906 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



PART III. 



being covered with a glass. Cuttings of the roots of such sorts, as P. triste, gibbosum, &c., strike readily; 

 a small portion of the root being left above ground. The fibrous-rooted herbaceous sorts, as E. Chamae- 

 dryoides and glandulosum, may be multiplied by dividing the roots. " From the latter end of March to 

 the middle or end of July," Gushing observes, "cuttings of all the common kinds of geranium may be put 

 in with success : Let a moderate hot-bed be made up, and surfaced with some old tan ; when it is of a 

 proper temperature, let the cuttings be made, and put in some nice rich loam ; plunge the pots to the 

 rim on the bed, and shade them for a day or two, but no longer. Pick off any damping leaves that may 

 appear, water them occasionally, and observe to pot them off in due time, by which means they will be 

 stout plants by the end of autumn : the more curious kinds are in general done by cuttings of the thick 

 fleshy roots, which they produce in abundance : as many of these as can be spared with safety being taken 

 off carefully from each plant, and a few of the finer fibres attached to them and neatly potted in small pots, 

 leaving the crown of each about one fourth of an inch over the surface, watered and set on a moderate 

 heat, will, in a few weeks, make excellent plants : one, two, or more stems, which they in general pro- 

 duce, being left to form the plant." (Exotic Gard. 90.) 



6603. Culture. The geraniae require a light rich soil ; they grow well in equal parts of sandy loam and 

 well rotted dung ; or they will grow in leaf-mould and a little sand, without any thing else. As most 

 species are rapid growers, the pots require to be examined in spring and autumn, and the roots and top 

 reduced, or the plant shifted into a larger pot In general the shrubby sorts should be kept low and 

 bushy by pruning ; for when they are allowed to grow tall and straggling, "they are very unsightly and do 

 not flower well. Some of the herbaceous sorts may be considered as frame plants ; but the greater number 

 require the green-house, and some of the very succulent sorts are best grown in the dry-stove. When an 

 extensive collection of geraniums is kept, it is desirable to devote a house entirely to their culture ; in this 

 the roof should be of a construction to admit as much light as possible, the stage should be near the glass, 

 and there should be ample means of giving air and heat. Most of the species require rather more heat 

 during winter than evergreen woody exotics from the same climates ; otherwise they are apt to lose their 

 leaves and rot at the points of the shoots. To prevent this, heat should be given in the daytime and air 

 admitted, and whenever any leaf begins to decay, it should be removed. The hardier gerania?, like other 

 green-house plants, are generally placed in the open air from May to September ; but as the flowers are 

 much injured by heavy rains and winds, the more delicate sorts, and all those intended to flower in the 

 best manner, should be kept in the house with abundance of air night and day. In warm situations it is 

 customary in April or May, to plant many of the P. zonale and other free-growing sorts in the borders of 

 the flower-garden or shrubbery : these have a splendid effect till attacked by frost, when their roots may 

 either be protected where they stand by abundance of litter and mats, or they may be removed into single 

 pots, and placed in a dry part of the green-house till the following spring. The Rev. W. Williamson has 

 found, that if the plants are taken up, deprived of their stalks and fibrous roots ; the wounds made in doing 

 this healed by exposure in a dry place ; and afterwards the roots deposited in layers in a mass of sand, 

 placed in a cellar, or otherwise excluded from frost, they will retain their vegetative power through the 

 winter, and grow vigorously when replanted in the open air in spring. (Hart. Trans, iv. 414.) 



6604. Forcing the geranue. The hardier shrubby sorts force well with a very gentle heat, and in this 

 way may be kept in flower during the winter months till April and May, when they will be succeeded by 

 those that have been kept in the common green-house temperature. 



SUBSECT. 2. Exotic Heaths. JErica, L. Octandria Monogynia, L. and Ericete, J. 



Bruyere, Fr. ; Heyde Kraut, Ger. ; and Macckia, Ital. 



6605. The heath family constitute an extensive assemblage of low shrubby evergreen 

 plants, much valued for the beauty of their flowers, and the blossoming of many of them 

 in the winter season. Scarcely any exotic heaths were known in Miller's time, and none 

 of the Cape species. Almost the whole of these have been introduced to Europe during 

 the reign of Geo. III., and the greater part by Masson, a collector, who made two 

 voyages to Africa at that king's expense. 



6606. Species and varieties. Above 300 species have been introduced, some of which, from the difficulty 

 of propagation, or accidental causes, have been lost; but there are still upwards of 250 sorts, which may 

 be procured from the nurseries. There are also several varieties which have been raised from seed. The 

 Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert has raised several hybrid heaths, which gives reason (Hort. Trans, iv. 27.) for 

 thinking that many of the sorts imported from the Cape, and considered as species, are only hybrids pro- 

 duced by promiscuous impregnation. We have here arranged most of the sorts procurable in the nur- 

 series; and, in addition to the time of flowering, height in inches, and color, designated the form of the 

 flower, as bell (6), pill or tube shaped (p), open (o), roundish (r), or ventricose (v). 



6607. ERICA. MARCH. 



