I 
ON THE CULTURE OF INDIAN AZALEAS. 
to produce capillary attoaction. It is sufficient, at pi-esent, to indicate distinctly the existence of this 
peculiar force : a more detailed account of the mode of action in particular cases will be better under- 
stood, after we have studied the internal constmction of the parts in which it operates. 
ON THE CULTUEE OF INDIAN AZALEAS. 
By Mr. "W. P. LEICH, Gaedener to S. Eucker, Esq., Junior. 
Nat. Order, Eeicaceje. 
(R much has already been written on the cultivation of Azaleas, that it may be supposed little remains 
1^ to be said on the subject. I am con"\inced, however, that there is plenty of room for improvement 
in the culture of these deUghtfid plants ; and there is no more beautiful object for decorating the con- 
servatory, in the spring months, than the Azalea, which, -with good management, may be made to 
flower fi-om January to the end of July. 
The follo^ving■ mode of culture will, I trust, be acceptable to all who are about to commence the cul- 
ture of the Azalea : — First, procm'e young plants, of the best varieties, which have been rooting fi'eely, 
in sisty or forty-eight size pots. "When they require shifting, pot them out in a compost prepared as 
follows, namely, of peat loam, and leaf moidd. I take the proportion of three barrow-loads of peat to 
one of loam, and half a barrow-full of leaf mould, with about a peck of silver sand ; let the whole be 
well knocked to pieces and run tlu'ough a sieve with an inch and a-half mesh, and it is then ready 
for use. I should here mention, that I use the soil fresh fi-om the common, digging it about two or 
tliree inches deep, and pulling out the grass and weeds. 
In shifting fi-om one pot to another, always keep the coUar of the plant half an inch or thereabouts 
above the surrounding soil, that no water may lodge there, using plenty of drainage, especially for 
large plants, as this is the most important thing to be attended to. For those pots known as number 
eights or sixes, I use fi-om two to three inches of di-ainage, being always careful to have them quite clean. 
I never reduce the old ball of earth otherwise than by rubbing off some of the surface soil, and dis- 
engaging the outer fibres a Kttle ; neither do I shake out all the crocks or di-ainage from the bottom 
of the plant, wliich could only be done by destroying the roots. After placing the di-ainage in the 
fi-esh pot, I place a layer of the coarse fibry soil that remains fi-om the sifting of the compost over the 
crocks, — fill the pot to the requii-ed height, and placing- the ball of the plant as near- the centre of the 
pot as possible, fill the pot with the compost, — pressing it with the hand as I proceed. Alter fiUing to 
-within two inches of the top, for large plants, and an inch for small ones, I give the plant sufficient 
water, in a tepid state, to settle the soil. I then place them in a house or pit -with a gentle warmth, 
say fi-om fifty to sixty degrees of heat, syringing them well both morning and evening, gi-^ang plenty 
of air, if the weather is favourable, early in the morning, and shutting up early in the afternoon. In 
this pit they may remain until the beginning or middle of August, when they should be hardened off 
gradually, so as to get the wood thoroughly ripened before winter. In this state they may be safely 
kept in a much lower temperature until February, when they should be looked over, shifting- those 
which reqiui-e it, and regulating the shoots, where requisite, by stopping the stronger ones, and train- 
ing them into the required form. I introduce them again into heat, and pm-sue the same course of 
treatment in the second year. In the thii-d or fom-th season they -will have made, if properly attended 
to, strong bushy plants, and -will not require shifting so firequently. I have at the present time plants 
of the most choice varieties, four to five feet by two and a-half, covered with flower buds, that were 
only five or six inches high fom- years ago. The folio-wing, I find, -wiU bear almost any amount of 
heat, and bloom well. There are some others that -will not bear the least excitement in the way of 
forcing, but which start into a new growth, and hide the flower. Such I find to be the case with 
Peri-yana, Exquisita, Beauty of Reigate, &c. 
The following varieties are found suitable for forcing : — 
*Indica Lateritia. *Indica Mm-rayana. Indica Vivicans. 
* „ Gladstanesii. * „ Coronata (Smith). „ Lateritia formosa(Ivery). 
* „ Variegata. „ Carminata (Pawley). „ ApoUo. 
„ Rosea punctata (Knight). * „ Phoenicea alba (Smith). „ "V^Tiite (Fielder). 
,, Minerva. ,, Optima. „ Speciosissima. 
„ Proestantissima. „ Fidgens (Smith). Sinensis. 
* „ Broughtomi (Knight). „ Duke of Devonshii-e (Pince). 
The plants marked thus (*), succeed best when grafted fi-om six inches to a foot high ; the others, 
beinn- more robust growers, do weU on their own roots. 
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