104 ON THE CULTU11E 01' EPACIUS. 



July, although the present subject flowers most of the winter, 

 as well as spring and summer. In June they must be turned out 

 of doors with the other greenhouse plants, but previous to which, 

 it will be necessary to pot them, in most cases shifting them into 

 larger pots ; this is indispensable, as their roots are so fine a tex- 

 ture, that if the pots be placed out of doors, and consequently 

 exposed to the alternations of heat and cold more than when in 

 the house, the roots against the sides of the pots will receive 

 material injury, the plants will become brown, and in most cases 

 die ; this we have seen in very many instances. 



The best way of propagating them is by cuttings, which should 

 be put in early in the spring ; they will strike if put in at other 

 times of the year, but not so freely. Take off the extreme ends 

 about one inch or an inch and an half long, and plant them in pots 

 of sand, cover them with bell glasses, and give them similar 

 treatment to Erica cuttings. When they have struck root, pot 

 them into small pots in a frame where there is a little heat ; and 

 when they have again begun to grow, remove them into a warm 

 part of the greenhouse, and then treat them in the same way 

 as the old plants- The whole of the order Epacridese, consist- 

 ing of eighteen genera, all being natives of the same country, re- 

 quire the same general mode of culture, which may be stated as 

 follows: — 



With the exception of Epacris microphylla and exserta, Sty- 

 phelia longifolia, the whole genera of Lysinema, Poncletia, and 

 Leucopogon, let every species be potted in sandy peat soil. 



The above exceptions must always have an addition of sandy 

 loam mixed with the peat in which they are potted, but in every 

 other respect it must be treated like other species. 



Good drainage in every case must be attended to, for any de- 

 ficiency here will seriously injure if not totally destroy the plants. 



Never sift the soil in which the plants are potted, but chop and 

 break it well, although in some cases this is scarcely necessary, 

 when the turfy parts are well rotted. 



Never allow the soil to become hard and dry particularly 

 amongst those species potted in sandy peat alone ; because, from 

 the delicacy of the fibres of the roots, this cannot be the case 

 without the plants being materially damaged, if not destroyed. 



Always pot the plants immediately before they are turned out 

 of doors in summer; for if this be not done, the action of the sun 



