174 THE FLOWER GARDEN COMPANION. 



growth of the Azalea, which delights to grow in a sweet, dry 

 soil. When grown in the first named manner, the plants 

 have a yellow, sickly appearance, and the leaves drop off the 

 plants, a sure indication of their being in a bad state of health. 



Saving the seed. The seed may be sown in pots or pans 

 of peat earth, when ripe, in the fall, and kept in the green- 

 house during winter. The plants will generally make their 

 appearance in the spring ; in the following season, they may 

 be potted off in small pots, and treated in every way the same 

 as the flowering plants. It may also be propagated by layer- 

 ing down the young shoots in the spring, either in the pots or 

 in a frame purposely adapted for the business; they will 

 mostly be rooted in the fall, and may be taken from the mo- 

 ther plant and potted off in the proper compost, as before 

 directed. To this may be added, the striking of cuttings, 

 which may be taken off about the latter end of July, or the 

 beginning of August; as soon as the young wood is ripe is 

 the proper time. They will be well rooted in the fall, and 

 may be potted off in the following spring. 



The best time for repotting the flowering plants of the 

 Azalea is in the spring, when the plants have done flowering ; 

 care should be taken to give plenty of drainage, so that the 

 plants are not saturated by watering, which is injurious to 

 them. They should be well potted, and the surface of the 

 ball be a little below the top of the pot, so that it may be a 

 little dishing, and receive the benefit of watering. When the 

 plants are in a growing state, they should be abundantly wa- 

 tered, and kept in a free growing state ; when the weather is 

 sufficiently warm, they should be either plunged in the 

 ground, in their pots, or placed in a frame, in a shady loca- 

 tion, to remain during the summer; and in the fall, they may 

 be again taken into the green-house with the other green- 

 house plants. 



