Propagation

Mr. Fleming gives the following very full and excellent directions: -

"Heaths are propagated in two ways - by seeds and by cuttings. Seeds are either obtained from the Cape of Good Hope, or are gathered from plants which have flowered in this country. When they are received from the Cape they should be sown immediately, unless this should happen late in the autumn, or in winter; and in that case the sowing should be deferred until spring. When seeds of this kind are sown late in the year, they either do not vegetate at all, or, if they are excited into growth, the stimulus is so weak, and the days are so short and dull, that they get sickly, and frequently damp off. For the same reason, seeds which are saved in this country should either be sown in spring, or very early in summer.

"Some flat pots, or seed-pans, should be half filled with potsherds; and over these a layer of turfy peat should be placed to prevent the soil from being washed down and destroying the drainage. The pots should then be filled to within half an inch of the top with fine peat, and this should be slightly pressed down with the back of the hand, or with the bottom of a small flower-pot, to make it level and more solid. If this is not attended to, the seeds are liable to sink too deep in the soil, and are prevented from germinating. They should then be sown, and slightly covered with fine peat soil, after which they should be watered and removed to the seed-house. In all large nurseries or gardens, a house, pit, or frame, is set apart for raising seeds. It is to a place of this kind that the pots containing the heath-seed should be removed, and as we suppose this to be done in spring, no artificial heat will be required, that received from the sun being quite sufficient. If the seed has been good, the young plants will soon make their appearance above ground.

As they get strong, the shading should be gradually discontinued, and more air admitted, until they are a little hardened and ready to pot off". They should then be put singly into thumb-pots in sandy peat soil well watered, and afterwards removed to a close-shaded frame. Here they will remain for ten days or a fortnight, until their roots establish themselves in their new quarters, when more air may gradually be admitted, and the plants subjected to the same treatment as those in the green-house or heathery." - Gard. Chron.

Cuttings

The same good authority says that, "No particular time can be specified for striking cuttings of heaths, because the plants are in a fit state for taking off the cuttings at different times; but the earlier in the season the better, although many cultivators succeed perfectly so late as the months of August and September. The plants from which the cuttings are taken must be perfectly healthy. The wood should be firm and nearly ripe, because if taken when very young it is almost certain to damp off. The short lateral shoots, about an inch or an inch and a half long, should always be chosen, and the leaves stripped off them to about half their length, and the ends cut across with a sharp knife; in this state they are ready for the cutting-pot. The cutting-pots should be prepared in the following manner. Fill them about two-thirds with broken pots, and cover these with a thin stratum of turfy peat, or some other substance to prevent the sand with which the pots are filled up from choking the drainage. The silver sand, common about London, is very well adapted for striking heaths; but almost any sand will answer the purpose; it is generally preferred as free from the rusty colour of iron as possible.

The cuttings may then be inserted in the sand, not deeply, but merely deep enough to support themselves; from a quarter to half an inch is quite sufficient. They must then be well watered; bell glasses are of great service in striking them, but certainly not indispensable to success. When they are used, they must be frequently taken off and wiped dry, otherwise the moisture will probably rot the cuttings. When they are dispensed with the cuttings should be placed in a situation which is moist and shaded, and then they will be surrounded in a great measure with the same circumstances as under a bell glass.

"Very little artificial heat is necessary in striking heaths, much is certainly injurious. A cucumber or melon frame nearly exhausted, or the shaded part of a cool stove, will answer the purpose early in spring, and later in the season, when the sun-heat is greater, a close fence slightly shaded is all that is required. The care required afterwards is to shade during bright sunshine, to remove into the shade early in the afternoon, and also to see that the watering is not neglected.

"More, perhaps, depends upon the kind of water which is used, and the regularity with which it is given, than upon anything else in operation; if we except the selection of proper cuttings. Rain or river water is by far the best kind to use. After the cuttings have struck root they should be gradually hardened by exposure to the air before they are potted off. Small thumb-pots are the best for the first potting, and the soil used, should be very sandy peat. The greatest care should be taken to preserve the young rootless from injury, because if this is not attended to, the plants will receive a sudden check at first, which is very prejudicial. After potting, they should be removed to a close-shaded frame, and treated in the same manner as the young seedlings above described." - Gard. Chron.