1881 . ] 
NEW BOTHWELL HEATHS. 
145 
NEW BOTHWELL HEATHS. 
[Plate 547.] 
^ strange fatality is it that the 
_J genus of Cape Heaths (Erica) has 
become a family of neglected plants ? 
Once, they crowded our exhibition tents, and 
abounded in our greenhouses and conserva¬ 
tories ; now, with the exception of a few free- 
growing market kinds, they are seen only as 
comparative rarities in either place. It cannot 
be from want of beauty that they are thus 
neglected, for few flowers are so chaste and lovely 
he would only too gladly bestow. It must be, we 
suppose, that they are out of fashion, that the 
wheel of fortune in its revolutions has passed 
them by, and that we must wait for another 
turn before they again attain popularity. Be 
it so. Their extreme loveliness must again 
bring them to the front; and we shall be de¬ 
lighted if our illustrations of the new Bothwell 
Seedlings, of which we have more in store, 
should have any influence in that direction. 
as are many of these ; it cannot be from same¬ 
ness of character, though they all have needle- 
shaped leaves, for the colours and forms and 
arrangement of their flowers are infinitely 
varied ; it cannot be that they come at an un¬ 
welcome season, for they bloom, some or other 
of them, all the year round; it cannot be that 
their cultivation presents any obstacle to their 
popularity, for many, at least, of them are as 
easily grown as any other exotic plants, and if 
some few require extra skill and care, it is 
only such skill as every true gardener would be 
anxious to show that he possesses, such care as 
NO. 4G. IMPERIAL SERIES. 
The collection of Ericas, or Heaths, at Both¬ 
well Castle has become historical; and so is 
the fame of the veteran, Mr. Turnbull, as a 
raiser of choice seedlings, and a successful cul¬ 
tivator. We are indebted to that gentleman— 
whose portrait, borrowed from the Gardeners' 
Chronicle , we here introduce—for numerous 
specimens sent to us during the past flowering 
season, from which Mr. Fitch has made several 
sketches, some of which are reproduced in the 
accompanying plate, and may be described as 
follows:— 
Fig. 1. Lord Dunglas.—T his is a very 
L 
