GveenhoiLse and Stoce flants. 



163 



dry hot weather the stock should 1)e looked 

 over as to water twice a day. Keep them 

 well up to the glass in order to secure stout 

 well-matured growth, giving plenty of air, 

 but not subjecting them to keen draughts. 

 Through the autumn and winter let them 

 have a liglit position where they can be 

 kept a few degrees above freezing. During 

 the dormant season let the atmosphere be 

 dry, and now, as at all other times, never 

 give water until the soil is so dry that 

 withholding it longer would be likelv to 

 cause injury. Again early in spring they 

 must be potted — 3-inch pots will be the 

 right size ; this time break the peat fine 

 by hand in place of sifting it, and add sand 

 as before. The strongest shoots must have 

 their points pinched out, with a view to 

 still further induce the formation of 

 bi'anches. Treat as during the last 

 summei' in respect to air, water, and 

 t;eneral routine, continuing to keep them 

 well up to the glass. A low liglit span- 

 roofed pit is well suited to the require- 

 ments of Heaths, especially in their early 

 stages, as in such a stiucture they can easily 

 be kept close to the light, and in hot 

 weatlier the air is not so dry as to have a 

 parching effect on young plants before they 

 get into pots holding a larger body of soil. 

 In summer during very hot weather it will 

 lae an advantage to moisten the floor of 

 the pit, which will correct the over-dry 

 state of the air, for although Heatlis do not 

 like a damp, stagnant atmosphere in autumn 

 and winter, nor are they imj: roved by the 

 aiJjilication of water oveihead, it may 

 under glass be drier than is good for 

 them. Treat through the winter as before, 

 And again give them a shift early in spring 

 into jjots 1 or 2 inches larger, according 

 to the more or less free-growing nature of 

 the variety ; use the soil now in a less 

 finely broken condition than previously, 

 and at each subsequent potting as the 

 plants get larger, it should be used in a 

 still more lumpy state. 



The advantage of potting Heaths, especi- 

 ally while small, early enough before the 

 external air has got hot and dry, is that 

 there is less likelihood of their suffering 

 through the effects oi removal than if the 

 ■operation is deferred until later on. Again 

 pinch out the points of all the strong 

 shoots, and in addition to this the strongest 

 must be tied out horizontally close down 

 to the rims of the pots. This has the 

 ■double advantage of throwing the strength 

 into the weaker growth left in an erect 

 position, and of ensuring the dense bu.shy 

 liabit that is natural to Heaths generally, 

 and which they would assume with- 

 out assistance if growing in the open air. 



Treat through the summer and subsequeu. 

 winter as before, and again in spring give 

 more root-room. The additional size of 

 pots given should be regulated by the 

 strength of the plants and the more or less 

 vigorous habit of the variety. It is well 

 to avoid the extreme of too much pot-room, 

 or the opposite of too little. At this stage 

 pots an inch larger for the slow growers 

 will be sutficient, while the freest will 

 bear a 2-inch shift. This season a few 

 small sticks will be requisite to tie the 

 strongest shoots to so as to keep tlie plants 

 to the desired shape, but now, and in all 

 subsequent stages, do not use more sup- 

 ports than cannot be dispensed with, as 

 the act of thrusting sticks into the soil has 

 the inevitable effect of destroying more or 

 less of the roots, and the use of more than 

 is required directlj' tends to destroy the 

 appearance which the plants should have 

 either in or out of flower. This year, 

 towards the close of the summer, they will 

 be all the better foi' having the lights 

 drawn off them in fine weather, by which 

 means their growth will get matured — a 

 condition still more necessary in after 

 years as the plants acquire more size. Let 

 the winter management be as previously, 

 and in spring give moi'e root-room ; young 

 plants in, say, 6 or 7 inch pots will bear a 

 2-inch move, more or less according to the 

 free or slow growing nature of the variety. 

 Do not on any account disturb the roots 

 more than unavoidable ; disentangling 

 them from the old ball must by no means 

 be attempted. Drain the pots well, using 

 some of the fibrous pieces of the soil to 

 cover the crocks. An old piactice in the 

 potting of Heaths was to elevate the balls 

 so high in the pots that little room was 

 left for water ; this was done with a view 

 to keep the collar of the plants sufficiently 

 dry, which is essential, but it can be 

 effected equally well by keeping it some- 

 what higher than the rest of the surface 

 of the ball, leaving this sloping gradually 

 from the centre to within a little distance 



I of the sides of the pot ; by this means the 

 whole can be kept enough below the rim 

 of the pot to allow proper space for water- 

 ing. Three quarters of an inch is not too 

 much for plants in 8 or 9 inch pots. 

 Studiously avoid light potting ; in all 

 cases lam the new soil so as to make it as 

 close as that contained in the old ball. If 

 this is not done, water, when given after- 

 wards, will pass down the sides through 

 the new material, leaving the centre in 

 which the roots exist so dry as to cause 



! death or disease. 



I After potting keep the house a little 



I closer than usual for a few weeks, giving 



