be 

 represented by the word peat, has done much to throw 

 a certain amount of hght, as well as a certain amount 

 of doubt, on what soils suit this plant and what are at 

 variance with it ; and as failures teach us quite as much 

 as Buccesseg, however unwilling we may be to record 

 them, I may say that I have on more than one occasion 

 been led into error, and although I have had a fair share 

 of success as well, and been connected with soils widely 

 at variance with each other, I am far from certain that I 

 could on the moment pronounce a soil suitable for the 

 growth of this plant by its appearance alone. But there 

 are one or two tests by which it may be tolerably accu- 

 rately judged by the wild plants growing upon it. These 

 tests I regard of a vast more importance than either the 

 colour of the material or its texture. Taking, therefore, 

 the wild plants alluded to as my guides in the matter, 

 I may say that where the following are found in abun- 

 dance the Rhododendron may be planted with a fair 

 chance of its doing well. 



Foxglove. — "Where this abounds the Rhododendron will 

 thrive. I have always regarded this as one of the best 

 of tests. 



WhortJeherry. — This I hardly need mention, as it is 

 only met with on the dry moors where heath soil abounds, 

 and in fact its roots and stems often form the peat that 

 is exported large distances for the pot-culture of plants 

 more choice in their selection of soil than even the 

 Rhododendron. 



Wild Sage. — This is usually met with on ground less 

 stony than is the Whortleberry, and consequently on 

 places where a greater depth of material exists, but it is 

 still a dry upland plant. 



Wild Heath. — This I have not regarded as so true a 

 test as the Foxglove, as it is sometimes driven to occupy 

 a position that nothing else would care for ; and patches 

 of Heath are often met with on wastes that present quite 

 two-thirds of their surface perfectly sterile, not from the 

 accumulation of stones, but from the absolute want of 

 nutritive qualities in the material composing the surface : 

 such places are quite unfit for the Rhododendron. 



The Brake. — I would not regard this as so certain a 



proof of the requirements of the Rhododendron as the 



No. 783.— Vol. XXX., New Seriis, 



Foxglove, as it is often found in situations not at all 

 favourable to the plant in question — in fact, the Brake is 

 almost cosmopolitan, and only in certain places where it 

 exists in such abundance as to supersede and drive away 

 most others is it to be regarded as indicating the site 

 suitable for the Rhododendron. 



Gorse, Fur,-:c, or WJiin. — This is often found on land 

 having little resemblance to peat, and yet it is favourable 

 to the Rhododendron. A rather dry yellow loam more 

 or less mixed with stones, especially if the latter be of a 

 brown colour, all indicate a soil that is suitable ; and in a 

 general way, where this plant is met with as predominat- 

 ing over all others without having been assisted to do so, 

 the Rhododendron will be found to flourish. 



Broom. — This is even a better proof than the last named, 

 and may always be regarded as indicating a soil that, if 

 not the best the Rhododendron can be planted in, at 

 least testifies to its being one in which it will thrive. 



Scotch Fir. — Where this tree is found in its natural 

 forests is a tolerable good index of the soil being suitable 

 for Rhododendrons. Observe, I limit the remark to places 

 where the tree is grown in a wild state and not where 

 planted ; for the tree is so accommodating that it will do 

 well on most soils, some at variance altogether to the 

 requirements of the Rhododendron. 



Some other tests might be given, as it is not unusual 

 for a pasture that contains a good proportion of the blue 

 Scabious in it to support the Rhododendron ; while, on the 

 other hand, the presence of the Ox-eye Daisy, Primrose, 

 Cowslip, and even the Nettle, indicates a soil adverse to 

 the plant in question. The wild Thyme and Box tree are 

 mostly met with in positions the very reverse to that 

 relished by the Rhododendron. Butcher's Broom and 

 Holly are likewise rarely met with in a suitable soil, 

 although, like some others, these shrubs inhabit divers 

 positions, and can hardly be called tests either way. 



Coming to the subject of soil, there is something so 

 perplexing in the term loam that it may be said to em- 

 brace almost every description of mixture, and, in fact, 

 may be said to be an universal appellation for everything 

 supporting vegetation excepting pure saad and pure peat; 

 but the latter is also liable to many interpretations, and 

 I have known Rhododendrons killed outright by being 

 planted in peat so-called, the said peat being obtained 

 from a bog in which the article was dug that served the 

 purpose of coal in some places, and I suppose it would 

 require some strong argument to convince the digger 

 thereof and others concerned that the article was not 

 peat ; certainly it caused death to the Rhododendrons, 

 although the Sweet Gale and other plants were, I believe, 

 growing in it. I do not think that any kind of peat that 

 has for ages been saturated with water is at all suitable to 

 the Rhododendron, but wherever the same soil is met with 

 in a dry state it may be safely used. Rhododendrons will 

 do very well after the land has been drained, but to apply 

 the raw fresh material of a peat bog is most disastrous. 

 Peat that may be used with impunity in a fresh state is 

 that from the dry upland heath, where the Heath and 

 Whortleberry have for many years flourished. 



No. 1485.— Vol. LV., Old Seeies. 



