314 
THE FLOlllST, 
SEEDLING HEATHS. 
The following paper is not intended to be a disquisition on the best 
and most successful way of raising Seedling Heaths; neither is it 
intended to flatter the novice with a belief, that he has only to 
fertilise one flower with farina from another, to have in five or six 
years a seedling that shall astonish the world. No ; I shall confine 
myself to the recital of a few simple facts connected with my results in 
hybridising this genus, and the modus operandi to effect the object in 
view. It is now about fourteen years since I became imbued with a 
taste for this interesting pursuit; imparted, no doubt, by the frequent 
instructive conversations I used to have with my friend the late Mr. 
Rollisson, of Tooting, than whom a more persevering hybridiser of 
the Erica never lived. For forty years and upwards he silently and 
successfully carried on his favourite pursuit, introducing, during that 
long period, most (I was going to say all) of the choicest and most 
favoured varieties now in cultivation. 
It was in the year 1835 I first possessed'a small collection of 
secondary Heaths, for the purpose of seeing whether I could grow 
them ; without, however, waiting many months to test my skill, I 
commenced by fertilising the flowers of Dychromata with Lucida or 
Transparens, and was not a little gratified to find my maiden 
attempt had succeeded; for in due time I gathered a crop of perfect 
seed ; it vegetated freely, and every plant was carefully nurtured, to 
the number of two or three hundred; these ultimately produced a 
very useful and free-blooming winter variety, named Transparens 
bicolor ; all partook of the same habit and markings, but of course 
some were better than others. One plant only I kept, which was 
bought by Messrs. Henderson at the sale of my Heaths previous to 
my leaving Isleworth. In the mean time, I had got well forward 
a large quantity of Ventricosas; these bloomed in 1841, 2, and 3. 
Many readers of this article will perhaps remember the collection 
of fine seedling plants of this variety I exhibited at the Chiswick 
June show of 1842. These, and many others, subsequently became 
the property of Messrs. Lucombe and Pince, of the Exeter Nursery. 
Amongst the few that afterwards flowered was Ven. grandiflora, 
bought at the Islew^orth sale by Messrs. Henderson: a very nicely 
grown and beautifidly bloomed plant was exhibited at Chiswick last 
summer by Mr. Glendinning. Some Ampullacea seedlings were 
the next that bloomed, crossed with Vestita rosea, producing Albertii 
and varieties; also a long-tubed flower, very showy, named Longiflora 
fioribunda ; these were purchased by Messrs. Henderson and Mr. 
Jackson of Kingston. Massoni, crossed with Ampullacea, produced 
every conceivable variety of Tricolor, possessing no novelty. 
From Aristata major, crossed with Inflata alba. Tricolor splen- 
dens, &c., I have raised some very beautiful flowers, recently placed 
in the hands of Messrs. Henderson and Messrs. Veitch and Son. 
Aitoni, crossed with Ampullacea, procured me a Heath that had 
become very scarce, if not altogether lost, viz. the old Jasminiflora. 
