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PLANTS IN POTS. 81 
day or two, till even the healthy part of the roots is thoroughly 
chilled, and the plant, if of a delicate nature, is destroyed. The 
reverse of all this should be the case. The plant should never be 
suffered to become so dry as to have the mould in a crumbling state; 
but if such a circumstance has been suffered to occur, it should be 
well watered with warm water of at least the temperature of the 
room, and better if rather warmer. Enough of this water should be 
given to fill the saucer; in order that every part of the mould and of 
the roots may imbibe some benefit from the moisture; but as soon 
as this has been done, the pot should be lifted out of the saucer, and 
the water thrown away, as nothing can be more injurious to the 
roots of most plants, than to have the pot they grow in kept stand- 
ing in water. There are, however, some exceptions to this rule, such 
as all the kinds of Mimulus, the Hydrangea, Calla ethiopica, and 
some kinds of Calceolaria. All these, and all marsh plants, require 
abundance of water, and will not flower well unless the saucer be 
kept half full, though the water should be changed every day. 
It is also a common fault to put plants kept in rooms, into too 
large pots; or, as the gardeners express it, to over-pot them. This 
has always a bad effect. If the soil be good, and not over-watered, 
the plants will indeed grow rapidly; but it wiil be to produce leaves 
and branches instead of flowers: and if the soil be over-watered, the 
mass of soddened soil round the roots has the same effect upon them 
as stagnant water in the saucer. The soil should always be in such 
a state as to admit air with the water to the roots; and this it cannot 
do when it becomes a blackened paste by being saturated with water. 
At the same time, frequent repotting is often absolutely Bey to 
keep the plants in a dwarf compact habit of growth, and pre 
them from being drawn up. The in which gardeners ascertain 
when repotting is necessary, is by turning the plant out of its pot 
with the ball of earth attached; and if they find the roots look white 
round the outside of the saint then the plant should be transferred 
to a larger pot, but only one size larger: afterwards it may be re- 
potted again if necessary, but always to a pot only a little larger than 
the one it was taken from. By persevering in this mode of treatment 
fer some time, and never advancing more than one size at a time, a 
plant may be grown to a large size, and made to produce abundance 
of flowers; while by the contrary treatment, that is, suffering it to re- 
main in a very small pot, or shifting it suddenly into a very large 
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