VEGETABLE WAX. 297 



The following directions for rearing, planting, etc., were given 

 by the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society : — In the months 

 of April or May, prepare substantial boxes of 12 inches in width 

 and the same in depth, inside measure, and of any convenient 

 length, perforating the bottoms with small holes, covering them, 

 with gravel or small stones to the depth of 2 inches, then filling 

 the boxes to within 1 J inch of the tops with black vegetable sandy 

 soil, or with a mixture of decayed (two-years old) leaf mould and 

 of sandy loam in equal parts. Sow the berries thickly on this, and 

 coA^er them with half an inch of soil, pressing it smoothly down, 

 and thus leaving a space of about one inch for the reception of 

 rain, or the occasional watering recjuired in dry weather. The 

 boxes to be placed in a situation shaded from the sun, but not 

 under the shade of trees as the plants would be drawn up weakly. 

 The soil should be kept moderately moist and as equally so as 

 possible ; alternate extremes of drought and moisture check and 

 injure the protruding radicle of the seed. The seeds will, if fresh, 

 vegetate in about three weeks or a month, and as the young plants 

 appear above ground they must be kept free of weeds and 

 occasionally watered. When the plants are about twelve months 

 old they ought to be large enough for planting out, and this should 

 be effected during the months of May, June, or July, as the most 

 likely season to ensure success. On plantiug out at this season, 

 they may be placed in patches of three plants each, the patches to 

 be not less than four feet, nor more than nine feet apart. If the 

 ground to be planted should be very sandy, or entirely so, holes 

 may be dug at the proper distances and filled in with at least a 

 cubic foot of earth similar to that used in the boxes, tramping the 

 same firmly down before the plants are inserted ; and unless 

 showery weather happens at the time of planting, it will be 

 necessary to apply water by hand. 



If boxes are not made use of, the ground to be occupied may be 

 prepared in patches as above, and the seeds sown at once, placing 

 about a dozen of the berries in each patch, keeping the plants free 

 from weeds, and thinning and regulating at the proper season such 

 plants as are to remain. 



The Myrica may be also propagated by layering the one or two- 

 year old branches and by cuttings of the young ripened wood. 

 The first mode would strike root most readily, but be more trouble- 

 some and less efficient than raising the plant from seed. 



