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quite entire, spreading, bent back at the tip; deep green on the 

 upper surface, with a groove along the middle, paler underneath; 

 unequal, thick, evergreen, an inch in length : the flowers about 

 eleven in number, of a purple colour. It is a native of Japan, flow- 

 ering here from December to March. 



Culture. These plants are capable of being raised in different 

 methods according to the kinds. 



O 



The first sort and varieties are best propagated by sowing the 

 seeds or berries, as soon as they have become perfectly ripe, as about 

 August, on beds of light sandy earth, covering them in to the depth 

 of half an inch. When possible, a south-easterly aspect should be 

 chosen. And to preserve the seeds in a perfect slate, the shrubs 

 should be netted in the latler end of the summer, to prevent the 

 attacks of the birds. 



The young plants generally appear in the following spring, when 

 they should be kept clear from weeds, and the largest ones removed 

 when too close together: they may remain in these beds till the be- 

 ginning of the second autumn, when they should be removed, and 

 set out in nursery-rows, at the distance of a foot and half, and ten or 

 twelve inches in the rows, great care being taken not to break or 

 injure their roots. After they have had two years growth in these 

 situations, they are in a proper condition for being planted out where 

 they are to remain : and as the plants flower very early in the spring, 

 the best time for removing them is in the early part of the autumn. 



The plants grow to the greatest size, and flower in the most full 

 and perfect manner, when the soils are of a dry quality: as in moist, 

 adhesive soils they are apt to become mossy. 



The second species may be increased by sowing the seeds in the 

 same manner as the above; and also by cuttings and layers of the 

 young shoots: these should be planted out or laid down in the be- 

 ginning of the autumn, and in the following autumn they will be 

 well rooted : the layers may be then taken off, and planted where 

 they are to remain, or put into nursery-rows as above. The cuttings 

 may likewise be treated in the same way. 



The third and fourth sorts succeed best when raised from seed 



