228 Genet'al Notices. 



frame or pit room can be secured for it. Two sowings, the one about the 

 first week in August, and the other three weeks later, will furnish plants 

 for both autumn and spring. They may be sown in a small bed, and, when 

 compact plants, may be transferred to five-inch pots, putting five or six in 

 each pot. They require much care on their removal, and must be placed 

 in a close and moist atmosphere for a week ; in fact they should receive 

 cutting treatment. They enjoy abundance of light ; no soil or plan will 

 flower them in perfection unless they are near the glass. A back shelf in 

 a pit, or a frame made up specially for them, with the glass thoroughly 

 washed, and the pots placed on, or rather plunged in, ashes, is the best 

 situation for them. 



It is necessary, in order to make the plants thick and stout, to pinch the 

 terminal bud of each off when they are thoroughly rooted in the pots, and 

 not before. Air must be given abundantly at all times possible. They 

 must be well secured against severe frosts by plenty of covering, and kept 

 somewhat dry at the root during the dark months of November and Decem- 

 ber. The soil may be two parts of turfy loam, and the third equal parts 

 manure and leaf soil, to which I add coarse sand and charcoal siftings. 

 {Gard. Chron. 1846, p. 117.) 



Fine specimen of Erica hyemalis. — In a previous page, we have mentioned 

 a fine specimen of this plant which we saw in Scotland ; the following is 

 an account of one exhibited at the London Horticultural Society's exhibi- 

 tion in Regent Street : — 



From Mr. W. P. Ayres, gr. to J. Cook, Esq., of Brooklands, was the 

 finest specimen of ^rica hiemalis, for its age, possibly ever exhibited. It 

 was about three feet in height and nearly the same in diameter, and thickly 

 studded with blossoms down to the pot. It was mentioned to have been 

 two years ago a plant only about six inches in height growing in a five-inch 

 pot. In February, 1844, it was potted into an eleven-inch pot in a mixture 

 of Shirley and Wimbledon peat, with a liberal admixture of Reigate sand 

 and charcoal in large pieces, intermixed with small pebbles. Until it started 

 into free growth it was kept in a moist and rather warm atmosphere ; but 

 during the summer it was grown in a pit having free ventilation, and occa- 

 sional shading in bright sunshine. On dull days and dewy evenings the 

 lights were removed entirely, and during September and October it was 

 fully exposed to the sun. Having grown very freely, it showed but little 

 disposition to bloom, and the few flowers that were produced were removed 

 as soon as they appeared. In February, 1845, it was removed into an 

 eighteen-inch pot, in which it was exhibited, and during that season was 

 grown in the green-house ; placing it in the open air, however, on all favor- 

 able occasions, and watering it occasionally with a weak solution of soot 

 and guano in a clear state. A Banksian medal was awarded. [Gard. 

 Chron. 1846, p 119.) 



Cultivation of Fuchsias. — The following capital directions should be 

 carefully read by every cultivator of this fine tribe : — 



We will now suppose it to be the middle of February, at which time the 

 young plants should be well established in 3 or 5 inch pots, and the old ones 



