June 15. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
195 
that plants requiring a. little peculiarity of treatment 
should so often be ill-used, and testify, by their appear¬ 
ance, their keen sense of tho abuse? Not to speak 
of young professionals, nor yet to enter into the 
inquiry, bow far Mr. Stewart’s statement may, or may 
not, be applicable to numbers now; there can be no 
question, that amateurs find considerable difficulty in 
indoctrinating these necessary assistants with right 
practical ideas; or working out these ideas at all times 
themselves; and uutil theso habits of attention, in 
opposition to mere rote, are acquired, it would not be 
j desirable to cultivate mauy Heaths in the same house 
[ with —unless you could keep them somewhat separate 
! from —your Geraniums and Fuchsias. 
“ Rut there are the Heaths, and, of course, 1 wish to 
do the best with them, though some of them look very 
queer, and yet are treated somewhat differently.” Well, 
let us look at them. These seem as hide-bound, and the 
foliage as sere, and wiry, and brown, as if they had 
passed through the draft of a long continued simoom, in 
au atmosphere in which you might search and search 
again to find the semblauce of a dew point. “You see, 
standing mostly by themselves, they have not wanted 
for air.” Admitted. “ Then, as to your parched atrnos- 
: pliere, that is impossible ; for, as they stand contiguous 
; to, and intermingled with, plants in small pots, they 
1 have been watered once or twice every sunny day.” So 
much for the worse for the dribbling attempt, for they 
have not been watered at all; the weight, the sharp ring 
when the sides of the pot are struck with the knuckles, 
tell all this unmistakably. “Cannot think so.” Turnout 
a plant, then, and there, though some three-quarters-of-an- 
iuch of the top of a hard ball was moistish, the mass of 
the roots were dried up from drought. Your only chance, 
and that is a slender one, is to stick the pot, and roots 
iu it, in a pail of water for an hour, and then allow it to 
drain, and afterwards to water when the plant is dry ; 
and then give as much as will moisten every fibre. 
Much of the trouble of drainage, much of the rough 
material, iu the shape of charcoal, broken crocks, sand¬ 
stone, &c., and hard pieces of fibry loam and peat, would 
bo less a primb matter of necessity, could there be more 
dependauce upon the considerate working of the water- 
pail. 
Those in that comer are quite different, because they 
have been differently treated. They have not suffered 
from drought, because the wateriug and syringing around 
them and upon them has given to them a too moist and 
close au atmosphere. The stems appear whitish, and 
the foliage in many places ditto; in fact, they are 
unmistakably the victims of mildew, from which a 
more free and abundant circulation of air would have 
saved them. Now the prospects of restoration to health 
are but meagre; but whilst there is life there is hope. 
Take the plants to a shed with a north aspect, lay the 
plants down on a clean close cloth, and there, with 
your hand, or a puff, cover the whole of the head 
with a thin incrustation of flowers of sulphur, keep¬ 
ing tho sulphur as much as possible out of the soil 
j ol' the pot. Allow the plant to remain iu this con¬ 
dition, and in a shady place, for two or three days, 
shaking it gently, in the meantime, at intervals, and, 
if necessary, adding a little more sulphur, that the 
fine powder may find its way to every cranny of a leaf 
or joint. Then shake, or brush as much of the sulphur 
as you can from the plant, and then removing it from 
the shed, lay it on its broadside, and give the whole 
head of the plant a complete drenching from the syringe. 
After this, place the plant where it will have plenty of 
air, sunshine night and morning, but be shaded during 
the most of the day ; repeat the syriugings frequently 
at noon, so that the foliage may be dry before night; 
and if in the course of four or six days you see no ap¬ 
pearance of the mildew, you may consider yourself for¬ 
tunate. If, however, there are yet unmistakable signs, 
then the powdering process must be repeated, and not 
unlikely this will go on until you become tired of the 
process and your plant together, having gained nothing 
but a little experience from all your trouble and labour. 
Rut there is a third group, just finished blooming, 
chiefly free, strong-growing kinds, that appear as they 
should do, and which it is desirable to keep so, though 
large plants cannot be grown. Well, prune the long 
shoots back pretty freely, carefully remove all decayed 
flowers, and any withered small leaves; for it is as 
natural for an evergreen to part with its foliage as it is 
for a deciduous plant, only it does it less regularly, and, 
on the whole, less seasonably. Syringe the plants well 
after such a dressing, which will help still more to 
clean them thoroughly. Keep the roots moist but not 
soaked, as the diminution of the perspiring organs 
will render less liquid necessary, and a surplusage 
would paralyse instead of promote healthy root ac¬ 
tion. Then the position becomes a matter of import¬ 
ance, attention to it often constituting three-fourths 
of the elements of success Just a few days before 
pruning, and a few days afterwards, it is good to sub 
ject the plants to no great stimulus to vital action. 
Let the plants have a rest by keeping them cool and airy, 
just on the principle that you would relish a good sleep 
after an extra amount of labour and fatigue. Ry-and 
by, in a few days, inure the plants gradually to a closer 
and moister atmosphere during the day, to encourage 
fresh growth ; but to a cooler and airy atmosphere at 
night, to keep the growtli stubby, and free from even 
the presentiments of mildew A pit*or a frame will be 
best for this ; but one part of a greenhouse, with a little 
care as to air and shading, may easily be made to yield 
the necessary conditions. When growing freely, re-pot 
ting must be attended to, if necessary; and for this 
copious directions have been given, bearing just in mind 
here, that when a Heath becomes thoroughly pot-bound, 
from not being re potted for several years, it is generally 
the soundest policy to make the most of it, by an 
annual top-dressing of fresh compost, after picking off 
some of the surface matter; as repotting, in such cir¬ 
cumstances, often is the prelude to a disappointment 
that cannot bo remedied. From this, too, draw a rule 
iu purchasing:—Prefer the little, young thing, whose 
roots are just feeling the sides of the pot; and pass by 
the much larger and finer-looking plant, where you have 
every reason to believe that the pot is crammed with 
roots. 
Then, again, as lo standing position during the hot 
test days in August and the end of July; the plants 
would enjoy a north-east, or north west aspect under 
glass, just under such roofs as those mentioned the other 
week as so serviceable at Nuneham ; but if that cannot 
be given, a slight shading in the middle of the day will 
be serviceable. All the care in these points will, how¬ 
ever, be reduced to a minimum, if the plants are healthy, 
and the pots are defended from a scorching sun, either 
by plunging them, or by placing the pots inside of larger 
ones, and filling the space between with moss—a plan of , 
much use in summer for all hairy-rooted plants that are ! 
exposed to the sun. In their native wilds, a great propor- j 
lion of our Heaths, common and exotic, are exposed to a j 
bright sunshine, but the roots are kept comparatively cool 
by their own foliage and the moss or herbage; and even j 
should these latter dry up, the roots can pump up mois- ; 
ture for themselves from tho contiguous ground and 
underlying strata. If in our artificial systems we ! 
would treat branches as Nature would do, let us not be 
above her hints and teachings as respects the roots. 
If the double-pot system was deemed too troublesome, ; 
or by our young go-aheads was deemed to savour 
of quackery, then a light stone-coloured pot, either 
made so, or painted and sanded of that colour, would 
