364- Culture of the Cape Heaths. 



later, is a favom*able time for sowing them ; they should not 

 be sown thick, for, if the seeds are good, they are weakened 

 by being close, and liable to injury by thinning them out in the 

 seed-pots. Seeds of Ericae I have known to vegetate well, 

 after being twelve years in this country. The soil for the 

 seeds should be rather sandy than boggy, and the pots well 

 drained, to allow a free passage for the superabundance of 

 water given during the winter months ; though, until the seeds 

 shall have vegetated, I do not consider any quantity of water 

 detrimental. From various causes all the species do not vege- 

 tate at the same time; those which first come up should be 

 separated from the rest and exposed to the air, and receive 

 less water than those not yet up. The drier the plants are 

 kept through the winter there is the less chance of their 

 damping off, and they will be hardier and in a fitter state for 

 potting early the following spring. 



Soil for first potting off, - sandy peat, f , sandy loam, a. 



First shifting » - sandy peat, a, sandy loam, \. 



Second ditto, - - sandy peat, i, sandy loam, f . 



Third, and if possible final shifting, sandy loam only. 



To show the propriety of such treatment I have selected a 

 few specific names from the above-mentioned list, (conceiving 

 that they are more generally known,) and stated the nature of 

 the soils and situations in which they are found in their native 

 wilds, and trust that this will assist the intelligent cultivator to 

 arrive at a perfection in their growth, and in prolonging their 

 existence, hitherto rarely attained, but so much desired by 

 most cultivators, who at present turn from Ericas in despair, 

 and content themselves by fostering less beautiful plants. 



Ericae do not like frequent shifting, nor do they long thrive 

 in soil that is finely sifted ; stones, or even broken fragments 

 of garden pots, of one fourth to one half inch in diameter, 

 seem beneficial to the health of Ericae, while finely sifted soil 

 consolidates into an unwholesome and stagnate mass, prevent- 

 ing the free passage of superfluous water. 



' <• 1 "?l 8BOldes » ( In running waters and springy grounds, a black 



colorans, $ vegetable soil. 



2. Albens, ") 



ampullacea, | 



retorta, 1 Shattered sand-stone rocks, little or no soil, the 



ardens, f roots embracing the stones in the crevices. 



fastigiata, J 



fascicularis, J 



5. Caffra, -» 



eriocephala, (Similar situations as No. 2. but thrive more freely 



gelida, f in the moist clefts, 3000 feet above the sea. 



Halicacaba, -* 



