THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 101 



Plungiiii^ in common earth, that is to say, in the soil of the place, 

 is possible, but not desirable. So we may use sawdust, or old tan, 

 or even moss, or coal ashes. But tliere is nothing half so good as 

 the cocoa-nut fibre ; it is always clean and moist, never wet, never 

 dry, pleasing to look at (as before remarked upon), harbours no 

 vermin, and a lady careful of her hands, may work at plunging pots 

 in it, and scarcely find one stain upon her fingers when the work 

 is done. The next best thing is tan, the next best moss. Plung- 

 ing in mould is allowable, iDut not advisable ; but coal ashes are 

 simply filthy, and to adopt them in the " plunging system," that is, 

 as an element in a decorative system, is heresy ; let no reader of the 

 Floral AVoeld ever confess to it, for fear of anathema maranatha. 

 With cocoa-nut and tan there is no need at all to make provision 

 for the drainage of the pots, but in plunging in common mould or 

 coal ashes, it is necessary to place a brick or an empty inverted pot 

 under every pot containing a plant, to prevent the plant becoming 

 water-logged, and also to keep out v^'orms. 



But here is the cart before the horse : we want a Frenchman 

 to arrange these ideas in proper sequence, for to the Englishman 

 sequence is impossible. Well, if I tell all the tale, I suppose I shall 

 be forgiven if I put the last chapter in the middle of the story. The 

 question now is about the formation of the plunge beds. In places 

 where stone or wooden edgings are already in use, there is not much 

 difficulty. You decide what is to be the width of the plunge 

 border, and to that width the earth is to be dug out. If the border 

 is narrow^ (say three feet), a depth of eighteen inches will be 

 enough, because very large pots will not be used. But if wide (say 

 six feet), it may be cut to a sloping bottom twelve inches at the 

 extreme front to three feet at the extreme rear, which will allow of 

 the largest pots or tubs with specimen conifers for the back row in 

 winter time' But I say, find out all these particulars for yourselves ; 

 that is far better than following any ready-made rules, for in some 

 places good plunging will be done with small pots, and in other 

 places good plunging will be done in large pots ; so again some 

 practitioners Avill indulge largely in winter trees, and some will only 

 care for summer flowers, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc. Where beds 

 are cut in grass, it is an easy matter to take out the earth and put 

 in suitable plunging material ; where there is a grass vero;e to a 

 border there can be no difficulty in cutting sharp to it ; but in case 

 of a box or thrift edging, the cutting must be done with care, or the 

 edo-ing may be killed. Put down the line three inches from the live 

 edging, and cut down sloping, so as to spare the roots. If flooring 

 boards, or any rough planking can be afl'orded, line the bed with 

 timber, back and front, as shown in the diagram, where we suppose 



Plunge i g Soil 



p!^ Planted. 



Bed. 



