162 THE amateur's GEEElSrHOUSE 



drainage, and a mixture of equal parts peat and sand and half 

 an inch of pure sand on the top. Put into each pot as many 

 cuttings as it will hold and place the pots under hand-glasses 

 in a temperature of 50°, and from the first air them regularly, 

 and after every airing wipe the hand-lights to remove the con- 

 densed moisture from the glass. It is a common practice to 

 cover the cutting pots with bell-glasses, but it is injurious, and 

 thousands of cuttings are lost annually from this cause alone. 

 "Watering is very important : you must give sufficient to keep 

 the sand and soil always moderately moist, never wet and 

 never dry. 



As soon as the cuttings are rooted pot them in smallest 

 60-size in a mixture of fibry peat and one fourth sand. Pot 

 them firmly and with the greatest care, and immediately shut 

 them up in a cold frame for a fortnight, after which time 

 ventilate them cautiously, and in the course of a fortnight 

 put them out on a bed of coal-ashes and pinch out the point 

 of every one to induce a bushy habit of growth. In September 

 take them to the greenhouse, keep them close to the glass 

 and freely ventilated, and during the winter use no more 

 artificial heat than is necessary to exclude frost or to dispel 

 damp, and permit of air-giving in wet weather. In April 

 shift into five-inch pots and put them into a cold frame. 

 In a mouth from the shifting put them out on a bed of coal- 

 ashes. Do not stop any of them except for some special 

 reason, for the natural growth is most to be desired. When 

 the growing points of the shoots are nipped out once or twice 

 during the second year's growth, the result is a confusion of 

 the shoots and it is impossible to see the flowers to advantage. 

 AVhen no stoppage is practised, a plant of IS. hyemalis in a six- 

 inch pot will produce from twenty to thirty strong shoots 

 eighteen inches in height, each of which will form perfect 

 pyramids of bloom at the proper season. It is most injurious 

 to shade the plants during the summer; they ought to be fully 

 exposed to the sun at all times. 



In making a selection of heaths, the resident in or near a 

 town should give preference to the free-growing showy sorts, 

 as they suffer but little through exposure to atmospheric im- 

 purities, but the slow-growing or very hard-wooded sorts 

 require a pure air and are some degrees more difficult to 

 manage. To ensure success, we must begin with a cool, light, 

 airy span-roof house, or a good pit with piping enough to keep 



