CHAP, m VILLA GARDENING 161 



ally to the amateur with plenty of time on his hands. Raising 

 seedling Heaths may be hastened if a little artificial heat is 

 employed in the earlier stages, but it involves some risk, and the 

 young jDlants are not so hardy and strong as when kept in the cool 

 frame. 



From Cuttings. — Fill as many 8-incli pots as are required two- 

 thirds full of drainage, with a layer of Moss on the top to keep 

 the drainage material clear. On this place peat and sand in equal 

 proportions, leaving about an inch on top for sand. When all 

 is made firm, water with a fine-rosed pot, mark the position of the 

 bell-glasses on the surface of the sand, and dibble in the cuttings 

 just within the mark. An 8-inch pot wall hold a good many 

 cuttings — several sorts will probably go in one pot ; and in selecting 

 the cuttings it may be as well to pick out those which resemble 

 each other in character, so that all may be rooted about the same 

 time. There is no advantage in having large cuttings ; they need 

 not exceed half an inch to 1 inch in length, and shoidd neither 

 be too hard nor too soft. If just getting a little firm at the base, 

 they will be suitable. The leaves should be stripped from the 

 lower half of the stem, and the base be cut smooth with a sharp 

 knife. Heaths may be propagated at almost any season when 

 suitable cuttings can be obtained. If done in summer, and 

 the plants from which the cuttings are taken have been exposed to 

 the air, place the cuttings in a cold frame, keep close, and shade 

 when the sun shines on them, wiping the bell-glasses every morn- 

 ing. No other plants should be in the frames. If the cuttings 

 are taken in spring, or when the plants are under glass, they should 

 have a very little warmth, Avith the same attention in shading 

 and wiping glasses once a day as in the former cases. Cuttings 

 of delicate plants are often lost by using impure sand ; and it is 

 a good plan to wash the sand for this purpose. As soon as the 

 cuttings are rooted and hardened sufficiently by ventilation, they 

 should be potted into small pots — four or five round the sides of a 

 3-inch pot — and replaced in the frame. 



Varieties of Heath. — I append a selection of usefid Heaths 

 and Epacrises which will give a succession of blossoms throughout 

 the season : — 



Soft- wooded Heaths. — Bowieana, cafira nana, Cavendishi, 

 colorans, c. nana, depressa, elegans, eximia, gracilis vernalis, g. 

 autumnalis, hyemalis, propendens, tulnfiora, ventricosa alba, v. 

 magnifica, v. Bothwelliana, v. coccinea minor, v. rosea, vestita alba, 

 V. coccinea, v. rosea, Willmoreana, superba. 



Hard-wooded Heaths. — Aitoniana, ampullacea major, Archeriana, 

 aristata, cerinthoides, Devoniana, Eweriana superba, gemmifera 



M 



