MCNAB—CULTIVATION OF CAPE HEATHS. 355 
that will materially injure Cape Geraniacee. If, therefore, a par- 
ticular point is to be found, to which the thermometer may be allowed 
to sink in the inside of a greenhouse during a severe frost, which 
will preserve the Gerantacee from injury and not produce too much 
fire heat for the safety of the heath, it is one which I have never been . 
able to ascertain. 
, sure 
‘some degree, injurious to the other. When the construction of the 
greenhouse is such (and this is generally the case) that one end can 
be kept warmer than the other, in such a house the Pe/argoniums 
‘should be kept at the warmer end and the heaths at the colder, and 
with good management, they may be grown in this way tolerably 
well. Although Cape heaths will thrive perfectly well in a green- 
house well ventilated, along with other hardy greenhouse plants, 
yet I have little doubt they will have a much finer appearance when 
grown by themselves. : 
When it is known how easily they can_be grown, and how little 
expense is necessary for fuel in keeping Cape heaths in this country, 
many noblemen and gentlemen may be induced to build houses © 
and appropriate them wholly to this delightful family. In order to 
state my observations in this essay as distinctly as possible, I shall 
divide them into the four following heads, namely :—- 
1st. The propagation of heaths, and the treatment of them when 
2nd. The soil best suited for their growth. 
3rd. The different shiftings necessary. 
4th. The general treatment when in the house, or out of doors, 
when it is necessary to have them there. 
_I shall, therefore, proceed to treat of the first branch of the subject, 
viz :— 
1. The Propagation of Heaths. 
The general mode (and, indeed, the best) of propagating Cape 
heaths in this country is by cuttings; but in all cases where seeds 
of good sorts can be procured, either saved at home or im rted from 
abroad, particular care should be taken in raising them, for there is 
a great probability of new varieties being produced, especially from 
seed procured in the heath houses of this country. : 
How far the disputed opinion may be correct, that cuttings or 
‘grafts, taken from an old and worn-out plant, cannot survive muc 
longer than the term of life allotted by nature to the original plants 
from which these cuttings or grafts were taken, I shall not now stop 
to inquire ; but I may state, from my own observation, that I know 
ig 
