Nursery of Messrs. Fairhurn. 323 



Society, and received from the Himalayan Mountains. 

 Messrs. Rollisson have already raised one very brilliant vari- 

 ety called the RoUissonu, which excels even the old arboreum. 

 The collection of camellias is extensive, and enriched by the 

 addition of the new Belgian varieties. 



The health and vigor of the young heaths attracted our 

 notice : the older plants were placed under a North wall, 

 where they received the sun only an hour or two during the 

 day ; but all the small stock was in frames neatly arranged 

 in rows about an inch apart, so as to receive the benefit of a 

 free circulation of air. Out of several hundred plants, scarcely 

 a single unhealthy looking one was to be seen ; and one would 

 suppose, to look at them, that they were as easily cultivated 

 as pelargoniums ; and if proper soil is made use of, and pro- 

 per attention given, they are far easier to cultivate than many 

 plants of which we hear no complaints. Messrs. Rollisson 

 informed us, that the great fault generally was, in not using 

 a thoroughly decomposed peat, such as heaths are naturally 

 found growing in, on Wimbledon common. Such a soil, our 

 cultivators have not at hand ; but they may aim to imitate it ; 

 this should be done by removing all the undecayed fibrous 

 parts of the soil, which, as they decompose, destroy the roots 

 at the same time ; plenty of fine white or yellow sand, washed, 

 if impure, and mixed with this, will cause but little trouble 

 in their cultivation ; and by a proper course of pruning, that is, 

 continually pinching off the yet herbaceous shoots, dwarf, 

 bushy, and compact plants will be obtained, which have so 

 different an appearance from the ordinary long-legged, leaf- 

 less species, as scarcely to be recognized. Such heaths as 

 we saw in Scotland, and which we shall hereafter notice, 

 would scarcely be thought to belong to the tribe. 



The Messrs. Rollisson are skilful and intelligent cultivators, 

 and we feel indebted to them for their gentlemanly treatment 

 and politeness. 



Clapha7n, Messrs. Fnirbiirn. — A few rods beyond the gar- 

 den of Mr. Groom, whose place we have already noticed, we 

 found the nursery of Messrs. Fairburn, well known from the 

 reputation of the Proprietors, in successfully competing at the 

 shows of the London Horticultural Society, and gaining med- 

 als for their splendid specimens of heaths. Their attention is 



