418 THE GARDENER. [Sept. 



cultivator. Before bedding-out time comes round, they are com- 

 pletely pot-bound, and the pulling away of the drainage when they are 

 planted out does anything but give the plants a chance of taking 

 kindly to their new quarters without being checked. If, instead of 

 all this unnecessary drainage, one crock had been placed over each 

 hole in the box, a very small percentage of roots would have been lost 

 when potting them off in spring, and very little or no forcing required 

 to start them into growth ; then a little of the roughest of the com- 

 post placed in the bottom of the pot would amply secure the requisite 

 drainage, the plants would have more soil to work in, and at bedding- 

 out time not a root need be disturbed in planting them : in addition 

 to all this, at the lowest calculation, two men could do as much as 

 three in potting, besides the time saved in simply turning the plant 

 out of its pot, and inserting it in its place when planting out. In the 

 case of "Verbenas, Lobelias, Ageratums, and others, which are generally 

 grown in boxes, the same system of placing one " crock " over each 

 hole does equally well, and the advantage they have when taken out 

 with as good a ball as possible is most decided ; where so many crocks 

 are used, it is impossible to take the plants out without leaving the 

 crocks full of fine roots, whereas in the other case but few roots need 

 be lost. In the case of stove and greenhouse plants, and others which 

 grow quickly, and require repotting in but a little time, it is altogether 

 unnecessary to make use of many crocks for drainage. We find that 

 in 3-inch pots, used for cuttings or seedlings, a bit of turf answers 

 better than anything, except in the case of gross feeders such as the 

 Tomato, Cucumber, or Strawberry, when some rough dung does best ; 

 pieces of turf do well for draining fast-growing ''subjects" in 4-inch 

 pots, such as the two first mentioned or the Chrysanthemum, but it is 

 quite as well to place a bit of broken pot at bottom, then some roughish 

 material for species like the Chinese Primrose or the Calceolaria. A 

 like drainage is sufficient for sizes up to twenty-eights inclusive, but 

 if the plants are intended to flower in those sizes, it will be quite as 

 safe to add half-a-dozen pieces of potsherds as well. We have made 

 one large oyster-shell and some grassy turf do as drainage for sixteens, 

 but it was altogether an exceptional case, and not to be advised as a 

 rule ; it so happened that some vigorous-growing young Vines in twenty- 

 eights could not be repotted when they ought to have been, and the 

 quantity of roots they had made induced us to drain as stated, and 

 even then they filled the pots too quickly by a good deal. We believe 

 in taking as much care as possible of the roots of fast-growing plants 

 when repotting, though a good many are noways particular on this 

 point, and the mode of draining here recommended affords every chance 

 possible for saving the roots intact. If a plant be kept growing on 



