®, 
82 GREEN-HOUSE PLANTS. 
one, the stem will become weakened and elongated, and the flowers 
will be few and very poor. In short, on the skilful management of 
repotting, or shifting, as the gardeners call it, a great deal of the art 
of growing plants in pots depends. 
The best soil for plants in pots is generally peat mixed with vege- e 
table mould and sand; and the pots should be filled nearly a quarter 
of their depth with little bits of broken pots, called potshreds, so as 
to ensure complete drainage. When plants are shifted, they are 
turned out of their old pots with their balls of earth entire; the roots 
are then examined, and if any are wounded or decayed they should 
be cut off. The new pot having had a layer of potshreds placed at 
the bottom with a little earth, the plantis placed in the centre, so that 
the bole or collar may be just above the level of the rim, and the new 
earth is put in, and the pot being shaken to make it settle, the plant 
is then slightly watered, and set aside in the shade for the rest of the 
day. Plants should never be repotted when in flower; the best time 
is indeed when they are growing, before their flower buds begin to 
swell, as, when the flower buds have appeared, they should be 
allowed to remain undisturbed till the flowering season is completely 
over. Sometimes the soil in a pot looks black, and covered with 
moss. When this is the case, the plant should be turned out of the 
pot, and the black sodden earth shaken off the roots, which should 
be cut in, and should have all their decayed parts removed. The 
plant should then be repotted in another pot of the same, or nearly 
the same size as the one it was taken from, which should be well 
drained, and filled up with a compost of vegetable mould, sand, and 
peat. Thus treated, and only moderately but regularly watered with 
warm water, which should never be allowed to stand in the saucer, 
the plant will soon recover: and if judiciously pruned in, if it has be- 
come elongated, it will become handsome, and what gardeners call 
well grown. 
Another objection to growing plants in rooms is the great dif- 
ficulty that exists in keeping them clear of insects; particularly the 
Aphis, or green fly, and the kind of mite (Acarus telarius) com- 
monly called the red spider. These are generally destroyed by fu- 
migating them with some kind of fumigating bellows (see p. 78.) 
Washing with a syringe, and abundance of water, is, however, pro- 
pably a better mode; as it has been often observed that neither the 
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