1100 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



carnea and G. c. herbacea, because these are the only dwarf heaths that are 

 in flower during the first and twelfth months of the year. In like manner, 

 the beds marked 9, of which there are eight in all, will be wholly occupied 

 with .Erica cinerea alba and rubra, Gypsocallis multiflora alba and rubra, and 

 Dabce'cza /?oliifolia, and D. p. nana, these being the only heaths which never 

 exceed 3ft. in height, that come into flower in the ninth month (September). 

 Should this mode not be approved of, one sort may be confined to a bed ; the 

 only principle which is essential to the proper effect of this plan being, that all 

 the sorts which have any chance of exceeding 3 ft. in height, should be con- 

 fined to the central bed, in order that they may not intefere with the sym- 

 metry of the figure, as seen from the side of the surrounding terrace walk. 



Half-hardy, or Cape, Heaths are generally propagated by cuttings : but, as 

 seeds are frequently ripened in this country, and are also regularly received 

 from the Cape of Good Hope, that mode of propagation is common ; and, 

 about London, is generally adopted in preference to the other ; the plants 

 being raised with less trouble and attention, though requiring a longer time 

 before they are fit for sale. We shall first slightly notice the mode of raising 

 heaths from seeds, and afterwards that of propagating them by cuttings. 



Seeds of Cape heaths generally arrive in England, from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, in the months of July and August; and Mr. Bowie (Gard. Mag., 

 vol. i. p. 364.) recommends the latter month as a favourable time for sowing 

 them. Mr. M'Nab, however, prefers February, or early in March. The 

 seeds should be sown in pots, well drained, and filled to within one fourth of 

 an inch of the top, with " very sandy peat earth, made level and firm ; the 

 seeds should then be sown on the surface, and scarcely any covering put over 

 them. This precaution is absolutely necessary, as the seeds of all the heaths 

 are very small, and unable to push through a deep covering. The pots, after 

 sowing, should be watered with a very fine watering-pot, and placed in a cold 

 frame under glass, where they should remain. They will require water every 

 day; and, if the weather be very dry, and there is much sun, they should be shaded 

 with a mat in the middle of the day. As soon as the seeds begin to vegetate, 

 the frame should have a little air admitted to prevent damp, and this should 

 be increased as the young seedlings gain strength. Whenever the plants are 

 sufficiently large to bear handling without injury, they should be potted out 

 into small-sized pots, always putting several plants in the same pot, and 

 placing them near the edge of it; as some of the seedlings may be expected 

 to damp off in the first potting." (Treatise, &c., p. 15.) The best soil for this 

 potting, Mr. M'Nab considers to be one half peat and one half sand, increas- 

 ing the proportion of peat in subsequent pottings. Mr. Bowie pots first in 

 three fourths sandy peat, and one fourth sandy loam ; and, at subsequent 

 pottings, he increases the proportion of sandy loam, till he pots finally in 

 sandy loam only. We must confess, however, that we do not think that 

 there are many "species of Cape heaths which would thrive in this soil; though, 

 on turning to the volume of the Gardener's Magazine above referred to, a list 

 will be found of the habitats of ten different groups of Cape heaths, not one of 

 which is stated to be sandy peat, and only two in a situation where a black ve- 

 getable soil, something like British bog soil, occurs. The seeds of Cape heaths 

 Mr. Bowie has known to vegetate well after having been upwards of twelve 

 years in England. 



By Cuttings. Mr. M'Nab finds " The greater proportion of heaths strike 

 root freely, when the cuttings are made of the young wood after it has become 

 sufficiently firm to prevent its damping off. The pots for the reception of the 

 cuttings should be about nine or ten inches in diameter at the mouth. It is 

 a good method, in preparing the pots for the cuttings, to fill them to within 

 li in. of the top with pieces of broken pots, or cinders, the upper pieces 

 of which should be of a smaller size than those below ; over which should 

 be put a thin layer of live moss (7/ypnum), to prevent the sand from 

 working down among the potsherds or cinders ; then the remainder of 

 the pot should be filled with fine sifted sand to the level of the edge, and the 



