AUD 
known A. japonica, whose large ever¬ 
green foliage, handsomely blotched with 
golden yellow, make it welcome in every 
garden. It matters little what may be 
the kind of soil or the aspect selected 
for it, the Ancuba will generally thrive, 
though it prefers a strong loam and a 
sunny spot when choice can be made; 
for grouping, or as an isolated specimen, 
it is equally useful; it bears cutting to 
almost any extent, and is consequently 
sometimes used as a hedge-plant, cuttings 
strike freely under a hand-glass in sum¬ 
mer, and layers offer a ready means of 
propagating. 
AUDIBEBTIA. (Bentham.) Nat. 
Ord. Labiates. A pretty little evergreen 
shrub, with pale blue salvia-like flowers. 
The only species, A. incana, rises about 
a foot and a half high; it grows freely 
in common soil, and flowers through the 
summer months; may be increased by 
seeds or cuttings, both requiring the 
protection of a hand-glass to raise the 
young plants. 
AZALEA. (Linn.) Nat. Ord. Eri¬ 
caceae. By the exertions of the horti¬ 
culturist in continued cross-breeding, 
this genus has become replete with 
varieties that may be truly styled magni¬ 
ficent ; their habits, colours, and season 
of flowering have been so multiplied and 
indefinitely varied, that the most difficult 
point in connexion with their adoption 
rests in selecting the best. There are 
about a dozen natural species, and these, 
by the means just mentioned, have been 
made the parents of some hundreds of 
varieties, many of them very far exceed¬ 
ing in beauty what even the most ardent 
mind would deem a vast improvement 
on the original forms. The Belgian 
cultivators have paid so much attention 
to this mode of improving the hardy 
Azalea, arid introduced so many novel 
varieties, that all of the class are now 
commonly designated Belgian Azaleas, 
a compliment very justly directed. The 
derivation of - the generic term Azalea, 
from azaleos, dry, arid, might lead us to 
suppose the plants would require some 
such place in which to grow, and the 
more so, when we read certain translators’ 
intimations that the term is descriptive 
AZA 
of the plant’s habitat; practice, however, 
teaches in the most positive manner 
that it is not so ; and it is probable the 
great Linnaeus intended rather to de¬ 
scribe the dry stick-like appearance of 
the branches when denuded of their 
foliage in his selection of the name 
attached to them. Be that as it may, 
a very little experience will teach that 
though Azaleas require well-drained soil, 
they also insist on a full and constant 
supply of moisture; indeed, few plants 
that are not inhabitants of a positive 
marsh, require more than do these 
through the whole of the active season ; 
the miserable stunted development ex¬ 
hibited yearly by such as are existing 
in soil impervious to moisture will, at a 
glance, show the necessity of attention 
to this particular; at the same time, 
though it be so essential to secure them 
a proper supply of this aliment, it is 
equally important that any redundancy 
may have the means of escaping, before 
injury can arise to the fine silk-like 
fibres on which the plant depends. The 
soil which offers the most reasonable 
chance of meeting these requirements 
is a mixture of jieat and loam, in pro¬ 
portions to be regulated by their texture : 
if very light or sandy peat has to be 
used, it may be well to mix an equal 
quantity of loam, or if the latter is of 
more than ordinary tenacity, a smaller 
proportion may be sufficient; and in the 
case of both being of an adhesive nature, 
it may be beneficial to add sand until the 
desired medium condition is secured. 
Too much care cannot be taken in this 
preparation of the soil, for on it most 
of the future results necessarily depend ; 
in the absence of peat, rotten leaves 
may be employed to lighten the mass, 
though these are to be regarded only 
as a substitute, and by no means to 
the depreciation of the other material, 
peat being more suitable in every respect; 
this compost being well incorporated, 
should be laid at least eighteen inches 
deep over the space intended to be 
occupied by the Azaleas, and after being 
pressed pretty firmly, the plants may be 
stationed ; and here we may remark, it is 
always better to have such plants as 
