198 ON PROPAGATING ERICAS FROM SEEDS, 



Artificial heat, therefore, is injurious to the process of originating 

 heaths from seeds ; we, therefore, in our own practice, as well as from 

 observation of that of others, prefer the latter end of March or begin- 

 ning of April for sowing these seeds; the natural warmth of the 

 season then is sufficient to stimulate vegetation, and the young tender 

 plants so originated have not the chance of being destroyed by damp 

 cloudy weather, which we often experience in spring, and which 

 would be of the utmost injury to them in their young state. Where 

 extensive collections of plants are kept up, and in all large nurseries, 

 there is generally a seed-house, that is, one expressly dedicated for 

 the rearing of plants from seeds; such houses are generally low, 

 having a northern aspect, as is the case in the Hammersmith and other 

 nurseries. 



Cultivators, who have but few seeds requiring such a structure, 

 content themselves, therefore, with a good garden frame and glasses ; 

 and as such is portable, it can be placed where it is either shaded 

 from the meridian sun, or great care taken in shading it artificially. 

 The situation of such a frame should be both dry and airy, for damp 

 would be extremely injurious to the young plants. Pots should be 

 prepared for the seeds, of ordinary sizes, but those known as seed-pots 

 are to be preferred ; they are broad and shallow, which admits of a 

 considerable surface for the seed to be sown on, and of being rendered 

 perfectly dry at bottom. Great care should be taken in draining 

 them, for although the surface will require to be kept pretty moist, 

 still no impediment must be left whereby the superabundant moisture 

 would be prevented from passing freely off. The directions given for 

 draining cutting-pots will be, if acted upon, sufficient for this pur- 

 pose. The mould upon which the seeds of heaths are sown, should 

 be of the sort called peat-earth, having naturally a considerable portion 

 of fine white shining sand in it, or, if deficient in this material, it 

 should be added to it by the cultivator. 



As the seeds are very small, the mould for this purpose, to the 

 thickness of an inch and a half, should be sifted very fine, and the 

 surface of the mould in the pot rendered smooth and level with a 

 small circular piece of wood, say of three inches diameter, having a 

 nail driven into the centre of its upper surface, by which the operator 

 can use it to much greater advantage. Upon the surface so prepared, 

 the seeds should be thinly sown regularly all over it, and covered 



