244 
THE HARDY AZALEA. 
and may be separated ; still it is not so good 
a method as layering, because, Avliatever be 
the length of the branch, it can be pegged 
down within a few inches of the top, and thus 
the most handsome dwarf heads will be formed, 
and the rooted part be close up to them. 
RAISING THE AZALEA FROM SEED. 
Select seed from the largest flowering kinds 
only, for the others are not worth the trouble. 
Fill wide-mouthed pots with the proper soil, 
shake it down solid by striking the bottom of 
the pots on the table or potting-bench ; level 
the surface, and on this sprinkle the seed 
thinly over, and sift through a fine sieve 
enough of the soil to just cover the seed well, 
and no more. Let this be done in March, 
and place the pots in the greenhouse, or in a 
garden frame which can be covered com- 
pletely against frost ; because, in a A'ery young 
state, these seedlings, or even the seed itself, 
after it has begun to swell, will be damaged 
by even a slight frost. The soil must not be 
permitted at any time to get quite dry, be- 
cause the seed is very small, and when once 
it begins to swell, and to dry after it, the vital 
spark will have been ' extinguished. Water 
by means of the fruit f?5a-inge, or a wet brush, 
or, for want of anything better, let the pot 
stand in water a few minutes, so as to moisten 
the main body; but if the soil is properly- 
damp when the seed is sown, and an occa- 
sional moisture be given in drops so fine as 
not to disturb the dust-like seeds, they will in 
due course come up, when they must be pro- 
tected from the sun by a piece of white paper, 
or a thin cloth, as the direct rays would burn 
the plants up. They must be occasionally 
moistened, and be suffered to grow until they 
are large enough to handle with care, Avhen 
fresh pots may be prepared, and the young 
plants be pricked out in them half an inch, or 
at most, an inch apart. They may be replaced 
in the frame, and, except being protected from 
the mid-day sun, they will require but little 
attention until they have made that season's 
growth, and dropped their leaves. While in 
that state of rest, they may be shifted to seed- 
pans, or flat boxes, at two inches distance 
from each other; or, which will be better still, 
cover an old melon or cucumber bed with 
six inches of peat earth and loam, such as the 
bed for Azaleas is composed of, and the sur- 
face will be thus raised half way up the wood 
frame ; when this has been properly levelled, 
the little plants may be planted out three 
inches apart all over the surface; and the 
advantage of this will be, that tlmy can lie 
effectuall}' covered against frost all through 
the winter, and when they commence their 
spring growth, which will be earlier than 
those out of doors altogether ; and they can | 
also be shaded, if necessary, from the mid-day 
sun when the season advances. Here they 
may have their second season's growth, and 
towards the autumn the glass may be taken 
off, and they may have all the weather, heat, 
wet, and whatever little cold there may be. 
The plants will drop their leaves ; and noAV, 
any time before Christmas, they may be re- 
moved from this bed with all the earth about 
their roots that they can be taken up with, 
and planted out in one of the regular beds, in , 
the open air, six inches apart all over ; or, if 
fui'ther removal is to be avoided, they may be 
placed nine inches or a foot apart at once. 
But these plants are none the worse for an 
annual or biennial remove, and therefore we 
should plant them only six inches apart all 
over the bed. 
It has been the common practice among 
even large growers to let seedlings remain in 
a crowded state until they exhibited their 
bloom, because, unless they were very good, 
they would not be Avorth naming or propa- 
gating ; but as all seedlings would be saleable 
as common plants when grown handsome, 
they should remain six inches apart only one 
year, or season ; they may even then be only 
thinned instead of removed, and so only so 
many taken away as would leave them a foot 
apart, while those removed might be planted 
a foot apart in other beds. Here they may 
grow till they bloom, Avhen those which are 
superior should be carefully marked with 
labels and descriptions of their qualities, while 
those which present nothing particularly strik- 
ing may be given away, or sold, as common 
things for common planting; or if there be 
any distant borders or plantations where they 
can be planted out to ornament the place for 
a season or two, and take their chance, be it 
so. At all events, remove them from the 
beds provided for Azaleas, and with these, 
which may be called Avorthless ones, strike 
out every bit of peat mould hanging about 
their roots, for they would otherwise greatly 
lessen the quantity by its clinging about them. 
The selected ones may now be submitted to 
the process of layering, and be propagated for 
the purpnse of perpetuating the new varieties 
so distinguished. 
GENERAL REMARKS ON THE FUTURE MANAGE- 
MENT. 
The Azalea is very apt to grow into an 
ugly form if not restrained, because a branch 
will every now and then take the lead so com- 
pletely as to stagnate the growth of the rest 
of the plant. Hence we find among planta- 
tions at all neglected, the most straggling and 
uncouth forms imaginable ; naked stems at 
the bottom ; no bloom, except at the ends of 
long branches; plants grown all on one side. 
