1176 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
gets so large as to touch the adjoining ones, it ought to be taken out; or, if it 
is an old plant, it may, perhaps, be cut back ; or all the plants in the bed may 
be taken up, and re-arranged at greater distances from one another than 
they were before. 
We have already observed (p. 1076.) that no plants suffer less from removal 
than the Ericaceze, because they may always be taken up with balls, and, 
indeed, may be removed when they are in full flower. The best season for 
removal is moist weather in autumn; and the next best, moist weather in 
April or May. (See M/‘Nab’s Hints on the Planting and general Treatment of 
Hardy Evergreens ; and Gard. Mag., vol. vii. p. 78., and vol. xii. p. 567.) 
The soil of the beds ought to be wholly renewed every five or six years; 
and, when this is done, all the plants ought to be taken up and divided, pruned, 
or thrown away, and replaced with other plants, as may be found necessary. 
The soil removed may be laid in ridges, in the reserve garden, and mixed with 
an equal quantity, or more, of leaf mould; and, after lying a year or two, it 
may again be put to use in the ericacetum. The cultivator of Hricacez, of 
roses, and of other shrubs that are grown chiefly for their flowers, should 
bear constantly in mind, that these will not be produced in abundance, and of 
fine forms and colours, unless the plant have ample nourishment, light, and 
air. Instead, therefore, of rhododendrons and azaleas being planted in 
poor heath soil, and being crowded together so as to show only the upper 
surface of the plants, as they now are in most gardens, they ought to be 
planted in sandy peat and loam, enriched with a large proportion of leaf 
mould; and each shrub ought to stand perfectly detached; and it should 
rather be as much as 2 ft. from the adjoining one, than so near it as 2in., in 
order that the roots may have sufficient space on every side to enable them to 
collect nourishment, and that the heads of the plants may not shade one 
another. The only two ericacetums that we recollect seeing managed to 
our satisfaction in these particulars are, that of the Rev. Thomas Garnier, at 
Bishopstoke Vicarage; and that at Bagshot Park, under the care of Mr. 
Toward. At the former place the Hricacez are planted in roundish groups 
on the lawn adjoining the house; and they grow so vigorously that they are 
taken up and replanted every two years, generally in the month of September. 
The azaleas and rhododendrons are taken up with large balls of earth; and 
the ground is so well watered at the time of replanting, that the plants never 
lose any of their leaves. They are placed at such distances as nearly to 
touch one another; so that, if they were not taken up, and placed farther 
apart every two years, they would soon form a matted thicket, and display 
blossoms only on their upper surface; whereas, by keeping each plant distinct, 
it displays its blossoms all round from the ground to the summit. The soil in 
which these plants are grown is composed of two thirds of sandy peat, and 
one third of rich loam. The loam, Mr, Garnier finds absolutely necessary to 
promote the vigorous growth of azaleas, rhododendrons, and almost all kinds 
of American shrubs. (Gard. Mag., vol. x. p. 129.) Mr. Gow, gardener at 
Tullyallan, in Perthshire, found Rhododéndron pénticum, and some others of 
the more vigorous-growing Ericaceze, thrive in clayey loam, and in common 
garden soil, which had been deeply trenched, and mixed with abundance of 
leaf mould and road scrapings. (Jéid., p. 35.) 
The order in which the different species of Hricacez are disposed in an 
ericacetum may be various. Where there are but a few kinds to be dis- 
tributed over a large space, the same species may occur in two or three places ; 
but, where there is a very complete collection, most effect will be produced by 
keeping all the plants, of every species and variety, together; so that the same 
species may never be found in two different places. Where the object is 
more to excite a botanical interest than a floricultural or a picturesque one, 
the genera, species, and varieties should follow each other, or be grouped 
together, much in the same way as they are in botanical works; for example, 
in this Arboretum : but, in other cases, the evergreen species may be inter- 
mixed with the deciduous ones, so as to give a clothed appearance to every 
