HEA 



284 



HEA 



few exceptions, strong growers and free I these a layer of turfy peat should be 



bloomers, and all can be bought at a 

 ]ow rate: — 



Erica Westcottii. 



Colorans. 



Arbuscula. 



Hyemalis. 



Picta. 



Transparens, 



Nova. 



Vernix. 



Vernix Coccinea. 



Cerinthoides. 



Superba. 



Mutabilis. 

 Bicolor. 

 Willmoreana. 

 Rubra Calyx. 



■ Lambertiana. 



■ Lambertiana Rosea. 



■ Exsurgens. 

 Coccinea. 



Archeriana. 

 ■ Praestans. 



Pyramidalis Verna. 

 Autumnalis. 



■ Tenella. 



Gracilis Autumnalis. 

 Verna. 



—^ Pellucida. 



Mammosa. 



Pallida. 



Curviflora. 



Scabriuscula. 



Propagation. — Mr. Fleming gives the 

 following very full and excellent direc- 

 tions : — 



" Heaths are propagated in two ways 

 — by seeds and by cuttings. Seeds are 

 either obtained from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, or are gathered from plants 

 which have flowered in this country. 

 When they are received from the Cape 

 they should be sown immediately, un- 

 less this should happen late in the au- 

 tumn, or in winter ; and in that case 

 the sowing should be deferred until 

 spring. When seeds of this kind are 

 sown late in the year, they either do 

 not vegetate at all, or, if they are ex- 

 cited into growth, the stimulus is so 

 weak, and the days are so short and 

 dull, that they get sickly, and frequent- 

 ly damp off. For the same reason, 

 seeds which are saved in this country 

 should either be sown in spring, or very 

 early in summer. 



" Some flat pots, or seed-pans, should 

 be half filled with potsherds ; and over 



placed to prevent the soil from being 

 washed down and destroying the drain- 

 age. The pots should then be filled to 

 within half an inch of the top with fine 

 peat, and this should be slightly pressed 

 down with the back of the hand, or 

 with the bottom of a small flower-pot, 

 to make it level and more solid. If this 

 is not attended to, the seeds are liable 

 to sink too deep in the soil, and are 

 prevented from germinating. They 

 should then be sown, and slightly co- 

 vered with fine peat soil, after which 

 they should be watered and removed to 

 the seed-house. In all large nurseries 

 or gardens, a house, pit, or frame, is 

 set apart for raising seeds. It is to a 

 place of this kind that the pots contain- 

 ing the heath-seed should be removed, 

 and as we suppose this to be done in 

 spring, no artificial heat will be requir- 

 ed, that received from the sun being 

 quite sufficient. If the seed has been 

 good, the young plants will soon make 

 their appearance above ground. As 

 they get strong, the shading should be 

 gradually discontinued, and more air 

 admitted, until they are a little harden- 

 ed and ready to pot off. They should 

 then be put singly into thumb-pots in 

 sandy peat soil well watered, and after- 

 wards removed to a close-shaded frame. 

 Here they will remain for ten days or a 

 fortnight, until their roots establish 

 themselves in their new quarters, when 

 more air may gradually be admitted, 

 and the plants subjected to the same 

 treatment as those in the green-house 

 or heathery." — Gard. Chron. 



Cuttings. — The same good authority 

 says that, " No particular time can be 

 specified for striking cuttings of heaths, 

 because the plants are in a fit state for 

 taking off the cuttings at different times ; 

 but the earlier in the season the better, 

 although many cultivators succeed per- 

 fectly so late as the months of August 

 and September. The plants from which 

 the cuttings are taken must be perfectly 

 healthy. The wood should be firm and 

 nearly ripe, because if taken when very 

 young it is almost certain to damp off. 

 The short lateral shoots, about an inch 

 or an inch and a half long, should al- 

 ways be chosen, and the leaves stripped 

 off them to about half their length, and 

 the ends cut across with a sharp knife ; 

 in this state they are ready for the cut- 

 ting-pot. The cutting-pots should be 



