The Azalea Indica requires, speaking generally, the same treatment as the camellia, but instead of a loamy should have a peaty soil. As it is an easy matter to propagate them we shall begin with that part of the subject. It is an easy matter to procure seed, as the single varieties produce plenty. Sow as soon as ripe in pans of sandy peat and keep in a moist heat until started. Cuttings should be made from the shoots of the season when nearly but not quite ripe. The new varieties are generally sent out grafted on seedling stocks. The last method is a very simple affair of crown or cleft grafting, easily learnt and requiring only a little practice to make perfect in it. However, we recommend the amateur to obtain ready made nursery plants, for azaleas are never needed in such quantities in a private garden, as to render the propagating of the varieties worth the acquisition of the “knack” which is the key to success.
The best time to buy is in the spring. When the plants come home examine them well, as it is possible they may be infected with thrip, the sign of which is a sooty deposit on the under sides of the leaves. If they appear to be thrippy, shut them up and give them two doses of tobacco smoke, not only to cleanse them but to prevent the spread of the destructive pest. When the plants have flowered and begin to grow, put them in pots one or two sizes larger. The compost usually employed is one consisting of peat five parts, and one part sand, but we prefer equal proportions of silky yellow loam full of the roots of grass and tough fibrous peat, with a sixth part of the whole bulk of silver sand.
Azaleas are strictly greenhouse plants, but they receive immense benefit from the assistance of a genial temperature when making their growth in the spring. When the stock is fresh potted, place it in a temperature of about 65°, and maintain a healthy atmosphere by frequently sprinkling the paths and stages; also syringe overhead lightly morning and afternoon. Water sparingly, because the roots are too much deranged to take up a large supply; and, to keep up the balance, the evaporation must be checked in the manner pointed out above. Hundreds of azaleas are killed annually through improper watering, for they are remarkably impatient of being tampered with at the roots. It is a very common practice to give just sufficient to wet the soil to a depth of three or four inches below the surface, without troubling to
