and winter as old plants. We have found a large bed prepared for rhododendrons and azaleas the most favorable place. It is sheltered from the south by a belt of white pines. The soil of prepared peat is suited to the wants of the plant, while the large foliage of the rhododendrons keeps the soil moist by preventing rapid evaporation. For the older plants, we choose a shaded spot, and prepare a bed of coal ashes; slope the bottom to carry off superfluous moisture; plunge the pots in the bed of ashes, and if the bed is exposed to the sun for any length of time, shade by an awning. Be careful not to crowd the plants; a free circulation of air is essential. By this mode, the pots are never exposed to the rays of the sun; the plants receive plenty of light without being burned, and by syringing at evening, and sprinkling (not pouring) water upon the pots and bed, a sufficiency of moisture is secured. Some varieties of the soft-wooded class, such as Caffra rubra and alba, margaritacea, and others, do best planted out in the full sunshine. The growth becomes short and stout, and the plants are more hardy and less liable to injury. By this course, however,, all beauty of foliage is lost, for the plants become of a rusty brown color, which never disappears till the leaves fall.

Re-potting should be done whenever the roots become

matted or collected at the bottom or sides of the pot; examine to see if they are healthy; if so, give them a larger pot; if not, prune off those which are dead, remove the old soil, and pot in the same size, or smaller, as the case may require.

The custom with gardeners is to pot heaths in the spring, but the grower must be guided by the state of the plant. Insects give but little trouble, where proper regard is paid to the plants.

Mealy-bug is sometimes found; the best course to pursue, if the plant is badly infested, is to throw it away, for it is almost impossible to remove the insect; if but slightly affected, pick them off, and wash the plant well with warm soap-suds; whale oil soap is preferable. The same rules apply when the plants are troubled with black or brown scale. Erica arborea is particularly subject to attacks of the former, and from the fine, close nature of its foliage, it is very difficult to clean.

We have never known our heaths to be troubled by red spider or by aphis.

In growing ericas, some attention must be paid to pruning, or rather to pinching; the plants should never be allowed to grow tall and spindling; they should be grown

near the glass, and, by frequent turning, prevented from becoming one-sided. Some varieties are of symmetrical form by nature; others require much care to control the too luxuriant branches.

Heaths strike freely from cuttings. Take the tops of the young shoots, about an inch in length; prepare a pot or pan of heath soil; cover this with silver sand to the depth of half an inch; insert the cuttings about half their length, as thickly as you please; cover them with a glass, and frequently wipe the moisture from the inner surface of the glass; keep them slightly moist, and shelter from the direct rays of the sun.

When rooted, pot off the cuttings into small pots filled with heath soil, with the addition of a little more sand than is used for the old plants; as soon as the season permits, plant them out to make growth. In re-potting plants or cuttings, care should be taken never to sink the crown of the root lower than it was before; rather raise than sink it.

There is no plant which makes a greater show, or proves more attractive as a specimen, than the erica. In England, it is grown in the greatest perfection, some of the plants being twelve feet high, and eight feet in thickness. Can a

more superb object than such a plant be imagined, when in full bloom?

From over five hundred varieties, we cannot be expected to give all that are deserving of cultivation; as before remarked, none are destitute of beauty. The periods of bloom are from January to November; indeed, we may have heaths in bloom every month in the year. The following list contains a select variety in colors:

White or Light-Flowered. Arborea, Margaritacea, Grandinosa, Bowieana, Jasminiflora, Conferta, Vestita alba, Odorata, Ventricosa, Pellucida, Wilmoriana, Caffra alba.

Red Flowers. Gracilis, Ignescens, Mediterranea, Caffra rubra. Scarlet or Crimson. Ardens, Cerinthoides, Hartnelli, Splendens, Coccinea, Vestita fulgida, Tricolor.

Purple Flowers. Amoena, Mammosa, Melanthera mutabilis, Propendens tubiflora.

Lilac. Baccans, Suavolens.

Yellow. Cavendishii, Depressa, Denticulata.

Green-Flowered. Gelida, Viridiflora, Viridis.

For window culture, the varieties succeeding best are Caffra rubra and alba, Margaritacea, Arborea, and Mediterranea.

We have been thus diffuse in treating of this plant, because it is a general favorite, yet never seen in good condition in the parlor.

The plant is very hardy, yet impatient of the least neglect. A single day's omission to water, or a drenching, with poor drainage, will kill the plant; yet it will languish for months, and all your care will fail to restore it. If the hair-like roots once become parched or sodden, the plant will die.

We do not recommend it for a window plant, yet its beauty is worth all the care required; and will not some be fired by ambition to make the heath a window plant ?

THE CYCLAMEN.

This pretty flower is too little known. It is a native of Europe and Asia, some varieties being very abundant in Switzerland and Italy, and is to be found in almost every green-house. It is of the easiest culture. Pot about the latter part of November, in a rich loam, with a dash of silver sand; an addition of about a spoonful of the old soot from a flue will increase the size and brilliancy of the flowers. It must be well incorporated with the soil. Bits of charcoal, broken fine, serve the same purpose. Place the crown of the bulb just above the surface of the soil. The size of the pot must be determined by the size of the bulb; as a general rule, cyclamen do not require large pots.