SEEDLINGS 63 



partial shade, setting them in rows about 3 inches apart, 

 and watering them well in, shading them in bright sun- 

 shine. They are all the better for a slight protection in 

 winter, such as that afforded by a loose layer of bracken or 

 spruce branches. Here they may remain till the following 

 September, when they will be large enough to be trans- 

 planted to an open bed, setting them about 8 inches apart. 

 In about two years they should be healthy plants with 

 stems as thick as a lead pencil and of the size preferred 

 for grafting. 



The age at which seedling Rhododendrons may be 

 expected to flower varies from two years to an indefinite 

 time. Sir Joseph Hooker sent home from Sikkim in 1848-9 

 seeds of many new species. The first of these to flower 

 was R. ciliatum, when it was two years old. The volumes 

 of the Botanical Magazine for 1855-6-7-8 contain figures 

 of a number of these species which had been prepared from 

 plants raised and flowered for the first time in this country. 

 The ages of some of them were : R. Falconeri, R. cinna- 

 barinum, R. Hookeri, R. campylocarpum, seven years ; R. 

 Thomsonii, eight years ; R. Griffithianum, nine years ; R. 

 Nuttallii, eighteen years. Of those more recently intro- 

 duced from China, R. ciliicalyx flowered when it was eleven 

 years old ; R. Delavayi, fifteen years ; R. intricatum, four 

 years ; R. racemosum, four years. From these figures it will 

 be seen that Rhododendrons flower when they are from three 

 to eighteen years old. Probably the garden races flower at 

 an earlier age. The Indian Azaleas (R. indicum) and Swamp 

 Honeysuckles (R. sinense) flower at from two to three years. 



With regard to seedling hybrids or crosses, the first 

 flowers are not, as a rule, as good in quality as they are 

 when the plant is older. In the case of the former, expert 



