64 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 



to the geographer familiar with the ancient books. But 

 there is a way out of every difficulty. Whoever desires a 

 quick guide to the mysterious Pontus may refer in any 

 modern work to Anatolia. 



The Pontic rhododendron will grow in any peaty, 

 sandy, or light loamy soil. It does not thrive in clay or 

 sticky loam, and it will sooner or later perish in a soil 

 containing any notable proportion of calcareous salts. 

 Therefore on limestone and chalk a soil must be pre- 

 pared for it. In carving a garden out of a wilderness, 

 the old grass turf, sliced off about an inch thick, and 

 chopped over with sharp sand, will make a capital compost 

 for rhododendrons. But where any difficulty arises, the 

 way out o£ it is tc cart in good turfy peat (not bog) soil. 



