April 17, 1866. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTDEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



285 



with in all her works is here as well as in the former case fully 

 borne out. 



The above cases represent what water is after having been 

 in contact with the various substances that constitute the sur- 

 face, or, it may be, the substratum. The one is impregnated 

 with substances hostile to the plants growing in the other soil. 

 Taking the practical view of the subject, it is only necessary to 

 step into the first garden of note where there may happen to 

 be as many as one hundred different kinds of plants in pots, 

 and on inquiry most likely we shall find that these plants are 

 from districts diSering widely from each other in their geo- 

 logical formation. The sandy plain, limestone ridge, the morass 

 charged with ferruginous matter, and the lofty peaks of granite, 

 have all been explored to find these plants, and, until lately, 

 instructors in the art of plant-growing contented themselves 

 with merely describing the soil they were to be planted in, not 

 giving the subject of water the least attention, or rather not 

 saying a word about the quality of that water, beyond pointing 

 out how much water such a plant ought to have, and making 

 similar remarks. This advice, no doubt, is good enough, when 

 pure rain water can be had, but water is so very seldom found 

 in that condition, that evils must arise to some of the plants to 

 which it is appUed ; and, no doubt, one of the causes of parti- 

 cular classes of plants not doing well at certain places, is the 

 water with which they are fed not suiting them. Taking, for 

 instance, the case of a potted plant which receives water almost 

 every day, it need not be surprising that where such water is 

 of an exactly contrary kind to the soil which the plant delights 

 in, such a mixture cannot be otherwise than injurious. 



Let us take, for instance, a very common c;ise, and one that 

 may often be met with. A collection of Cape Heaths is formed 

 by some skilfiJ and attentive culiivator at a place where we 

 may say that chalk or hme forms the substratum, and, con- 

 sequently, is a component of the soil of the district. Peat, 

 however, of excellent quality is imported from a distance, and 

 for a time things go on well, llaiu water is collected and sup- 

 phed to the plants ; but dry weather sets in, and the rain-water 

 butts fail, and recourse must be had to the well at a time when 

 the plants require more water, and all classes of plants are 

 perforce supplied with spring water. The effects of this are not 

 apparent at first, but a continuance tells, and some of the more 

 deUcate of the Heaths show unmistakeable signs of declining 

 health, if not absohite disease, when, perhaps, their down- 

 ward career is arrested by a copious rain refilling the water- 

 butts, and the plants are again put on more befitting food. 

 Another dry period may, however, succeed, and the conclusion 

 may be arrived at, that as the Heaths do not seem to thrive, 

 there must be something wrong. 



,Such cases are numerous, and call for some mode of remov- 

 ing from water those substances which it has acquired in its 

 contact with the earth, and restoring it to the condition in 

 which it fell from the clouds, and that is unquestionably the 

 best possible form in which it can be supplied to plants. 



Can our chemical friends effect this by any simple, cheap, 

 and efficacious means ? Assuredly something can be done, and 

 it is well worth the consideration of that class of experimen- 

 taUsts whose aim is to improve the many necessaries of the 

 pubUc, and this is one not merely beneficial to the vegetable 

 world, but to animal Ufe also. 



Water cannot even remain long in contact with the vessels 

 or substances contrived to hold it without imbibing some foreign 

 matter from such receptacles. The difijculty of preserving 

 rain water pure and fresh for a lengthened period is greater 

 than may be expected. Tanks sunk under the surface are often 

 used ; but if the ground be porous, such tanks have to be lined 

 with something that will render them water-tight. Lead is 

 thought too expensive in many cases, and accordingly cement is 

 used, and Portland cement, which has the reputation of being 

 the best, certainly imparts an extreme hardness to the water at 

 first, rendering it worse than even ordinary well water. This 

 tendency to cause hardness goes off by degrees ; but it is often 

 years before it entirely disappears. Water from tanks having 

 such an effect, I need hardly say, is very hurtful to plants, and 

 it should, theiefore, if possible, be avoided. Remedies of the 

 ordinary practical sort have not yet become sufficiently known 

 or brought into use. Some years ago it was said that a charcoal 

 fire made in the tank before it was used would counteract the 

 tendency to produce hardness ; but practice soon discovered 

 that such a mode was destructive to the tank, and it has only 

 been partially adopted. With time and patience a tank will 

 become seasoned ; but three or four years are often required to 

 do so, and this cannot always be allowed. 



