Foreign JVolices. — England. 305 



The tribe which of all others attracted and deserved most notice was 

 the azaleas; the specimens sent far surpassed those brouiyht in for- 

 mer years. They were treated in four different ways: First and 

 rarest, there were plants exceedingly dwarf and bushy, with the 

 branches actually depending over the edges of the pots. These were 

 peculiarly interesting, and confined mostly to A. lateritia and varie- 

 gata. Next, there were some almost equally low, but very spread- 

 ing, and with their branches also inclining downwards. While the 

 former were not more than a foot or eighteen inches in diameter, 

 these were from three to five feet across, and included the White In- 

 dian and a few of the crimson-flowered kinds. Again, there was a 

 group which had been left to grow naturally, with perhaps the prin- 

 cipal stem listened to a stake to keep it upright, and two or three of 

 the branches [tied in a little to draw the flowers more into a mass. 

 Lastly, there were many, both with and without a bare stem, of one 

 or two feet in height, that had the points of their branches brought 

 into a flat, or nearly flat, surface — thus throwing all the flowers to 

 the front, and, of course, rendering that front far more thickly stud- 

 ded with them than an ordinary hush could be. The specimens of 

 the first class had been procured from cuttings, or by grafting very 

 low on the stocks, and pruned freely, as vvell while growing as dur- 

 ing winter. The branches had also most likely been tied down at the 

 points- Those of the second tribe had been raised similarly, and per- 

 haps treated in the same manner, but were commoner and stronger 

 growing sorts, and had been kept in a very light house, near the glass. 

 The third group, which was the least ornamental, exhibited a want of 

 culture, or, at least, showed by their defects what the aid of art had 

 accomplished in other instances- Their shoots, having been tied up 

 for the occasion, evinced, too, the injudiciousness of attempting to train 

 a plant after it has perfected its growth. Several of the flowers were 

 unavoidably turned inwards, or on one side, instead of towards the 

 spectator. In the fourth class, however, a good effect was produced 

 by training all the shoots so as to present only one front. A specimen 

 of A. lateritia so arranged was brought by Mr. Green, gardener to Sir 

 E. Autrobus, Bart., and was certainly an admirable specimen of cul- 

 ture. The blossoms were so close that it seemed almost impossible 

 for them to exist in such a crowded state. It was four feet high, on 

 a stem about a foot long. The same variety was exhibited from the 

 same collection only one foot in height, extremely dense and beauti- 

 ful. Mr. Green also had A. indica variegata as large as the first 

 mentioned A. lateritia, and scarcely less prolific of flowers. To those 

 desirous of improving the race of green-house azaleas, these two 

 kinds may be pointed out as models in respect of the form of their 

 flowers. From Mr. Green there were, further, an A. splendens, seven 

 feet high, with immense deep crimson flowers, and in a magnificent 

 condition; phoenicea and Smithii, equally good; two very remarkable 

 plants of the splendid double red variety, one being quite six feet 

 high, and full of blossoms; and a gorgeous specimen of a new kind 

 called A. Greenii, which has rich and well-formed crimson flowers. 

 All Mr. Green's azaleas appeared to be trained with the view of 

 bringing the flowers to the front; and hence their peculiar splendor. 

 The dwarf specimen we have spoken of is obviously excepted from 

 VOL. VIII. — NO. VIII. 39 



