72 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 
stock on which to graft the Indian Azaleas is practised by 
Messrs. Seidel, the largest growers of Azaleas in Germany, 
their output annually in 6-inch pots being over 100,000, 
every one of which is grafted on this Rhododendron. Its 
fitness as a stock was proved by them before 1894. In that 
year they exhibited at Ghent a collection of their Azaleas all 
worked on this Rhododendron, and although they received 
a certificate of merit for an improved method of growing 
Indian Azaleas, Belgian growers were sceptical, and indeed 
to this day they will not admit that a Rhododendron can be 
as suitable for Azaleas as the stocks they themselves use. 
There can be no doubt, however, that the Dresden Azaleas 
are of first-class quality, and whatever there is of reason in 
the Belgians’ objection to the Rhododendron, it certainly 
answers perfectly at Dresden. Cunningham’s White is 
easily raised from cuttings, and quickly grows into smooth, 
clean stocks. The cuttings are placed in warm cases in 
February and March, where they root in about six weeks. 
They are then potted singly in small pots, and grown on till 
the following spring, when they are grafted. Whip grafting 
is preferred, and after the grafts have taken the treatment 
the plants receive is the same as that given by the Belgian 
growers. 
DISEASES AND PESTS 
Rhododendrons are remarkably exempt from fungal 
and insect troubles. This may be due to their toxic pro- 
perties, which certainly protect them from the attacks 
of larger animals. Their leaves become infested with 
thrips and red spider, when the conditions with respect 
to moisture and temperature are wrong, and it is even 
possible for scale insects to attack them when they are 