Much more might be added on this head, but enough has 

 been said to prove the importance of the question ; and as the 

 sm-face of the earth on an average receives in the eastern parts 

 of the kingdom about 24 inches of water in the form of rain 

 every year, it is not too much to say that the quantity given by 

 hand to plants in pots amounts to at least ten times that quan- 

 tity, and must, as it assuredly does, convey to the plant much 

 of its daily food. It is not assuming too much to say that far 

 better results would follow if such food were of the same kind 

 as supphed by Nature. — J. Koeson. 



SOWING AND AFTER-MANAGEMENT 



OP PELARGONIUMS, VERBENA!?, AND OTHER CHOICE SEEDS 

 (Continued from page 85.) 



The Vekbena.— It is often difficult to induce the seeds of 

 the Verbena to vegetate ; great caution is, therefore, necessary 

 in keeping the soil as nearly of an equable temperature as 

 possible after the seeds have been sown. Care must also be 

 taken to keep the soil in the same state of moisture till after 

 the seedlings appear above the siurface, when they should be 

 immediately pricked out into small pots or pans. If either of 

 the above conditions be allowed to vary, the vegetation of the 

 seeds may be prolonged to an indefinite period, and then it 

 often happens that the seedsman falls into tUsrepute, although 

 the fault is not in the seeds but in the management of them 

 after they have been sown. Sometimes under favourable con- 

 ditions Verbena seed will vegetate in five or seven weeks, and 

 I have known it remain in the soil for more than two years 

 before it germinated. Some of my very best flowers have been 

 obtained from seed that has rem.ained dormant in the soil for 

 upwards of two years. This fact should teach us the necessity 

 of exercising our patience when we have sown a pan of choice 

 seeds, and, if the seedlings do not appear at the proper time, 

 not to throw the contents of the pan to the rubbish-heap. 



If the seedlings do not appear in seven or fifteen weeks, my 

 plan is to carefuUy turn out the soil in which the seeds have 

 been sown, have some fresh pans crocked, and then place the 

 soil in these, mixing with it a little fresh soil, and finishing off 

 with half an inch of fresh soil on the surface. I then water 

 the pans through a fine rose, and place them again in a similar 

 temperature to that in which they previously were. I have 

 often found Verbena seeds vegetate very freely after having 

 been thus treated. If, notwithstanding, I do not obtain the 

 number of plants which I consider I ought from the quantity 

 of seed sown, and if the seed is particularly choice, I give it a 

 third chance. I first select a comer that is not likely to be 

 wanted for fifteen or eighteen months. Here an old box is 

 placed on a very gentle hotbed, some good soil is spread over 

 the bed, the contents of the pans are turned out and levelled 

 all over the surface, and, an inch or two of good soil having 

 been placed on the top, a good watering is given. I have often 

 on looking over the box on the fifth or sixth day afterwards, 

 noticed lots of the little lance-shaped leaves appearing above 

 the soil, then with a small saucer or a leaf in one hand and a 

 piece of wood, in shape something like a table-knife, in the 

 other, I quickly remove them, but in doing this the piece of 

 wood must be ])ushed down below the root of tlie plant, which 

 should then be lifted gradu.ally up so that it may be loosened 

 from the soil without breaking it, for if this is not done very 

 carefully it will be sure to snap off midway between the root 

 and leaf. When this happens in most cases all the skill that 

 can be brought to bear will prove of no avail ; but if the plants, 

 however small they may be, are taken up without injury to 

 their roots, they will grow if proper care be taken in pricking 

 them into fresh pots, or pans, of good soil and in attending 

 to them afterwards. 



I prefer pricking-out the plants round the side of the pot, 

 and as close to it as possible. They should also be pricked 

 into the fresh soil to just the same depth as they were at 

 before taking them out of the seed-pan or box. If they are 

 placed in a temperature of 75°, they will soon grow very freely, 

 and as soon as they have made three or four pairs of leaves, 

 they should be again pricked out into boxes, or potted singly 

 into large CO or 48-6ized pots. 



As soon as the plants have become partly established in the 

 pots or boxes, if the seed is from very choice varieties, I take 

 off the top of each plant and strike it. This will be very soon 

 in flower, and the parent plant in the meantime will become 

 stocky. By the time the latter is ready for planting out the 

 cutting will have flowered, proving whether it is worth while to 



