THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
255 
j J anuary 22 
a seedling ot good colour got in the same strain for years, 
if it seeds, although the flowers gaped like snapdragons. 
The great fault, or misfortune, has been, that as soon as 
| an improved seedling appeared in any section, the more 
inferior parents wore cast away, and when that race 
arrived at tho last stage and became entirely barren, 
there were no more plants left to experiment on in any 
other direction. Lady Mary Fox, Rouge et Noir, Quer- 
cifolium, Ooccinium, Sidonia, Spleenii, and a few others 
are familiar instances in proof of this view of tho sub¬ 
ject, every one of them being in tho last stage of so 
many sections, and all of them barren, with none of 
their respective sections now left to try more experi¬ 
ments with. For a long time 1 thought tho Diadema- 
tum section was in its last stage also, but 1 got one seed¬ 
ling from Diadematum rubescens, the one callod Heyium, 
the fourth variety, three of which produce abundance of 
pollen, so that we have good grounds for believing that 
the Diadematurn section may yet be much improved. 
Sidonia, Spleenii and Diadematurn bicolor, with striped 
tiowers, puzzle me as to their parentage; they are the 
produce of three distinct mothers by the pollen of one 
type, whatever it may be. In Sidon'ui we see the gouty 
stems of some of the tuberous-rooted sections quite ap¬ 
parent, and so seeing, there can be no question about 
the great changes which may yet be effected by intro- 
l ducing the pollen of the wild tuberous species to some 
; of our improved sections. 
There is Curate, a perfectly barren kind, and only 
j removed a few generations from Reniforme, by the 
j pollen of some of the oak-leaved section; but now we 
J have no means of improving it, or of varying the expe¬ 
riments by which it first appeared. In short, taking a 
general view of all our best bedders, we shall find our¬ 
selves in a fix, from which/we cannot budge one step for 
want of materials; and it is much better to own tho 
fact at once, and not waste more time in hopeless expe¬ 
riments ; but let me give a description of these barren 
ones, for the use of young beginners. 
The breed of the Unique I have already described, 
and they are all barren except Unique itself. Lady 
Mary Fox is, perhaps, the best bedder of all; the 
flowers are large, orange red, with large dark blotches 
in the upper petals. It should not be propagated in the 
summer, because after it comes into flower to the end 
of the season, there is no cutting to be got from a 
thousand plants except of “ flowering wood,” and that 
soon turns a plant naked and too loose for a well-clothed 
bed. I burnt my fingers with it twice from over¬ 
greediness, striving to get rich in it too soon, instead of 
being content with spring cuttings, which never fail to 
make fine healthy plants with full foliage. It will not 
stand forcing. Rouge et Noir is quite barren, but has 
plenty of pollen ; the flowers are red and black, as the 
name implies. It is the hardiest of all the bedders, and 
! the freest grower; will easily root all the year round, 
and never fails to bloom freely to the very end of the 
season, unless tho soil is rich. Poor dry soil suits it 
best, and the older the plants are the better they flower. 
Mr. Davidson, my successor, intends planting a row of 
i it next summer close under a hedge of Gloire do 
Rosamenc rose. The effect will be good, no doubt, for 
the particular situation; but tho combination, or tho 
two together, in nine places out of ten, would not please 
fastidious people. I). Beaton. 
MANAGEMENT OF CAPE HEATHS. 
Having attended to the modes of propagating by seeds 
and by cuttings, and stated the soil and conditions most 
suitable; having stated that, in many cases, it would be 
more economical to purchase nice young plants than to 
raise them; and having given directions for the choos¬ 
ing of plants in general, and hard-wooded plants, such 
as Heaths, in particular, I now proceed to their general 
management, not confining myself, however, to the well- 
trodden highway, where those who are fortunate in pos¬ 
sessing tho most extensive means alone could follow; 
but taking a saunter into the by-lanes, whenever the 
doing so would be of service to those with very limited 
conveniences, and who yet wish to possess a few of these 
interesting plants. 
Particular as are the attentions necessary in raising 
plants from cuttings, it is somewhat singular that some 
very successful in propagating, are not equally success¬ 
ful in growing the plants afterwards. This is, so far, a 
matter of regret, as it helps to foster the idea that there 
is something of the “ mysterious ” about Heath growing, 
known only to the few. I have already, as a matter of 
honesty, indicated the common causes of failure in mixed 
houses, where a show of bloom is required in winter; 
but these obviated by care and forethought, there will, 
of necessity, be no more difficulty with a Heath than ! 
with any other plant we usually cultivate. The great 
proportion of failures among young beginners, is the 
consequence of mistaken fondling rather than neglect. 
On the other hand, want of high success in growing in 
the case of those extra-successful in propagating, in the 
few cases that have come under my own observation, 
seemed to be owing to a want of sufficient attention 
after the plants had arrived at a certain stage. No hen 
could be more attentive to the brood under her wings 
than they to the tit-bits under the bell-glasses, but, uu- 
gifted with the instinct of the fowl, they dismissed from 
their tending care their younglings long before they 
could shift for themselves; in other words, consigned 
them to a treatment the very opposite of that to which 
they had been accustomed. Thus, who can look at and 
not admire the order and the method in which these pro¬ 
pagating pots have been prepared; the draining, the 
soil, the sand, all so perfect; the planting so regular 
and mathematically correct, and the glasses so clean and 
nice ; moisture regulated as if there was an hygrometer 
under every glass, and air and light meted out to the 
circumstances of the little inmates; nay, we may go a 
step further, and ponder over the care exercised when 
three or four little plants are inserted round the sides 
of a pot, though even then the first symptoms of care¬ 
less go-a-head-ism may be manifesting itself in the 
deficiency of drainage, and the too open, or too close, 
nature of the soil, from the effects of which the young 
plunts are saved by their proximity to the sides of the 
pot, acting as a safety drain. But let such a superiority 
to trifles go on for a year, or several years, and under 
repeated shiftings, and some fine morniug, when you 
cannot conceive how, yet the plants will get foxy under 
all your care. You turn one out of its pot, and find there 
are only two or three bits of crocks for drainage, and 
these are cemented together over the hole in the bottom 
of the pot, by all the finer soil becoming washed down 
there ; while evidence is not absent, owing to this and 
the constituents of tho soil, that the roots have been 
placed alternately in a marsh and on a dry hill top. 
Noting this observation down, and proceeding in your 
examination, you may find that tho collar of one plant 
(that point whence roots and stem proceed) is sunk as 
much in the soil as it would bo necessary to sink a 
Water Lily under water; while, in the case of another 
plant, you may find that not only the collar of the plant, 
but a considerable portion of its ball and roots.are as 
carefully raised above the surface of the pot, as Mr. 
Appleby would direct for some of his gorgeous Epiphytes. 
Amid such extremes there must be a medium, not only 
of safety, but of success; and keeping in view the 
beginnings, I consider that not the least important of 
these is the 
Rotting. —It is not so long ago since attention was 
directed to this generally, and what is necessary for the 
