286 
THE FLORIST. 
such as to render necessary a resort to means so undesirable, even 
at Christmas. The third object to be attained, viz. expulsion of 
mildew, was so fully treated in the last Number of The Florist^ 
that a repetition now would be unnecessary. These remarks, to 
the uninitiated in Heath-growing, will doubtless seem frivolous, 
and unnecessarily minute; they may also have the effect of 
deterring some admirer of this genus from growing them. To 
such a one I would say, “Don’t be dismayed; the Heath re¬ 
quires no greater amount of care and attention to keep alive 
(and grow well too) than the Camellia, the Azalea, or the Epacris.” 
All that is necessary to insure as much success as usually falls to 
cultivators of any class of plants, is to rightly understand the 
kind of treatment best suited to their natural habits. 
Whitehill, Newton Ahhott, Devon. W. H. Story. 
Fuchsias. —Except as regards seedlings, the blooming-season is 
pretty well over, or at least it ought to be put an end to, by with¬ 
holding water, pinching off the bloom, and stopping, or cutting 
them back, as you would a Geranium; put the plants in a cool 
frame, and they will shortly go to rest. I am of opinion that this 
class of florists’ flowers is not so tender as we have supposed them 
to be. I have now several discarded seedlings, beautifully in 
bloom, that have withstood the frosts of three winters, no care 
having been taken of them, or protection afforded. I purpose 
directly bedding out forty or fifty plants of this year’s production, 
to substantiate or otherwise my present belief. Serratifolia is 
decidedly tender, twenty or thirty seedlings from that species, 
bedded out in October 1846, having died. The seedlings I now 
mean to experimentalise upon have a cross of Ricartoni in them 
(the hardiest of all Fuchsias), and having larger and better 
expanding flowers, with equally good habits, will prove a great 
acquisition to the parterre, if they prove as indifferent to frost 
as their progenitor. For the encouragement of seedling-growers, 
I will inform them, that a portion of my seedlings this year has 
exhibited two new features (at least fo me),—one is a purple and 
pink striped corolla, similar to the markings of a Carnation ; the 
other, a perfectly double purple corolla, extending over and 
adhering to the base of the sepals, displaying a purple mass the 
size of a hazel-nut; one of them having the upper portion of the 
corolla the colour of the tube and sepals, whilst the lower is the 
darkest conceivable blue. I shall hope to improve upon these 
another year. W. H. Story. 
Whitehill, Newton Abbott, Devon. 
Pansies.— Plant out for early spring blooming without loss of time, 
that the plants may become established. The beds should be 
raised some few inches above the w^alks. It is well to propagate 
a larger number than will be required, that there may be a good 
choice of plants. The particulars for planting, such as soil, 
distance, &c. have been given in The Florist, Nos. I. &c. 
Nursery, Chulvey. C. Turner. 
