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NOTICES ON THE CULTURE OF NEW AND RARE PLANTS j 
IN THE PRINCIPAL NURSERIES IN THE VICINITY OF LONDON. | 
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On the 'propagation of hybrid and other Azaleas. i 
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The numerous splendid greenhouse species and varieties of Azalea are, perhaps, 
of all other greenhouse plants the most ornamental, and none more amply remune- 
rate the cultivator for any care and attention that may be bestowed upon them ; J 
while the early period of the season at which they flower, the size and brilliancy 1 
of the colours of their flowers, and the very abundant manner in which they are 
produced, all contribute to impress them as objects of real and permanent interest 
and value. In cultivating the more valuable sorts, and those of recent introduction, 
some persons experience considerable difiiculty ; and notwithstanding that every 
precaution is taken to defend them from injury, it is found that many of them 
perish during the winter season, and others, though they are preserved alive, are 
maintained in such a sickly condition that they never flower in perfection. It is 
perfectly natural to suppose that for these injurious effects there must be an 
exciting cause, and this cause having been duly sought for, has been found to be 
the following. The more delicate and valuable sorts are all furnished with such 
small and weak roots, that, in the winter season, the slightest excess of moisture 
causes them to rot, and as this process proceeds, the plants become unhealthy, and 
their destruction is almost inevitable ; for it is impossible for any plant to subsist 
after its roots — which are the receptacles and reservoirs of its nourishment — have 
decayed. To the method of propagation which is pursued by most cultivators, 
this ill success is entirely attributable ; for, as the mode of multiplying these plants 
by cuttings is so very simple, and is attended with such little difficulty, it is very 
generally adopted, and the consequence is, that the plants thus produced are never 
able to form roots of their own sufficiently strong for enduring any superabundance 
of moisture that may accumulate in the pots, and the retention of which is some- 
times almost unavoidable in the cold and damp weather which is so prevalent in 
the winter months. To remedy this evil, Messrs. Knight, Henderson, and other 
eminent cultivators, propagate the more delicate varieties by grafting or inarching 
the young shoots on stocks of A. indica phwnicea ; and the success w^hich attends 
the performance of this operation must be obvious to every person who has 
witnessed the splendid specimens in the collection of either of the above gentlemen, 
and the superb manner in which they flower. We last month had the pleasure of 
recording, that we saw in the collection of Messrs. Henderson two of the most 
magnificent specimens of a beautiful variety of this genus which we ever previously 
witnessed ; and we attribute their extraordinary beauty in a great measure to the 
fact of their having been grafted on stocks of the variety before named. We 
might also direct attention to the many beautiful specimens in the collection of 
