BOOK II. SELECT AMERICAN PEAT-EARTH PLANTS. 893 



not a free circulation of air. Abercrombie says, " There is no certainty of attaining a 

 fine blow of roses in the depth of winter by the most expensive artifices of forcing ; and 

 yet fine flowers may be produced early in the spring by any ordinary stove put in oper- 

 ation in December. When the plants are first introduced, keep the air of the house at 

 about 50, never letting it fluctuate to more than two or three degrees below or above. 

 In the second week, aim at 60 as the standard ; in the third week at 65. When a 

 month has nearly elapsed, begin to increase the heat gradually to 70 ; having brought 

 it to this standard, let it afterwards exceed it from three to five degrees, rather than sink 

 below. A succession may be kept up by introducing some pots every eight or ten days." 

 6561. Insects. All the species of roses are very liable to the attacks of insects, especially of the aphides ; 

 some, and especially the briar and Scotch rose, are attacked by the Cynips rosae, which, by puncturing 

 the bark, occasions the production of rose-galls, and of those mossy tufts often seen on wild roses, which 

 were known formerly under the name of Bcdeguar, and used in medicine. A great number <jo T 



of insects seem fond of the flowers of roses, from the appalling earwig (Forficula auricularia) 

 to the seemingly harmless lady-bird (Coccinetta 14-guttata) (fig. 621.), which deposits its laryee 

 (a) in the leaves of various species, both wild and cultivated. There seems no remedy for 

 insects on plants in the open air so simple and effectual as gathering them by hand, or remov- 

 ing the leaf, or that part of the shoot which is infested by them. Under cover, tobacco-smoke 

 will prove an effectual remedy for the aphides ; but the larva of many others, and especially of tioula and 

 the tenthredinidae, which occasion the wrapping up and shrivelling of the leaves, can only be removed bv 

 washing with lime-water or hand-picking. 



SUBSECT. 2. Select American and other Peat-Earth Shrubs, viz. of Magnotiacece, Mag- 

 nolia ; of Rhodoracete, Rhododendron, Azalea, Kalmia; of the genera Cistus, Arbutus, 

 Vaccinium, Andromeda, Erica, Daphne, and various others. 



6562. Of select American shrubs there are numerous species and varieties, both deci- 

 duous and evergreen, which will be found arranged according to their heights and colors 

 in the two succeeding tables, and those requiring a peat-soil distinguished by a letter (p). 

 They are all highly valued for their flowers, which are large and magnificent in magnolia 

 and rhododendron ; odoriferous in azalea and daphne ; and beautiful in andromeda, vac- 

 cinium, and erica : arbutus is valued both for its flowers and fruit. They are mostly 

 natives of America, and introduced within the latter half of the last century. 



6563. Propagation. They are all propagated by seed or by layers ; though grafting or inarching 

 is resorted to in some cases as more expeditious. The seed is either procured from America, or saved in 

 this country, and, being very small, is sown as early as possible in pans of peat-earth, and placed in the 

 shade. In winter it is placed under a cold-frame, or otherwise protected from the frost, and the plants 

 come up in May or June. In the following autumn, or succeeding spring, they are pricked out into other 

 pots, or into beds of peat-earth in a shady situation. Here they are protected by hoops and mats during 

 winter.; and in two years are again transplanted into a similar soil and situation, and at distances corre- 

 sponding to the size of the leaves, or habits of the plants ; here they remain till they flower, or till wanted 

 to be removed to their final destination. They commonly flower from the fourth to the seventh year. 



6564. By layers. The young shoots only are used for this purpose, either laid down in June and July, 

 when in full growth, or in the following autumn ; by the former plan a year is gained, as the shoots will 

 be rooted, and may be removed by the succeeding winter or spring. Some sorts of magnolia, rhododen- 

 dron, &c. require two years to form a sufficient number of roots. The plants, when removed, may be 

 planted in nursery lines, in proper soil, and kept well watered during summer, and protected the first 

 winter by mats ; or, they may be planted in pots, and receive, during winter, the protection of a frame. 



6565. By suckers, and by dividing the root. Both these modes may occasionally, though but rarely, 

 be resorted to. Some species of azalea and andromeda throw up numerous suckers, and the heaths may 

 often be increased by dividing their roots. 



6566. By cuttings. Some of the azaleas, heaths, &c. may be multiplied by cuttings of the young shoots, 

 when in a growing state, taken off where the wood is beginning to ripen, and planted in sand and peat, 

 and covered with a hand-glass. If this operation is performed in the end of June, they will be ready to 

 remove into prepared beds, or to plant in small pots by the middle of September. 



G567. By grafting, budding, or inarching. This is practised with some sorts of magnolia, arbutus, 

 daphne, &c. which are placed on stocks of hardier species of the same genus, as on M. purpurea, A. 

 unedo, D. laureola, &c. The stocks are planted in pots a year before wanted, which admits of their 

 being placed in any position with respect to the shoot being inarched. The daphnes and arbutus an- 

 drachne, are generally grafted 1 with detached scions. 



6568. Culture. The culture requisite for American plants, Abercrombie observes, 

 " principally consists in providing some imitation of the original soil, in order that they 

 may flourish in full vigor ; and, where there is no factitious soil provided, in making a 

 compensation during the dry part of summer, by plentiful waterings. Most of the exotic 

 shrubs brought from America, were originally found growing on tracts of ground re- 

 sembling our beds of peat, except that the alluvial soil there extends along a greater 

 surface, and the body of vegetable mould embedded in the swamp is richer and deeper, 

 being on a scale corresponding with the magnitude of the rivers. The native plants 

 found in these situations, vegetate with the highest vigor and luxuriance. The soil in 

 many parts is so pervaded by vegetable substances, that where from any cause a section 

 of the solid ground occurs, as in the bank of a river, or the shaft of a well, a layer of de- 

 cayed logs, branches, and leaves of trees is uncovered to the spectator. The luxuriance 

 of the vegetables may, however, partly be ascribed to the excessive moisture which is 

 peculiar to the climate of America. In a few places, indeed, on the western coast, rain 

 is not known ; but the soil there is, in general, copiously watered by dew, so as to render 

 it highly productive. In the season called winter by the natives of South America, last- 

 ing from May to November, a continued succession of impetuous rains gives to the plains, 

 in most places, the appearance of an ocean. When the rains have ceased, the humidity 



