22 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND GENTLEMAN’S COUNTRY COMPANI IN.— Dctodeb 14,1856. 
stems, and thus standing out boldly, depending on their 
own grandeur for iuterest. The dressed circle of earth 
round them, with a ring of low-flowering Lobelias out¬ 
side, I certainly never expected to see. The pretty little 
things seemed quite ashamed and disheartened when 
they turned their sweet faces to their gigantic neighbours. 
I used to think that much of the beauty of a fine tree 
was lost if I could not see its base. By-and-by it will 
be fashionable to surround such a tree with a ring of 
flowers. The same principle of adorning such Deodars, 
&o., is carried out in the dressed grounds. Annuals, 
China Asters, &c., surround them in rings. Several men 
were actually turning Chrysanthemums out of their pots, 
and digging in their balls round such fine specimens, 
and then pegging the branches down. I instinctively 
felt something of the sensation for the poor roots that 
many a good old woman must have experienced acutely 
when, in half-civilised times, she was pricked with pins 
as a test of witchcraft. In small places such practices 
might be excused. If visitors delight in flowers, there 
is no want of room to gratify them here without resort¬ 
ing to such expedients. Far less can such a mode be 
accepted, as in the case of this half-moon walk, as a valid 
reason for departing from uniformity. It may be doubted 
if even the Araucarias there are in the right place, and 
if a more slender fastigiate tree—if there was to be one— 
would not have been better. There might then have been 
uniformity more easily. 
(To he continued.) 
THE HEATH. 
The Lleath tribe are mostly from the Cape of Good 
Hope, though some species are found in Europe; and 
only one, Erica Australis, in that immense country, Aus¬ 
tralia. Though extremely beautiful both in foliage and 
bloom, their culture is far from being general, arising, no 
doubt, from a prejudice that their management is difficult, 
whereas they may be grown as easily as any other tribe 
of plants, providing a little more care is bestowed on 
carrying out the necessary points of cultivation. In fact, 
the Auricula and Polyanthus are both more difficult to 
grow successfully than the Heath. To remove this pre¬ 
judice, and encourage the amateur to try to grow 
them, I intend to write a few brief, yet plain essays, 
such as, I hope, will enable the veriest tyro and 
young gardener to enter with confidence into the field, 
and teach them to both grow them well and propagate 
them successfully. 
The points of culture may be summed‘up under the 
following heads :—House and Pits; Soil; Potting; Wa¬ 
tering; Summer Culture and Winter Culture; Insects; 
and Diseases. 
House and Pits. —Heaths generally neither thrive 
nor yet assimilate well with other greenhouse plants, 
though, with the assistance of a good pit, some of the 
hardier and more free-growing varieties may be grown 
in the pit, and removed into the greenhouse when in 
bloom, and returned into the pit after the blooming 
season is over. 
This remark, however, applies only to such growers as 
cannot afford to have a house devoted entirely to the 
tribe. Whoever desires to grow Heaths to the highest 
perfection must have a house for them alone, and a 
good pit as well. 
The best form of a house for the purpose is that known 
by the term, a span-roofed one. Very good Heaths, 
however, may be grown in a common old-fashioned 
lean-to house. In one of that form the late Mrs. Law¬ 
rence grew many of the fine Heaths she exhibited at the 
metropolitan Shows. The position of the house should 
be an open one with side windows, and means of letting 
out the extra heat at the top of the roof. The size, of 
course, depends upon the means of the owner, and the 
number of plants he intends to grow. Ample means of 
giving air must be provided, for the larger amount of air 
is given, the more healthy and robust the plants will be. 
The aspect of the house should be east and west, with 
the ends facing north and south. The entrances should 
be at the ends, which will enable the cultivator to give 
a thorough draught of air in warm weather. Shade, 
too, must be provided. The best is that made of coarse 
canvass fixed to a roller at one side, and nailed to a flat 
piece of wood on the apex, or top, of the roof. This shade 
should be on both side3 of the house. That on the east 
side should be, on sunny days, let down in the morning, 
and drawn up at noon. That on the west side should 
then be let down, and drawn up as soon as the sun loses 
its power late in the afternoon. By this arrangement 
the Heaths have always a large supply of that necessary 
element, light, without being too much exposed to the 
burning rays of the summer sun. The internal arrange¬ 
ment depends, in a great measure, on the size and width 
ol the house. If small and narrow, then a walk down 
the centre, with platforms on each side, will serve the 
purpose ; but, if spacious in width, then a long table in 
the centre, with walks around it, and a narrow platform 
next the front windows, is the arrangement that will 
both keep the plants heaJlhy, show' them to the best 
advantage, and enable the manager to have easy access 
to every plant, to give them water, and observe their 
state ol health, &c., besides giving the spectator an ex¬ 
cellent opportunity of seeing and admiring their beauty 
when in bloom. The centre table or pl&tforpi will be 
the best position for large specimens; and the side plat¬ 
forms for such as are advancing in size and growth, and 
for the more dwarf, small-growing species. 
The Heath-pit.— This is a favourite structure with 
me for Heaths. By having such a pit the number of 
plants may be nearly doubled. It may be of the com¬ 
mon lean-to form, with brick walls all round. I prefer, 
however, an east aspect for such a pit. The sunshine 
is oft it by mid-day, and then the shades may be re¬ 
moved, and the plants may enjoy a long afternoon of 
light without danger from its burning powers. Most' of 
the nurserymen round London grow their large stocks 
ot young Heaths in such a pit. I have myself grown 
them very successfully in one, even through very severe 
fiosts; but, of course, the glass well covered with 
straw and mats, and the walls banked up with littery 
dung. When the winter wms over, no Heaths I ever 
saw looked better, or flowered more freely. The pit so 
used is an excellent reserve nursery to furnish the 
Heath-house with a succession of blooming plants, and 
serves, also, as a receptacle for such as have gone out of 
flower. The cool floor of the pit, with the partial shade, 
made the walls give to the roots in the pots air exceed- 
ingly suitable for this tribe of plants. If any amateur 
intends to cultivate Heaths largely, his best plan will bo 
to put up the pit first, perhaps twelve months or two 
j'ears previously to building his Heath-house. Then pro- 
cui c a certain quantity of young plants, such a number 
as may, when lull grown, furnish the house pretty well. 
Remember this rule, however, in all cases, whether the 
plants are small or large,— 
1NEVEII AI LOW THE PLANTS TO TOUCH EACH OTHER. 
Crowding draws them, renders them straggling and 
naked, such unsightly objects as may be seen in one- 
luili of the greenhouses in the kingdom. Whenever 
such plants occur, the best plan is to throw them away 
at once, for no plant bears cutting down worse than 
the Heath. 
Soil. As the Heaths, when received from the nursery, 
almost always require fresh potting, the cultivator should : 
look out for and procure the right kind of soil and pots i 
sometime previous. Nature points out to the thinking ; 
grower that the best soil for any plants is that in which | 
