THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
217 
The rhododendron represents a group of hardy shrubs of 
the same botanical family, and immediate relatives of the 
erica, all of which require a soil containing the least possible 
proportion of the carbonates or salts of lime, and the greatest 
possible quantity of humus and siliceous grit. The best soil for 
the whole family is a peat containing much sand and much vege¬ 
table fibre ; but we are not restricted to peat, and it is by no 
means adifficult matter to prepare soil for the shrubs of this class, 
in districts where peat is not to be found. It must be under¬ 
stood that what are called “ American plants,” have extremely 
fine hair-like roots, which are quite incapable of penetrating 
a harsh soil such as clay or heavy loam. Therefore in a harsh 
soil they die almost as surely as if planted in chalk or gypsum, 
which are poisons to them; but in mixtures of sand, leaf- 
mould, and fine loam they will thrive, and almost any clean 
pulverized product of vegetable decay may be added to a 
sandy staple to prepare it for them. Kay, even stable manure, 
thoroughly rotted to powder, may be employed as one ingre¬ 
dient in a mixture, though it is regarded as equally injurious 
with lime and chalk, which it certainly is not if old and pow¬ 
dery, and employed in proportion not more than a sixth of the 
whole bulk. A simple and cheap method of preparing a 
substitute for peat may be resorted to in cases where old 
upland pastures or common lands are being broken up. The 
workmen should be required to take off, not the top spit, nor 
even the ordinary thickness of a turf, but a skin consisting 
almost wholly of the grass and its roots, the texture of which 
should resemble thick felt, or carpeting. The skinning process 
is accomplished by means of the broad end of the pick, by a 
chipping process, with great rapidity after a little practice. 
If this skin is laid in small heaps in the full sun, the grass 
withers instantly, and the stuff may be used at once. We have, 
indeed, used it as fast as it was removed, having it chopped 
into pieces of the size of one’s hand, and mixed with one- 
third of its bulk of sharp sand or sandy gravel, and have at 
once planted rhododendrons in the mixture, and had the 
satisfaction of seeing them years afterwards grown to lusty 
giants, and renowned in the district for their glorious appear¬ 
ance when in flower. In any case, whether the soil on the 
spot will be sufficient, or a mixture is prepared or peat pur¬ 
chased, a depth of not less than two feet must be provided, and 
it will be better practice to make the beds four feet deep, not 
