170 Cultivation and Treatment of Cape Heaths. 



never by any means giving them more than a size larger pot 

 at a shift. Give them plenty of drainage, always placing a 

 portion of coarse fibrous peat or moss over the crocks, to pre- 

 vent the soil washing through them, and taking care to place 

 the neck of the plant high up in the pot, so as to give a 

 fall from the stem to the rim; this precaution, with good 

 drainage, will prevent them from damping off at the neck, 

 which they are very liable to do when kept too damp or over- 

 watered, if potted too low. In repotting large specimens, it is 

 a good plan, where they require a large pot, to place a pot re- 

 versed in the bottom of the large one, and fill nearly to the 

 top Avith crocks and coarse material ; for heaths do not require 

 a deep soil, and it will give a better drainage. 



The soil most suitable for heaths, is a fibrous sandy peat, 

 which is rather difficult to procure in this neighborhood ; at 

 least I have found it so. The compost I have generally used 

 has been well decomposed leaf-mould, with a portion of the 

 most peaty soil I could procure, using more or less of the 

 peat, according to its quality ; sometimes I have used nothing 

 but leaf-mould, mixing equal parts of white sand, and rather 

 coarse river or brook sand ; all the coarse fibrous lumps should 

 be chopped small and retained in the compost, in order to 

 make the soil porous. The soil by no means should ever be 

 sifted for heaths, not even for young plants, as it becomes too 

 compact and heavy ; the best sand for heaths is freestone 

 sand, and a good portion of it used in small lumps, about the 

 size, and some larger, than peas ; it is also the best for propa- 

 gating when it can be procured. 



As to propagating, I need say but little upon this -head, as 

 most of the varieties are increased with little difficulty ; most 

 of them strike well from cuttings, made of half-ripened young 

 wood ; and they can be propagated at any season that the 

 wood is in that state. They should be covered with a bell 

 glass, and be carefully watered, keeping them in a cool and 

 shaded situation. Some of the varieties are more difficult to 

 strike than others, and I find some will root better if the wood 

 is perfectly ripe ; but it requires a greater length of time and 

 they are not so liable to damp oft'; then again, there are some 

 kinds that I have been unsuccessful with. I have tried cut- 

 tings taken from the plant just at the lime that it is beginning 



