72 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



stock on which to graft the Indian Azaleas is practised by 

 Messrs. Seidel, the largest growers of Azaleas in Germany, 

 their output annually in 6-inch pots being over 100,000, 

 every one of which is grafted on this Rhododendron. Its 

 fitness as a stock was proved by them before 1894. In that 

 year they exhibited at Ghent a collection of their Azaleas all 

 worked on this Rhododendron, and although they received 

 a certificate of merit for an improved method of growing 

 Indian Azaleas, Belgian growers were sceptical, and indeed 

 to this day they will not admit that a Rhododendron can be 

 as suitable for Azaleas as the stocks they themselves use. 

 There can be no doubt, however, that the Dresden Azaleas 

 are of first-class quality, and whatever there is of reason in 

 the Belgians' objection to the Rhododendron, it certainly 

 answers perfectly at Dresden. Cunningham's White is 

 easily raised from cuttings, and quickly grows into smooth, 

 clean stocks. The cuttings are placed in warm cases in 

 February and March, where they root in about six weeks. 

 They are then potted singly in small pots, and grown on till 

 the following spring, when they are grafted. Whip grafting 

 is preferred, and after the grafts have taken the treatment 

 the plants receive is the same as that given by the Belgian 

 growers. 



DISEASES AND PESTS 



Rhododendrons are remarkably exempt from fungal 

 and insect troubles. This may be due to their toxic pro- 

 perties, which certainly protect them from the attacks 

 of larger animals. Their leaves become infested with 

 thrips and red spider, when the conditions with respect 

 to moisture and temperature are wrong, and it is even 

 possible for scale insects to attack them when they are 



