582 Cultivation of Plants. 



has spread too widely, may be extirpated by the application of 

 flowers of sulphur. Sulphur is, perhaps, more effective in its 

 action if applied dry ; but this being a tedious process, it is 

 usually mixed with other ingredients in water, and the plants 

 syringed with the mixture. Under glass, the remedy against 

 red spider (a minute parasitical insect), namely, moisture, is 

 favourable to the development of mildew ; but if flowers of 

 sulphur be mixed with the water, or placed on the hot- water 

 pipes, there is little to fear from either of these pests. The 

 red spider is never so troublesome in the open air, though in 

 dry, hot seasons it sometimes does great damage. It is usually 

 found on the under surface of the leaves, and increases with 

 astonishing rapidity, soon covering the whole leaf, causing it 

 to turn yellow and fall off. Some of the Junipers are very 

 subject to its attacks, unless planted in humid places which are 

 natural to them. 



2. Culture and Propagation of Plants belonging to the Heath 

 and allied Tribes. 



Shrubs and trees requiring a peaty or boggy soil are com- 

 monly known as American plants, whether natives of that 

 continent or otherwise. They include all, or nearly all, of the 

 Ericaceae and members of several other families, such as Berberis 

 Bealii, and other species, Calycanthus spp., Escallonia, some 

 of the Daphnes, Magnolia glauca, Spiraea spp., and numerous 

 other evergreen shrubs, will flourish better in peaty soil, or with 

 an admixture of leaf-mould. We might also mention that many 

 herbaceous plants succeed best in a peaty soil. Keference is 

 made to the fact under those species growing naturally in boggy 

 places. 



Although all of these plants prefer a prepared soil, there are 

 some of them that will flourish in ordinary garden soil, if pro- 

 perly drained. And in the absence of peat, good leaf-mould 

 and sharp sand mixed with the natural soil will answer for 

 most species. Varieties of Ehododendron Ponticum, Kalmia 

 latifolia, Azalea Pontica, Erica carnea, etc., etc., and Arbutus 

 Unedo are the least exacting in regard to soil. 



To cultivate peat plants successfully two conditions are in- 

 dispensable ; these are, climate and soil. In default of these 

 conditions, all efforts will remain fruitless. With regard to 

 climate, it should be remembered that all the species of this 

 group are not equally hardy ; hence the necessity of choosing 



