THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



273 



the vinery, or in the strawberry-house ; 

 give them a good wutering, with tepid 

 water, and you will sac the advantage of 

 the troHgh over the pot. They will send 

 their roots down in the troughs, and all 

 around the sides, developing their beautiful 

 glossy leaves, and sending up their immense 

 trusses of bloom. I give plenty of air when 

 they are in bloom, and they will set well ; 

 they will only require watering once a 

 week in the troughs during the mouths of 

 December, January, and February ; and 

 twice a week in March, April, and May, 

 will be quite sutficient, whicli, I think, is 

 a very great advantage over pot culture. 

 Amongst extensive growers, and where 

 labour is an important item in the spring, 

 when there is so much to be done in every 

 department, one thousand, or fifteen hun- 

 dred, pots to be watered every day, and 

 twice a day when very hot, will and does 

 take up a very great amount of time and 

 labour. For a late crop in troughs, the 

 following plan may be adopted, and will 

 produce a good crop, witI;out the use of j^ots. 

 Take off young plants, or runners, the first 

 week in July. Make choice of those that 

 have roots from half an inch to one inch 

 in length. Prepare a bed, in a good open 



situation, five feet wide, and any height 

 that may be required. Make the surface 

 of the bed when marked off, very solid, and 

 put on a layer of good rotten stable manure, 

 and cover with three inches of soil from the 

 sides or alleys. Make the bed level, and 

 plant one foot apart. Press the soil firmly 

 around, and keep them well watered. They 

 will soon make new root, and by the 

 autumn will be strong plants. Take them 

 up in March, very carefully, and plant in 

 the trough. 



The sorts that I cultivate are Keen's 

 Seedling for early, and British Queen for a 

 late crop. The troughs may be made orna- 

 mental, and placed on the side-board when 

 the fruit is ripe, and no one will be in 

 doubt, I think, as to their appearance. I 

 can only say, I have grown strawberries for 

 dessert,"^ for the market, and the exhibition 

 table, and have been a successful exhibitor, 

 and I have grown them in different ways ; 

 but I have never carried such a crop, and 

 grown them to the perfection as I have in 

 the troughs, during the commencement of 

 the present year. J. Spaek.es, 



Gardener to W. Joynsen, Esq. 



St. Marl/ Cray. 



THE AET OF WATERINa PLANTS IN POTS. 



As I have a good deal to do in various 

 ways with amateur gardeners, 1 have fre- 

 quent opportunities of noticing their short- 

 comings in a variety of particulars. In 

 ninety-nine cases out of a hundred almost, 

 ladies and gentlemen who are excessively 

 fond of flowers have a little plot of garden, 

 perhaps a greenhouse and a frame or two, 

 and bestow a good deal of time, money, 

 and pains, do not realize the results they 

 think they have a right to expect as the 

 reward of their application. I thinic we 

 may place some portion of the fiiilure to the 

 account of the want of tact, whicli Jolmson 

 defines to be " experttiess and skill in the 

 management of any affair ; ready talent." 

 Let something more go down to the lack of 

 untiring vigilance, indomitable applica- 

 tion. One single neglect of some jiarticu- 

 lar item in the routine of management 

 will sometimes render nugatory a whole 

 year's attention. If the clock discontinues 

 its ticking, notwithstanding the monotony 

 of the process, family and business arrange- 

 ments are thrown into confusion. Then, 

 again, observation quite justifies me in 

 saying, that, in verymanycaaea.^oarnisuld, 

 injudicious mixture of soil, bad potting, 

 and imperfect drainage, completely block 



up the way to success. But the one great 

 hmdrance, on which L purpose for a mo- 

 ment or two to dwell, is injudicious water- 

 ing. To be plain, there is no rule that can 

 be laid down for watering plants in pots. 

 Some persons ask, " Should not plants in 

 pots be watered every day ?" The answer 

 is, "Every collection of plants in pots 

 should be looked over every day, and those 

 that are dry should be watered promptly 

 and sufficiently." Let me explain what I 

 mean by "sufficiently." Wlien a j^lant is 

 potted, there is a space between the surface 

 of the mould in the pot and the margin of 

 the pot ; this is to hold the water necessary 

 for the plant growing in the pot ; if the 

 space is pretty deep, say three-quarters of 

 an inch, or an inch, this space quite filled 

 up with water, will generally be enough 

 for one dose. If the space is shallower, 

 and the plant is very dry, it may be filled 

 up two or three times, as the case may be, 

 until the ball is thoi-oughly moistened. If 

 the ball has got so dry that the earth has 

 shrunk away from the sides of the pot, and 

 the water, when poured in, runs away be- 

 tween the ball and the pot without pene- 

 trating among the roots, after the first dose 

 has been given, draw the finger all round 

 N 2 



