ON THE CULTURE OF ERICAS. 131 



the time required to strike root. When the pot is thus filled 

 with cuttings, it should be well watered with a fine rose watering 

 pot, and placed in a close shady part of the stove, admitting as 

 little air as possible near to where the cutting pots are placed, 

 taking care to water them freely every day. Indeed when put in 

 this way, there is no risk of overwatering them ; for having them 

 well drained, the water is allowed to pass freely through, and so 

 far from injuring the cuttings, they are benefitted by it. 



However excellent the above mode of striking heaths may be, 

 it cannot, under all circumstances, be applied in practice, be- 

 cause there are many cultivators who have not the convenience 

 of a stove to place them in. A substitute for the stove may be 

 found in a well regulated cucumber or melon bed, in which many 

 strike heaths and other hard-wooded plants very successfully. 

 The reason for applying heat to the cuttings is to excite them to 

 the greatest possible degree, during which they will, if they are 

 in a fit state, strike root very soon, or damp off at once. 



The more usual method of striking cuttings of the generality of 

 heaths, is to plunge the pots into coal ashes, rotten tan, or similar 

 matter, in a rather damp, shaded border, covering each pot with 

 a bell glass, and the whole with a close frame and lights. By 

 this method the cuttings are longer in rooting, but as it is within 

 the reach of every one possessed of a garden, however small, 

 and, therefore, as it is attended with less, risk from inatten- 

 tion, &c. we recommend it to their attention. It is necessary in 

 preparing the pots for the cuttings, to select them about equal 

 sizes, say that of thirty-two's, and to fill them to within an inch 

 and a half from the top with broken pots, cinders, coarse gra- 

 vel, or small stones, over which a thin layer of moss, (hypnum,) 

 should be placed to prevent the finer particles of mould from be- 

 ing washed down amongst the drainage. The pot should then be 

 filled to the brim with fine, pure white sand, as free as possible 

 of earthy or irony matter, but as this is seldom to be procured 

 sufficiently free of those matters ; it may be well to wash it by put- 

 ting small quantities at a time into a bag, and dragging it fre- 

 quently through a cistern, or stream of water. When put into 

 the pot it should be well watered, and pressed firmly down, the 

 surface made smooth and level, and the cuttings put in as soon 

 after as possible. 



In the propagation of heaths it has been almost universally 

 maintained that bell glasses should be used under all circumstan- 



