AZALEA mDICA. 13 



to the production of new varieties of the azalea. But those 

 originated within the last twenty years may now be numbered by 

 thousands ; one of my friends in Belgium, having produced more 

 than six hundred named kinds. Belgium, Germany, and England, 

 have given more attention to the production of new varieties than 

 all the rest of the world. And never before has there been more 

 interest or enterprise in this line of cultivation. Every year 

 brings us something desirable, and now that the Japan azaleas 

 {A. mollis) are coming to our aid, we may expect even finer results 

 than before. It is quite probable that by the intermixture of the 

 Chinese and this new hardy species we may obtain varieties with 

 persistent foliage. These Japan varieties are believed to be 

 hardy ; a plant in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, which came 

 from Japan seed, having stood entirely uninjured for several years 

 without protection. The Chinese varieties are easily crossed by 

 the pollen of the Japan sorts, and I have now a pan of J'oung 

 plants just coming up, which are the result of hybridizations made 

 last spring, between Azalea Indica and A. mollis. 



New varieties are raised by the cross-fertilization of flowers, 

 which produce an abundance of seed. The seed vegetates freely, 

 and with good care will produce fine little plants that in two or 

 three years may be made to bloom, and thus give us early the 

 results of our efforts. The plants which I hold in my hands 

 [Mr. Wilder here exhibited two seedlings which were acknowl- 

 edged by all to be of remarkable size for their age], are the 

 results of seed produced by the Souvenir de Prince Albert impreg- 

 nated with the pollen of various other kinds. The seed was sown 

 last winter, and came up in March or April. These plants, as 

 they stand, measure more than a foot in height, and I expect to 

 have them in flower next year. To accomplish this I shall either 

 take off the tops and graft them into strong stocks, or, what is 

 more sure, inarch the tops on to strong stocks. The process of 

 grafting ma}^ be either by split grafting or by a side graft, but in 

 these cases the plants should be laid on their sides in a close frame 

 and in very mild heat ; or they cam be worked by standing the 

 stock upright and slipping over the whole a common glass lamp 

 chimnc}^, stuffing the top with cotton, so as to keep the air close 

 and the graft fresh until a union has taken place, and the graft 

 begins to grow. This is called the "stifled graft," and was in- 

 troduced some thirty-five years since by the Chevalier Soulange 



