CHAP. XL.] HEATHS. 3 1 '7 



geranium-growers in or near London are Mr. 

 Catleugh of Hans Place, Chelsea, and Mr. 

 Gaines of Battersea. 



Heaths. — The kinds grown in greenhouses 

 are all natives of the Cape of Good Hope, and 

 they are very numerous : but they may be 

 classed under six heads, which are named from 

 the shape of their flowers. These divisions 

 are, tubular-shaped, ventricose, spreading or 

 salver-shaped, with an inflated calyx, globular, 

 and ovate. They all require to be potted high, 

 and to be grown in three parts of peat-earth to 

 one of fine white sand, or in what is emphati- 

 cally called heath-mould. According to the 

 late Mr. M'Nab's system, pebbles or broken 

 stones are mixed with the whole of the soil for 

 heaths, and to these Mr. Barnes adds charcoal 

 with astonishing success. The pebbles are laid 

 also on the surface of the earth in the pot, and 

 on removing; them abundance of delicate white 

 roots will be found under each. In potting;, 

 the collar of the plant should always be kept 

 above the soil, as it is very easily rotted bv 

 moisture. Heaths require g;ood drainage and 

 frequent waterings; and, though the water 

 should never be allowed to stand in the saucer, 

 the roots should not be allowed to become 

 quite dry, as, when once withered, they can 

 never be recovered. Heaths also require abun- 

 dance of free air, and no plants are more 

 injured by being kept in rooms. They should 

 not be shifted oftener than once in three or 

 four years. They are propagated by cuttings 

 taken from the tips of the shoots, and then 

 struck in pure white sand. The pots containing: 



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