HEATH-HOUSE. 



709 



removal of the sashes in good weather, replacing 

 them during cold winds and soaking rains, 

 neither of which heaths will long bear with 

 impunity. In the south of England the objec- 

 tions to their removal to the open air are not of 

 the same force as in Scotland ; but there, again, 

 they are apt to suffer from excessive sun-heat 

 at their roots — the pots attracting heat on their 

 outer surface, while their inner surface is 

 rapidly absorbing the moisture from the balls, 

 and destroying the tender roots. Plunging the 

 pots to counteract this, is apt to cause stagna- 

 tion at the roots and an interruption to free 

 drainage. Heaths kept in the house during 

 summer should not be crowded; each plant 

 should stand clear of the next. Abundance of 

 water should be given at their roots, and repeated 

 syringing should be applied to the foliage, and 

 even during very hot dry weather to the extent 

 of twice a-day, early in the morning, and occa- 

 sionally again towards evening. A lack of 

 humidity will beget mildew, which is the prin- 

 cipal disease this tribe is liable to. Some advo- 

 cate shading during the brightest sunshine, and 

 such we at one time practised ourselves in Eng- 

 land, but have never done so in Scotland. 

 When heaths, from want of sufficient accommo- 

 dation, are turned out for a few months during 

 summer, a well- sheltered but not shaded situa- 

 tion should be selected for them, and the floor 

 upon which they are placed should be dry and 

 impervious to worms: the end of May or begin- 

 ning of June is a proper time — earlier, of course, 

 in the south. A somewhat elevated platform, 

 either of boarding, or with the sides walled up 

 with brick or stone to the height of a foot or 

 so, having the space within covered with coal- 

 ashes, upon which to set the pots, will be a good 

 provision against root-damp and worms. To 

 protect them against being blown over by wind, 

 lines of cord or wire could be extended from 

 end to end, and to these the plants should be 

 tied. To prevent too much heat at the roots, 

 and to lessen evaporation, the spaces between 

 the pots should be filled in with sphagnum or 

 other mosses, or the pots themselves may be 

 enveloped in the same material. The middle of 

 September is a proper time to remove the plants 

 again to the house, so that their summer-made 

 wood and buds may be matured before winter. 

 The pots should be carefully washed, and the 

 plants moderately thinned out, removing weak 

 and too crowded shoots ; and when carefully 

 arranged by tying in sucli branches as require 

 it, they are then fit for being placed in their 

 winter abode. The more delicate sorts should 

 be taken in first, the others following according 

 to their various degrees of hardiness. 



The treatment we have given above for heaths 

 is applicable to the other genera we have named 

 at the commencement of this article — with this 

 exception, they do not all submit to the same 

 degree of cold; nevertheless, one and all of them 

 will not suffer should the internal temperature 

 fall to 2° or 3° of frost. All of them may be 

 propagated by cuttings or seed, as recommended 

 for heaths. Some, however, succeed better by 

 seeds : of these we may name Astelma and 

 Helichrysum, which seed freely in this country ; 



vol. n. 



and seeds of them are often imported from the 

 Cape of Good Hope. Epacris, Andersonia, 

 Sprengelia, and Lysinema, strike most readily 

 when the cuttings of the ripened wood are 

 taken off in autumn, planted in sand, and allowed 

 to stand in a cool pit till spring, during which 

 time they form callosities, and, if placed in a 

 gentle bottom-heat in spring, root freely. 



In an extensive genus like that of Erica there 

 are many species, of course, unworthy of culti- 

 vation, unless in a botanical collection. For 

 private growers and amateurs, in particular, the 

 following selection may be considered very com- 

 plete, as it embraces eighty species, which, with 

 the many even more beautiful hybrids originated 

 from them and others, but whose names we omit 

 with a few exceptions, will form a selection 

 sufficient for the largest establishment in the 

 kingdom. The cultivator can scarcely err in 

 possessing himself of the different varieties origi- 

 nated by such men as Mr Turnbull of Bothwell 

 Castle, who has, we believe, raised more really 

 excellent varieties than any other man of his 

 day. His crossing is in the right direction; for 

 while most others cross from the rare and choice 

 kinds, creating, no doubt, many novelties, yet 

 these are wanting in constitutional strength, are 

 bad growers, and of short duration. He, on the 

 other hand, breeds with a view to gain strength 

 of constitution as well as beauty of flower, and 

 in this he has admirably succeeded. Many fine 

 varieties have originated with the Messrs Rol- 

 linsons of Tooting, Fairbairns of Clapham, and 

 others, amongst nurserymen ; and the truly 

 splendid E. regalis, E. laqueata lutea, E. 

 nobilis, E. grandis, &c, raised by Mr Storey, 

 show what even a keen amateur can do. Then 

 there are the many varieties of E. pinea, vestita, 

 ventricosa, tricolor, &c, all of which are highly 

 deserving the attention of the heath-cultivator. 



Sect. 1. Floivers long and cylindrical. — ■ 

 Plukenetii, Petiverii, Ewerana, Rollinsonii, fasci- 

 cularis, verticillata, Sebana, cruenta, perspicua, 

 splendens, mammosa, carinata, Sparmanni, 

 Archeriana,Hibbertiana, Bedfordiana, Linnseana, 

 onosmseflora, aurea, Bowieana, Massoni, gemmi- 

 fera, exsurgens, vestita, rosea, Niveniana, trans- 

 parens. 



Sect. 2. Flowers much inflated. — Cerinthoides, 

 princeps, tricolor, acuminata, metulseflora, blan- 

 da, Monsoniana, Sprengelii, Templeana, tumida. 



Sect. 3. Flowers narrowed upwards, with a 

 spreading border. — Ventricosa, prsegnans, Law- 

 soni, Irbyana, jasminiflora, ampullacea, Bandoni- 

 ana, Shannoniana, Russelliana, retorta, prsestans, 

 hyacinthoides, Aitoniana, muscaria, daphnoides, 

 Humeana, aristata, tricolor, primuioides, mun- 

 dula, Coventryana, aristella, mirabilis, juliana. 



Sect. 4. Flowers enclosed in the inflated calyx. — 

 Elegans, baccans, Thunbergia, glauca (supposed 

 to be now lost in Britain), rubella. 



Sect. 5. Flowers small, globular. — Ardens, 

 physoides, incarnata, Savileana, aggregata, suave- 

 olens, Persoluta, grandinosa, ramentacea, cam- 

 panulata, mutabilis, decora. 



Sect. 6. Flowers small, not globose. — Reflexa, 

 propendens, echiiflora, Bergiana. 



Sect. 7. Doubtful to what section they belong. — 

 Hartnelli, imperialis, &c. 



4 x 



