The nomenclature of our apples is in great confusion, and we think it will be almost impossible to do much towards clearing it up, until the numerous varieties can be collected together, the trees brought into bearing, their characteristics studied, and a careful examination made of the fruit. This we hope to do, having upwards of two hundred sorts, which will soon enable us to commence our labors.-Ed.

ART. VI. On the Cultivation and Treatment of Cape Heaths (Ericas). By JOHN CADNESS, Gardener to Mr. J. L. L. F. Warren, Brighton.

I SEND you an article upon the cultivation of that splendid, but, I am sorry to say, much neglected tribe of plants, Cape Heaths, a genus, all the species of which are eminently beautiful and worthy the most assiduous cultivation, if you should think my remarks worth a place in your magazine.

Heaths are all of them especial favorites of mine, and wherever I have had opportunity, I have paid considerable attention to their cultivation, and I am greatly surprised that, when such good specimens of other green-house plants are grown in the neighborhood and exhibited in Boston, no attempt has been made to grow a collection of the finer varieties of this plant: there is, I know, some difficulty in managing some of the best kinds, but I have not the least doubt, that, if proper provision were made for them, and proper care bestowed upon them, they could be sufficiently well grown to make them one of the greatest ornaments of the green-house. The great difficulty in cultivating these plants with success, is the extreme cold of winter and the extreme heat of summer; the consequence of which is, in the former case, the plants are exposed to a great degree of fire heat, and a too warm and variable atmosphere at a season when they should be kept cool and perfectly at rest; for they, like all other plants, must have their dormant season or winter; for they can never be expected to flower finely and as they should do, when they are growing more or less the year round. But in order to give

them proper treatment, a house should be devoted entirely to them, for they cannot be grown to perfection in a mixed greenhouse; and I am convinced, they would amply repay for all the extra expense and trouble they require. All that is necessary in winter, is merely to keep the frost from them, and most of them, if they have not been subjected to too much fire heat, will bear several degrees of frost. One cause of heaths not flowering well, in fact, the main cause, is because they are kept too warm in winter, for if they do not experience a season of rest, they cannot have time to form and perfect their flower buds, which they should do at this time: but, instead, they are excited into an early, weak, and unprofitable growth, and such a course of treatment soon renders the plant worthless. The next thing to be observed is to give them, at every opportunity, a free circulation of air, both in the winter, and in their growing season; for heaths will not thrive well in a close confined atmosphere; and, if they are drawn up, and weak, they will but poorly bear the heat of summer which is the most trying time for them.

In summer, I believe it is generally thought necessary to shade heaths a great deal. I have seen them hid away under trees and stowed in frames, and shaded until they could not bear a ray of light to fall upon them. They soon become weak and sickly, and suffer far more than by being housed in winter, if they do not perish altogether, which is generally the case. My experience has taught me, that they will, if placed in proper circumstances, bear the sun a great deal better than is generally supposed; in fact, naturally, the heath is never found growing in shaded places, but the contrary: they are always found growing on hill sides and open plains, and, allowing that they have been made more tender by artificial treatment generation after generation, still in this, as in every other similar case, the nearer we follow nature the better shall we succeed. For the last two years, I have never made a practice of shading heaths at all in summer, only in extreme hot days. My summer management is this: as soon as the plants can be trusted in a cold frame, I remove the plants from the green-house. I choose, for the frame, an opensituation, giving it a northern aspect. I then plunge the pots to the rim in coal ashes at such a distance from each other as to allow a

little for growth, but still so as to shade each other some. My object is to keep the roots moist and cool, and, whenever by their growth, which always happens, they begin to crowd each other, I take them up and replunge them at suitable distances again; using the lights until all danger of frost is over. By that time, by giving a plentiful supply of air daily, and gradually inuring the plants to the open air, I dispense with the use of them altogether, except to protect them from heavy rains and stormy weather. In this manner, I keep them until it is quite necessary to remove them to the greenhouse in the fall. I am always particularly anxious to keep them in the frames as long as possible, so that they feel the effects of cold, (but not frost,) and their growth is entirely stopped, even if it be necessary to protect the frames by covering.

