358 HISTORY OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN. 
will not be necessary till the following spring. The soil for the 
second potting should be about two-thirds peat and one-third sand, 
and in all the after pottings the soil should be the same as will 
hereafter be recommended 
precaution is a tely necessary from the circumstance that the 
seeds of all the heaths are very small and unable to push through a 
deep covering ts, after sowing, should be watered with a 
begin to vegetate, the frame should have a little air admitted to 
prevent damp, and this should be increased as the young seedlings 
gain a little strength. Wheneverthe plant fficiently large to bear 
handling without injury, they should be potted out into small-sized 
pots, always putting several plants in the same pot, particularly near 
the edge of it, as some of the seedlings may be expected to damp off 
in the first potting. The soil best suited for them is the same as for 
cuttings, namely, one-half peat and one-half sand; they should then 
be treated in the same way as is recommended for the cuttings when 
first potted out. I now come to the second part of the subject. 
II, The Soil best suited for their Growth. 
The soil which I have found Cape heaths thrive best in is a black 
peat soil taken from a dry heath, or common, which is never Over- 
flowed with water. In general, it should not be taken off more res 
five or six inches deep. Fhis, however, must partly depend on the su 
soil; for, in some cases, I have seen, at twelve or fourteen inches deeP, 
the soil quite as good as at the surface. Whatever heath or ot ai 
vegetable production is on the surface should be taken along “9 
the peat earth to the compost ground, and there laid up into a heap» 
