RHODODENDRON DALHOUSI/E 
41 
allied R. Nuttallii^ and differs little from 
DalhousicE save in its slightly larger 
leaves. Since the introduction of R. 
Dalhousice several other kinds with the 
same peculiar habits of growth have been 
brought into cultivation, amongst them 
R. ciliicalyx^ R. Rdgeworthii^ R. for- 
mosuniy R. Lindleyi^ R. Nuttallii^ and 
R. veitchianum^ all of which grow under 
similar conditions and require the same 
culture. 
Culture. — The conditions best suit- 
ed to indoor Rhododendrons are a large 
airy structure, allowing free ventilation 
during summer, and with a row or two 
of pipes round the house to keep out the 
worst of the frosts. In most parts of the 
country fire-heat is necessary during 
midwinter, but only enough to keep 
out sharp frost. Many kinds indeed will 
stand 10 or more degrees of cold with- 
out harm, but others, and especially the 
group to which our plant belongs, are 
ruined with more than 5 to 7 degrees. 
Fire-heat therefore becomes necessary 
when the thermometer shows something 
less than 5 degrees of frost inside the 
house. Where they can be planted out 
under glass, many of the stronger kinds 
reach a large size. The border should be 
about 2\ feet deep, and at least a foot of 
this should be of good rough drainage, 
and the rest made up of a mixture of two 
parts fibrous peat to one of sand. This 
is not always necessary, for in some parts 
of the country many kinds will do well 
with the natural soil, but for kinds such 
as R.Dalhousice^wo^Mm^g but peat should 
be used. All Rhododendrons are sur- 
face-rooting, and even in large plants the 
roots seldom reach more than i foot or 
15 inches in depth. For this reason, 
when planting, never cover the surface 
of the ball with more than half an inch of 
new soil . A free access of air to the roots 
is a first essential to success with Rhodo- 
dendrons. The summer temperature of 
the house should be kept as low as pos- 
sible, for the leaves of many kinds are 
apt to become scalded if the house gets 
too warm. For this reason roller blinds 
should be fitted outside and let down 
in hot weather and drawn up as soon as 
the sun has left that part of the house. 
Copious waterings, overhead and at the 
I root, are needed during the spring and 
summer, with less during the autumn 
and winter months, or on any sign of 
ill-health. If in pots, the plants may be 
removed after finishing growth, to a 
shady place out of doors, to harden dur- 
ing the summer and autumn. An un- 
glazed house with roller blinds is useful 
for this purpose, and maybe fitted up so 
as to be useful for many other purposes. 
CHAS. P. RAFFILL. 
Kew. 
Whispering Pines. — In a grove of Scotch 
Firs there is music on almost every day of the 
year. Through the open spaces between their 
ruddy pillars deep organ tones reverberate in 
the tempest and wild notes are struck at each 
fresh onslaught of the gale. There are whisper- 
ings from lonely northern forests, trodden only 
by the light footfall of the deer, shrill echoes 
of the eagle's scream and the plover's melan- 
choly wailing, answering each other in the 
dense solitudes of the blue-green crowns far 
overhead, whenever the threatenings of storm 
are borne upon the wings of the wind. And 
in calm and sunny weather the songs of birds 
and murmurs of insect life and all the peace- 
ful sounds of Nature, make richer harmonies 
when heard among the Pines. Harmonies 
that pass into the warp and woof of remem- 
brance and last as long as life itself. 
