CULTURE OF CAPE HEATHS. 35 
to injure the parts of fructification, and its modest pendant position 
throws off all water from the same. The pure white petals contribute 
to perfecting the farina, for they act as reflectors to throw all the light 
and warmth on the anthers. In shrubberies, care should be taken to 
have these flowers plentifully where they can be seen from the window 
of a breakfast-room, ard among shrubs, grass, &c., they should have 
the appearance of growing wild, avoiding formal clumps, and seem as 
if scattered in irregular masses :— 
“Poets still in graceful numbers 
May the glowing Roses choose ; 
But the Snowdrop’s simple beauty 
Better suits an humble muse. 
Earliest bud that decks the garden, 
Fairest of the fragrant race, 
First-born child of vernal Flora, 
Seeking mild thy lowly place. 
Though no warm or murmuring zephyr 
Fan thy leaves with balmy wing, 
Pleas’d we hail thee spotless blossom, 
Herald of the infant spring. 
’Tis not thine, with flaunting beauty, 
To attract the roving sight, 
Nature from her varied wardrobe 
Chose thy vest of purest white. 
White as falls the fleecy shower, 
Thy soft form of sweetness grows ; 
Not more fair the valley’s treasure, 
Nor more sweet her Lily blows.” 
CULTURE OF CAPE HEATHS. 
Tue garden establishment of S. Rucker, Esq., Wandsworth, near 
London, is justly celebrated for its collection of superb plants, as well 
as for the superior manner in which they are grown. The superb 
Heaths are under the skilful management of Mr. W. P. Leach, who 
has drawn up an excellent Article on the method of culture he prac- 
tises, which is inserted in the Gardeners’ Chronicle of last Nov. 25th. 
It comprises the following particulars :— 
Heaths will thrive as well in a greenhouse with other plants as when 
in a heath-house ; in fact, some of the woolly-leaved kinds do better, 
but they should be kept at the coolest end. The soil best suited is a 
mixture of Wimbledon peat and a much lighter kind of peat from 
Croydon ; or, as a substitute for the latter, well-decomposed leaf 
mould. Wimbledon peat two parts, light peat or leaf mould one part, 
and silver sand one part. THe uses the peat fresh from the common, 
where it is dug two inches deep, paring off the subsoil and the rough 
top. The compost is passed through a sieve of 14-inch mesh. 
