THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



95 



dow8, and, in fact, for the decoration 

 of a distinct garden within a garden 

 — such, in fact, as my forecourt hap- 

 pens to be — a place apart from the 

 rest of the ground, and which being 

 seen daily and hourly, needs to be 

 more lavishly dealt with than any 

 other part of the vast and princely 

 estate. 



But you will be asking, What 

 does all this mean — what is the plung- 

 ing system? Well, it can be de- 

 scribed in a word — i\ consists in 

 plunging potted plants in the open 

 ground ; and that plunging may be 

 well done or ill done, and the group- 

 ing may be according to good or bad 

 taste, as suits the desire and means 

 and knowledge and ability of the 

 operator. I have followed the system 

 more or less for more than fifteen 

 years, having begun by plunging 

 potted evergreens to fill up beds in 

 winter, and having now attained to 

 such a mastery of the business that 

 I can cheat you into a belief that it 

 is high summer any day throughout 

 the year, and you shall only discover 

 the cheat by the fit of sneezing that 

 the east wind may cause when you 

 take off your hat and make obeisance 

 to my ivies and conifers, which, when 

 undeceived, you aver you thought, 

 by their brightness and beauty, 

 were wonderful exotics just put out 

 to be killed with the cold, instead of, 

 as they are, common, cheap, hardy 

 things, that thrive the better for the 

 use to which they are put. I used 

 to plunge in the common soil, and 

 when the trees were removed, the 

 beds were planted in the usual way. 

 There were evils connected with that 

 method that could not be tolerated 

 with any extension of the system. It 

 was hard work to dig holes, and in- 

 sert huge pots in their places, and it 

 was needful to place bricks and tiles 

 under the pots, to prevent them be- 

 coming waterlogged ; and to move a 

 few at any time was a great trouble, 

 for after a week's rain the heavy soil 

 would consolidate about the pots like 

 so much cement. The remedy for 

 those evils was cocoa-nut dust. The 

 beds furnished on the plunging sys- 

 tem consist of two feet depth of cocoa- 

 nut fibre refuse only. The conse- 



quences of the adoption of this 

 material to plunge the pots in are not 

 only to render the operation of plung- 

 ing more expeditious and cleanly, 

 and to do away with any need for 

 measures to prevent the pots becom- 

 ing waterlogged ; but the appearance 

 of the material, as compared with 

 soil for the same purpose, is im- 

 mensely superior ; the beauty of 

 leaves and flowers is enhanced by 

 the contrast of the clean brown sur- 

 face against which they are seen, and 

 evergreen shrubs especially never 

 look so fresh and bright as when 

 plunged in beds of cocoa-nut. Then 

 there are other advantages of the use 

 of this material. In case of neglect 

 in watering, the plants plunged in it 

 suffer less ; in case of excessive water- 

 ing or long-continued rains, there is 

 little fear of injury to the plants, for 

 the material has the peculiar quality 

 of absorbing a certain amount of 

 moisture, and no more ; it is rarely 

 wet, and it is never dry ; if the soil 

 below is at all receptive, so as to 

 carry away the surplus moisture,, 

 cocoa-nut fibre refuse never becomes 

 soddened with water. It is, more- 

 over, a tolerably good non-conductor 

 of heat, and hence is warm in winter 

 and cool in summer — that is to say, 

 does not readily vary in temperature, 

 and hence is well adapted to screen 

 the roots of potted plants from atmos- 

 pheric influences. Lastly, as to this 

 part of the business, if a large mass 

 of cocoa-nut fibre is heaped together 

 — say not less than two cart-loads 

 — a slow fermentation takes place, 

 and the temperature rises four or 

 five degrees above the mean of the 

 atmosphere surrounding it. If then 

 a large bed is made up for plunging, 

 plants of comparatively delicate con- 

 stitution may be placed in it, and the 

 gentle warmth will tend to their pre- 

 servation and improvement; and in 

 the case of plants plunged in winter 

 and early spring, the slow fermenta- 

 tion of the material is of necessity 

 antagonistic to the penetration of 

 frost to the roots ; and thus in many 

 ways the cocoa-nut fibre is far superior 

 to mould for plunging, and its appear- 

 ance is so neat and cleanly, that 

 wherever it has been once used, it 



