1871. ] 
THE CULTIVATION OF ERICAS. 
107 
it as an acquisition, not only on account of its distinctness of character, but also as 
an object of ornament. 
It is an annual, growing about a foot high, furnished with lanceolate-oblong, 
smooth, runcinately pinnatifid leaves about 2 in. long, and forming erect scapes, 
supporting long, dense, cylindrical spikes of flowers, these spikes being often 
interrupted or branched, and being made up of crowded spikelets of small but 
pretty rose-coloured monopetalous flowers. Messrs. Haage and Schmidt, of 
Erfurt, to whom we are indebted for our figure, have been the medium through 
which the reintroduction of this pretty plant has taken place.—T. M. 
THE CULTIVATION OF ERICAS. 
HIS is a subject that deserves to be better understood than it is by general 
gardeners, for there are so many species and varieties of the charming 
family of Heaths, that some one or other of them may be had in bloom 
from the beginning till the end of the year. 
One of the most important operations in their cultivation is potting. The 
soil should be good fibry peat, broken into small pieces, and intermixed with a 
liberal quantity of sharp silver-sand. One-fourth of.the depth of the pot should 
be filled with drainage, some small rough pieces of peat being placed over the 
crocks. The plants should be so placed in potting that the balls of the plants 
may be sufficiently below the rim of the pot to admit that watering may be 
thoroughly done. As the new soil is placed in the pot, it should be very firmly 
rammed down with a piece of stout lath, until it is filled to the level of the whole 
ball. If the soil when used is in a proper state as to moisture, there is little 
fear of making it too firm. Heaths that are not firmly potted are certain to 
become a prey to mildew, and thousands die from this cause alone. 
The next point that requires particular attention is watering. Water should 
be given before the soil gets too dry, as the fine hair-like roots are destroyed if 
they are allowed to become dried up. Whenever water is administered a 
thorough soaking should be given, so as to cause it to pass freely through the 
whole mass of earth. During the growing season, if any of the young shoots 
should appear to be taking too much of a lead, so as to endanger the symmetry 
of the plant, they should be regulated by pinching out their tops. The plants 
should at all times be thoroughly exposed to, the influence of the sun’s rays. No 
shading should be used at any time ; abundance of air should be admitted to 
them on all favourable occasions ; and fire-heat should never be used except to 
exclude frost. 
All Heaths should be well exposed in the open air from the end of June till 
the end of September, taking care to set the pots on a coal-ash foundation, or to 
elevate them on pots, so as to prevent worms from getting into them. After the 
blooming season, such varieties as Erica hyemalis , E. Willmoreana , and some of 
the free-growing kinds of E. ventricosa , should be headed down, in order to keep 
