32 PLANTS FOE WINDOW GARDENING. 



and free from mould or dirt; cleanliness is a point too much 



neglected. 



In some .sections of cm com try. much ditnculty is expe- 

 rienced in growing heaths ; the water :cnt lining salts in 

 solution which are fatal to the plant, and we know nursery- 

 men who have altogether abandoned their culture. This 

 seems the case in limestone countries, and we have noticed 

 that heaths, of the tender varieties, when watered with 

 " hard " water, grew sickly and soon died. The best plan 

 is to use only rain water, and pursuing this course no diffi- 

 culty will be experienced. It is a curious fact, that in its 

 native countries, the heath is*never found in a soil of which 

 the substratum is Lime :: :hadk. In Emcdaud. heaths are 



always grown apart from other plants; with us they occupy 



nothing short of frost is too cold for them, and some 

 varieties will hear several degrees of frost without injury. 

 In the wild state, they are distributed over a vast range of 

 country, which accounts for the different temperatures the 

 varieties require: the derree cf c:id adapted tc each, must 



termed hard-"-". : ded or soft-wooded: 



a short growth eacfy season, for example, E. CavendUhii ; 