By this treatment, I find that the plants acquire a hardy, robust habit, and are more easily kept over winter; last summer, I kept over 300 one year old plants in this manner, and they were never shaded the hottest day, and I never lost a single plant, and by plunging the pots, the young roots are protected and kept moist and cool; whereas, when the pot is exposed to the action of the sun, the young roots are scorched, then the plant begins to suffer and is unable to bear the sun: they also require less water, which is a great thing, as too frequent waterings are hurtful to them. Great care is necessary that they shall not suffer for want of water, or that they be over watered; in either case, they will suffer more or less, although they may not show it just at the time.

It will be seen, then, that, in order to grow these plants successfully, they must be placed in those circumstances, where they can acquire a bushy and healthy, robust habit; this can be effected only by a free exposure to sun-light and air at all seasons, and due regard being paid to their period of rest or winter. A great deal also will depend upon the system of potting which is followed, for this is a very important part of their management, and requires both care and judgment. In order to have the plants flower finely, they must have well filled their pots with roots before their season of rest commences; it is a bad practice to over-pot them at any time, particularly when young; I like, rather, to shift them the oftener, 17

VOL. XIII.NO. IV.

never by any means giving them more than a size larger pot at a shift. Give them plenty of drainage, always placing a portion of coarse fibrous peat or moss over the crocks, to prevent the soil washing through them, and taking care to place the neck of the plant high up in the pot, so as to give a fall from the stem to the rim; this precaution, with good drainage, will prevent them from damping off at the neck, which they are very liable to do when kept too damp or overwatered, if potted too low. In repotting large specimens, it is a good plan, where they require a large pot, to place a pot reversed in the bottom of the large one, and fill nearly to the top with crocks and coarse material; for heaths do not require a deep soil, and it will give a better drainage.

The soil most suitable for heaths, is a fibrous sandy peat, which is rather difficult to procure in this neighborhood; at least I have found it so. The compost I have generally used has been well decomposed leaf-mould, with a portion of the most peaty soil I could procure, using more or less of the peat, according to its quality; sometimes I have used nothing but leaf-mould, mixing equal parts of white sand, and rather coarse river or brook sand; all the coarse fibrous lumps should be chopped small and retained in the compost, in order to make the soil porous. The soil by no means should ever be sifted for heaths, not even for young plants, as it becomes too compact and heavy; the best sand for heaths is freestone sand, and a good portion of it used in small lumps, about the size, and some larger, than peas; it is also the best for propagating when it can be procured.

As to propagating, I need say but little upon this head, as most of the varieties are increased with little difficulty; most of them strike well from cuttings, made of half-ripened young wood; and they can be propagated at any season that the wood is in that state. They should be covered with a bell glass, and be carefully watered, keeping them in a cool and shaded situation. Some of the varieties are more difficult to strike than others, and I find some will root better if the wood is perfectly ripe; but it requires a greater length of time and they are not so liable to damp off; then again, there are some kinds that I have been unsuccessful with. I have tried cuttings taken from the plant just at the time that it is beginning

to grow, and this way I have always succeeded with the most difficult kinds; but they require to be kept very close for a great length of time. I send you a list of some of the

best varieties:

Beaumontiana,

Willmoreȧna,

báccans,

hyemalis,

tricolor,

Hartnéllii,

ventricosa supérba,

Bowiedna,

Niveniòna,

Bedfordiana,

pannosa,

vestita coccinea,

Coventryana,
nigricans,
Lambertiana,

grandinosa,
a'rdens supérbus,
persoluta,

Aitoniana,

prægnans,
Rollissonii,

vestita álba,

Archeriana,

bicolor.

Nonantum Vale Gardens, March, 1847.

ART. VII. Notice of Some of the Mosses of New England. By WM. OAKES, Ipswich, Mass.

MOSSES OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS.

THE alpine region of the White Mountains, though a perfect garden of Lichens, is exceedingly unfavorable to Mosses, from the great and sudden changes of temperature, but principally from the great dryness which often prevails for several weeks. In the forests at the sides and base of the mountains are found many of the common mosses of New England, with others which belong to its northern regions. Their number, however, does not appear to be very great, though many of the species grow in great luxuriance and profusion. The following list contains most of the interesting species, both of the alpine region and the base. Specimens of many of these have already been published in the magnificent volumes of the Musci Alleghanienses of Mr. Sullivant, our excellent American Muscologist.

Hy'pnum denticulàtum, L. Alpine. Base.

stramineum, Dicks. Sullivant, Musc. Allegh. 38. Alpine. Base.
mólle, Dicks. Alpine.

var. alpéstre. H. alpestre, Swartz. Base.