196 
ERICA NEILLII. 
of Heaths. There is one thing which we meet with, however, relative to their 
culture, that is commonly though most erroneously practised, and this is the 
employment of hard water, or that containing lime, for their sustenance. Wherever 
this is done, a quantity of the leaves invariably turn yellow and fall off : and no 
species can be long kept in health under such treatment. Those who wish to 
cultivate the genus, must supply their plants with soft pond or rain water, or they 
need never look for success. 
The plant now figured is one of those which speedily indicate the existence of 
anything wrong in the above particular. Watered with hard water, its leaves 
turn sickly and yellow, as a preliminary to falling. But if well supplied with 
rain-water, it grows as vigorously and healthily as E. LinnceoideSy which is known 
to be one of the most verdant of the tribe. All else that is requisite is an airy 
position in the greenhouse, careful potting, and shade from the fiercer of the sun's 
rays during the months of middle summer. 
