RHODODENDRONS 349 



the water will run through the new soil and leave the roots dry. The 

 Indian Azaleas require almost the same treatment as soft-wooded Heaths, 

 except that they like more moisture and copious syringings over head 

 during the summer. 



For the purpose of raising hybrids and new varieties, 

 Propagation. . , ^ . 1 1 m 1 n 1 



seed must, of course, be used ; and it should be sown on 

 pans of sandy peat, covered with a very hnely -sifted layer of a more 

 sandy character. After pressing down and watering this, the seed may 

 be sown in March, and lightly covered with a sprinkling of sand and 

 a few sprays of damp moss. Place the pans in a slightly warm but 

 shady place and keep close. When the seedlings appear remove the moss 

 at once, and a little later prick out the young plants in other pans of 

 similar soil and keep close for a few days. Then gradually admit air 

 and harden off. For most purposes, cuttings, grafting, and layering are 

 the more general methods of propagating Rhododendrons and Azaleas. 

 The young shoots or tips of branches, with the wood half ripened, are 

 selected and inserted in pans of sandy peat, or rather in a layer of silver 

 sand with their bases just touching the sandy peat below. They must 

 be kept close and shaded in gentle heat. The roots appear very slowly, 

 but will do so more surely if the cuttings are kept cool until a callus 

 forms and then subjected to slight heat. Where the branches are so 

 near the soil as to lend themselves to layering, this plan of propagation 

 may be adopted, but it is slow, for the rooted branch must not be 

 separated for two years. Grafting is also adopted where it is desired to 

 grow standards, or to give greater vigour to naturally tender kinds. 

 Rh. pontic iim and Azalea flavum are usually chosen as stocks. The 

 Indian Az. leas are grafted upon the common white variety, known as 

 A. indicii 'dha. The plants so operated upon must be kept close in 

 frames until there is evidence of the union being complete. With the 

 hardy outdoor varieties grafting is best done in summer : but winter is 

 the season for performing this operation with greenhouse varieties, as 

 the wood is then firmer. 



Many of the h^vAj Rhododendrons claim Eh. poutkain as one of 

 their parents. The Ghent Azaleas of tlie nurseryman aiv hybrids and 

 varieties of the hardy American species (Swamp Honeysuckles), whilst 

 the Indian or Chinese Azaleas of the same catalogues are the varied 

 progeny of Rh. {Az.) ImUca and its varieties. 

 Description of Rhododendron {Az<dm) indka, the natural form. 



Plate 166. Bel)w is a double flower, and abo^e (Fig. I) a section 

 through the flower. 



III.— 7 



