THE FLORIST. 
Epacrises. —The sooner Epacrises are housed the better: let each 
plant be subjected to the same process of cleansing, weeding, 
tying out, &c. recommended a month or two ago for the Ericas. 
If required to bloom in their natural season, the same treatment 
and temperature recommended for that genus will best suit them ; 
otherwise vou may, without risk, obtain a succession of flowers 
through the winter, from all the new introductions, and many of 
the old, by greater warmth. W. H. Story. 
Whitehill, Newton Abbott, Devon. 
Ericas. —The past summer has been marked by most ungenial 
weather for this class of plants,—heavy rains, and generally 
humid atmosphere, have induced a profusion of spindling, un¬ 
healthy growth, most sure to be the victim of mildew, leaving 
the plants in a sickly and exhausted state, at a time of the year, 
too, that they should be in health and vigour, to sustain them¬ 
selves during the dark damp days of winter, and exclusion of air 
consequent thereupon. We are now in October, at all times a 
trying month for the gardener, as at no period of the year does 
the thermometer take so wide a range,—June and January in 
twelve hours ; his utmost vigilance is therefore necessary, night 
and day, to counteract as much as possible these extremes. More 
especially must he keep himself awake this October, for he has 
got to deal with plants in an unhealthy, sappy state, unfit and 
unprepared to resist sudden extremes of heat and cold. In such 
a condition are my Ericas, and even worse, for some of the 
^spring-blooming varieties are now in flower; no doubt the col¬ 
lections of my brother-florists are in a similar condition. The 
question is, What are we to do with them ? what course of 
treatment adopt ? what nostrums apply ? Verily, watchfulness, 
particularly from sunset to sunrise. We cannot diminish the 
heat of the day, but we may raise the temperature of the early 
morn, when the thermometer is always at its lowest. To lay 
down any specific mode of procedure under existing circum¬ 
stances would only tend to lead astray,— suggesting, however, 
that three things are to be accomplished if possible, viz. discourage 
further growth, ripen the new wood, and expel mildew. To 
effect the first, I keep my plants as dry as their constitutional 
powers will allow; for the second, admit all the sun and air 
possible, not even putting in the side-lights at night, though we 
have had two degrees of frost, which, by the bye, is, I think, about 
the extreme amount of cold almost any of the Cape varieties can 
be safely exposed to ; hence the necessity for the vigilance of the 
cultivator to watch the indication of the thermometer before he 
goes to bed; should it stand within 8 or 10 degrees of frost at 11 
or 12 o’clock, let him shut the house up, opening it again as soon 
in the morning as it passes the freezing-point upwards; if it be 
a damp, drizzly, foggy morning, light a brisk fire, and drive out 
the enemy, without materially raising the temperature, which is 
well known can be done, by admitting a current of air through 
the house. I trust the weather during the month will not be 
