318 BUIEF IlEMARKS. 



Broken pots, or crocks, as they are generally termed, are most in use ; 

 but charcoal, bones, bricks — broken up — or small stones, will answer 

 this purpose equally as well. Wiien the pots are large, a good system 

 is to invert a small pot in the bottom, filling the space between it and 

 the side of tiie pot with the drainage. 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 

 additional layer of earth. When the roots are thickly interwoven 

 they sliould 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 preserve the smaller fibi'es, upon whose action the 

 health of the plants chiefly depends. In cases when the plant is un- 

 healthy and the roots in unfavourable soil, or in repotting 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 tlie young 

 roots may at once enter tlie fresh soil. It is also necessary to examine 

 the stem, in order to guard against deep planting. The ordinarj- 

 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 iu this way ; and wiien plants are raised from cuttings, 

 they must necessarily be deeper planted when young than is consistent 

 with their future welfiire ; the soil should be cleared away until the 

 base of the stem is level with the surface. I have seen valuable plants 

 lost through neglect in this respect, even after they had attained con- 

 siderable size. It is necessary, especially in potting hard-wooded 

 plants, to make the soil moderately firm. It should not, however, be 

 rammed, but rather fitted in, spreading the roots into the fresh soil, 

 finishing off' wit!) a level surface, and leaving sufficient space for 

 watering. — HorticuUniist. 



'J'he Pleasures of Gardening.- — We know not one fancj', one 

 recreation, so unalloyed in all its points as the cultivation of a garden. 

 It seems to atibrd, in common with all the rest of the fancies, the full 

 enjoyment common to all, and to have a large balance in its favour. 

 The miser over his treasure gloats not more completely upon his 

 money than tlie gardener does upon his choice fruit, Howers, and 

 vegetables. The picture-collector is not prouder of his paintings than 

 the florist is of his Tulips ; nor does the owner of the ancient gems of 

 art point them out with more satisfaction than the gardener shows his 

 best named flowers. If the owner of a gallery of pictures has his 

 Rubens, his Leonardo da Vinci, his Paul Potter, so has the owner of a 

 bed of Tulips. Tlie florist combines in his single garden as manj-^ 

 fiuK'ies as would occupy half the population, and delights in all of 

 them. What if the conchologist boasts of Ins collection of shells? He 

 can only look at them in one state ; there tliey are, ahvays alike, no 

 change ; only a few people can see them at once, and not one in a 

 thousand, though they may be pleased with the beauty, can estimate 

 the rarity of them. The antiquarian pores over liis coins in solitude; 



