Gardening for Amateurs 



867 



of R. ponticum may be cut back in April 

 with every chance of their breaking into 

 vigorous growth. One item that may be 

 considered with pruning is the removal of 

 the old flower-heads as soon as the blossoms 

 fade, so that the plants shall not be called 

 upon to undergo the 

 exhaustive process of 

 seed-formation. 



Propagation. It is 

 unlikely that many 

 people will wish to raise 

 their own Rhododen- 

 drons, for it is a rather 

 troublesome business, 

 and they can be pur- 

 chased very cheaply from 

 nurserymen who special- 

 ise in this particular class 

 of plants. When the 

 whole family is con- 

 sidered there are four 

 principal means of pro- 

 pagation, by seeds, cut- 

 tings, grafts, and layers. 

 Seeds are usually selected 

 for increasing rare 

 species, and for raising 

 new varieties. They 

 are sown as soon as ripe 

 on the surface of pans 

 or boxes of sandy soil or 

 peat. If kept in a moist 

 and shaded but warm 

 greenhouse, young plants 

 appear in two or three 

 weeks' time, and they 

 are pricked off into 

 similar soil as soon as 

 large enough to handle. 



Some of the smaller- 

 leaved kinds are in- 

 creased by cuttings, such 

 as R. racemosum, R. 

 Broughtonii aureum, R. Yunnanense, etc. 

 The cuttings are taken in summer July and 

 August young shoots 3 to 4 inches long 

 being selected. These are cut to a joint and 

 inserted firmly in pots of sandy peat plunged 

 in a closed, shaded and slightly warmed 

 frame. 



Grafting is resorted to for many of the 

 larger-growing kinds, and particularly the 



garden varieties of Rhododendron. As a 

 rule the common European R. ponticum or 

 the American R. Catawbiense are used for 

 stocks. These are potted into small pots in 

 autumn, and early in February or any time 

 before the end of March are placed in a 



Rhododendron Mrs. E. C. Stirling. 



warm house. In two or three weeks' time, 

 when the sap begins to run, they are grafted 

 quite close to the soil, the method known as 

 saddle -grafting being employed. As soon as 

 a scion has been firmly secured to the stock 

 the plant is placed in a closed and warm 

 frame, where it remains until the union is 

 complete, after which it is gradually hard- 

 ened off. 



