216 On the Cultivation of Cape Heaths. 



so in the following paper by one of the most successful culti- 

 vators near London, which we copy from the Gardeners^ 

 Chi'onicle of a late date. The season is now at hand when 

 the plants should be removed from their winter quarters, and 

 Mr. Leach's remarks will consequently be read with greater 

 interest. — Ed. 



In the following statement, I shall endeavor to give the best 

 method of cultivating these delightful plants, which no green- 

 house should be without, for even in a very limited collection 

 one or other may be had in flower the whole year round. 

 Many are of opinion, that heaths will not thrive, intermixed 

 with other plants ; but this is a mistake : I know, from expe- 

 rience, that heaths will thrive as well in a greenhouse among 

 other plants, as they would do in a heathery ; in fact, some 

 of the woolly-leaved kinds are the better for being kept a 

 trifle clo;jer than others; such are ferruginea, gemmifera 

 major, splendens, Massoni, Templege, and others. I have, 

 at present, specimens of ferruginea, ampullacea, Parmentieri 

 rosea, and others, mixed with pelargoniums, fuchsias, aza- 

 leas, and other greenhouse stock, doing much better than I 

 ever saw them do in the heathery, where air was more freely 

 admitted. They, however, should be placed at the coolest 

 end of the greenhouse. 



The soil which I have found Cape heaths to thrive best in, 

 (and I have tried several soils,) is a mixture of Wimbledon 

 peat, and a much lighter kind of peat, from Croydon ; when 

 I cannot get the last-mentioned peat, I find well -decomposed 

 leaf-mould to be an excellent substitute. Wimbledon peat, 

 two parts; lighter peat, or leaf-mould, one; and one part of 

 silver sand, is what 1 use : if silver sand cannot be obtained, 

 coarse river sand will answer : the whole should be well 

 knocked to pieces, and run through a 1 1 inch meshed sieve. I 

 use the soil fresh from the common, where it is dug two inches 

 deep, paring ofl" the subsoil and the rough top. For shifting, 

 any time from the beginning of February to the latter end of 

 August will do. I have shifted them even as late as the be- 

 ginning of October, and have found them to do equally well 

 with those shifted earlier. This, however, is only mentioned 

 to show, that no danger is to be apprehended from late shift- 

 ing, in cases where such is found to be necessary. 



