360 
THE GREEN-HOUSE. [chap. xi. 
heaths cannot penetrate a stiff loamy soil* 
and manure would be too gross for their 
spongioles to take up. The collar of the 
plant should always be above the soil, as it 
is very easily rotted by moisture. Heaths 
require good drainage, and frequent water¬ 
ings ; and though the water should never 
be allowed to stand in the saucer, the roots 
should also never be allowed to become quite 
dry, as when once withered, they are not 
easily recovered. Heaths also require abun¬ 
dance of free air, and no plants are more 
injured by being kept in rooms. They 
should not be shifted oftener than once in 
three or four years. They are propagated by 
cuttings taken from the tips of the shoots, 
and then struck in pure white sand. The 
pots containing the cuttings should be plunged 
up to the rim in a hot-bed, and each should 
be covered with a bell glass. Heaths are 
easily killed by frost, which acts upon them 
by splitting, or rather shivering their stems. 
Verbenas .—No family of plants better re¬ 
wards the care of the cultivator, and none 
can be more beautiful than the Verbenas. 
The old scarlet Verbena melindres, or, as it 
