160 
THE AZALEA. 
heat," (a sanded surface would be best,) " and kept shaded from the sun, but not 
covered down with either hand or beil glass. In this situation, with due attention 
to watering, the cuttings may probably protrude roots in a month." This condition 
will be indicated by the growth, for we have known an entire pot of shoots to 
remain green during six months without the production of a single fibre. 
When rooted and growing, they are to be removed to the greenhouse or cold 
frame till the young plants be hardened, and established before being potted off, 
which they may be in ten days or a fortnight. Each plant must be carefully 
raised with a flat stick inserted under it, deeply enough to raise the mass which 
its fibres enter ; this is readily done by holding the plant between the finger and 
thumb of the left hand, while the right levers it out of the sand ; it is then to be 
transferred to a small thumb-pot, first drained with little crocks, and then filled 
with the best heath-soil, blended with one-third of white siliceous sand, moulding 
a hole in the soil large enough to receive the roots ; the earth is then to be 
cautiously pressed round each stem in the form of a low cone, to throw off water 
from the collar. 
" When potted, the plants should be placed in a cool close frame, or under a 
hand-glass, protected from the sun-rays, until they fairly establish themselves. 
They then are to be deposited on a shelf near the glass in the greenhouse, where 
they must be duly attended with respect to water and air. Some may require 
shifting during the winter, or before, {for they grow during the whole season,} and 
the same soil is to be used with rather less sand ; but they demand ' a very slight 
shift,' that is, from the eighth to one-half of an inch round the old ball." 
To complete our directions, and if possible enable the admirers of this beautiful 
family to succeed in raising and preserving a stock of healthy plants, we add the 
following concise hints, taken from the Encyclopaedia of Plants. 
" Azalea indica is the most delicate, but flowers well in a moist heat in rough 
peat well drained. According to Sweet, ' it thrives best in a sandy peat, and the 
pots to be well drained with small pieces of potsherd ; it should be set in an airy 
part of the greenhouse during winter, and great care must be taken not to over- 
water it : in summer it should be exposed in the open air, but not in a very sunny 
position. Young cuttings, if taken off close to the plant, and placed in pots 
of sand, will root readily if plunged in peat under a bell-glass.' 
" T. Blake keeps his plants c in peat and leaf-mould, always in the greenhouse, 
till they are in a flowering state ; and then he removes them to the hothouse, the 
sudden heat causing the blossoms to open better.' {Hort. Tran. iv. 133.) J. Nairn 
uses the most fibrous part of peat-earth and sand ; he places them in considerable 
heat, and always in the shade ; and when the plants exhibit blossoms in March, he 
then raises the temperature from 50° to 60°." 
The general evidence is against the use of loam in any proportion ; and we 
must join in repudiating it, because of the great irregularity of its texture. No 
one appreciates loam, from the description that is given of it ; hence, if employed 
