Grafting

Mr. Glenny gives these directions: - "Young plants of the R. Ponticum must be potted and well established before you want to use them. Cut them down within three inches of the pot, and adopt the mode of saddle grafting. See Grafting.

"Let the bark of the stock and scion touch, if possible, all over; but as the stock may be, and often is, the largest, let the bark fit perfectly on one side, and fall short on the other. The plants should be placed after the operation in a garden frame kept from the air for a day or two, and shaded altogether from the sun. Side-grafting and inarching are better modes of increase for the Rhododendron than saddle-grafting. In order to insure success, August or September is the best time for budding or grafting Rhododendrons in the open air. This plant being thin-rinded does best by side-grafting, and buds of it had also better be inserted after the manner of side-grafting, with a portion of the soft wood retained behind the bud." - Gard. Chron. - Gard. and Prac. Flor. Grafting may be done at almost any season of the year, and even the Chinese Azalea may be inarched upon them. In summer, if a low stock be employed, it is sufficient to turn over it a hand-glass; but if the grafting be in the spring or autumn, to obtain success a little bottom heat is necessary.

Other Modes Of Propagation

Lay-ering and inarching may both be suc-cessfully practised with the Rhododendron, but require no particular directions. Cuttings will also sometimes succeed, and if a branch is desirably removable let it be cut off. The cuttings should be only half ripe. Plant in a large sized pot, two-thirds full of the compost, cover with a glass, fitting within the rim of the pot: place in a frame, with a trifling bottom-heat, or in a common propagating house; or, for want of a better accommodation, in a green-house or cold garden frame. The glass must be wiped clean every morning, and the sand kept moist. Neglect of watering is fatal. When the cuttings are struck they must be treated as seedlings. - Gard. and Prac. Flor.

Soil For Out-Door Kinds

A light loam, manured annually with a mixture of peat and leaf-mould suits them best. The subsoil should be retentive, for if very dry they will not flourish.

Pruning

They require but little pruning, except to remove superfluous branches, etc, and this is best done in April. Mr. Glenny says that old plants which have become bare at the bottom are easily converted into standards by selecting the largest bare stem, cutting all the rest away, and pruning the head into shape. If the stem be growing out slopingly, you have only to dig up the plant and place it upright.

Green-House Culture

Whilst growing, that is from about the end of April to the middle of June, keep them in a temperature of which the extreme at night and in the day are 45° and 60°. Supply them liberally with water during that time, and then remove them to a cool situation out of doors, otherwise they will be super-luxuriant and not flower.

Forcing

To obtain early flowers, place some potted plants in a very gentle heat the last week in December.