PLANT POTTING. 



379 



the pots in general use if they were made 

 three times their usual thickness. As we 

 frequently find them, they are nothing hut 

 a mere shell. In such pots, the roots of 

 plants are injuriously acted upon by scorch- 

 ing sun and parching winds; whereas, if 

 they were of a thicker substance, the roots 

 would not only he uninjured hy the sun, 

 but the gentle heat then imparted would be 

 productive of good. 



Preparing the Plants. — A plant should 

 not be potted when it is very dry, nor when 

 soaked with wet. If in the former case, it 

 is very likely to remain so. As the water 

 will pass through the fresh soil without 

 penetrating into the old ball of earth ; and 

 if in the latter state, it is not in a very good 

 condition to be surrounded with an addi- 

 tional layer of eatth. When the roots are 

 thickly interwoven they should be carefully 

 disengaged, that they may be spread out 

 into the fresh soil ; but in shifting young, 

 healthy, growing plants, with the roots just 

 reaching the side of the pot, they should 

 not be disturbed, as it is important to pre- 

 serve the smaller fibres, upon whose action 

 the health of the plant chiefly depends. 



I have seen some persons reduce the ball 

 of earth, by cutting off all the matted roots, 

 with perhaps an inch of soil, — and after 

 paring it into a nice shape, and depriving 

 the plant of all its most valuable spongi- 

 oles, place it into a pot perhaps not much 

 larger than the one it previously occupied ; 

 and after giving it a daily quantum of wa- 

 ter, with the additional care of shading and 

 syringing, it was considered a matter of 

 astonishment that it did not grow. It is 

 just in such cases as this that complaints 

 are likely to be raised against hard burned 

 pots, — want of proper soil, and similar ex- 

 cuses ; as few persons wish it to be under- 

 stood that there is any blame attachable to 

 them, or any deficiency in their system of 



management. Such practice is no doubt 

 of less frequent occurrence than formerly; 

 and I would not allude to it wore I not 

 aware that it may occasionally be met with 

 where something better might be expected. 



In cases when the plant is unhealthy, 

 and the roots in unfavorable soil, or in re- 

 potting deciduous plants that have been 

 kept in a state of rest during winter, the 

 ball of earth should be broken up and 

 nearly all shaken out, that the young roots 

 may at once enter the fresh soil. 



It is also necessary to examine the stem, 

 in order to guard against deep planting. 

 The ordinary advice — " Never plant deeper 

 than before," is well enough, 'provided, it 

 was not deep planted before. But this is too 

 frequently the case to be passed over in this 

 way; and when plants are raised from cut- 

 tings, they must necessarily be deeper 

 planted when young than is consistent with 

 their future welfare ; the soil should be 

 cleared away until the base of the stem is 

 level with the surface. I have seen valua- 

 ble plants lost through neglect in this re- 

 spect, even after they had attained con- 

 siderable size. 



Shifting the Plants. — When the large, 

 or one-shift system of potting was first in- 

 troduced, it was confidently and zealously 

 advocated by some, while others as strenu- 

 ously opposed it. It is generally the lot of 

 all improvement to encounter opposition. 

 And although, in some instances, the advo- 

 cates of this system rather overrated its 

 merits, yet many opposed it without giving 

 it a trial, and others failed for want of suf- 

 ficient knowledge to carry out the princi- 

 ple. What is meant by the one-shift sys- 

 tem is simply this, — that a plant may be 

 taken from the smallest sized pot, or even 

 out of the cutting pot, and placed at once 

 into one of the largest size, that from its 

 nature it is likely to occupy, — the advanta- 



