WINDOW GARDENING. 93 



remarkable manner, and when in this state it should never be used without being 

 previously moistened. 



Potting. — Much of the success in cultivating plants in pots depends upon a proper 

 method of potting and shifting them. The pots, if not new ones, should be scrupu- 

 lously clean and quite dry ; for not only is a dirty pot unsightly, but it materially 

 affects the health of the plant, and with a clean pot, the ball of earth can be more 

 readily examined or reshifted when necessary. Every pot should be well drained 

 with an inch or two of broken crocks, the quantity depending on the size of the 

 pot. The manner in which the fragments are disposed is not unimportant. The 

 bottom should not be covered with a flat crock — for in that case the water could not 

 so readily pass off— but by a hollow one placed so as to form an arch over the drain- 

 hole, with a few smaller ones placed over and around it, covering the whole with a 

 layer of turf-peat or moss, to prevent the soil being washed round the larger crocks, 

 which would obstruct the drainage, and cause the soil to become sour and unhealthy ; 

 upon this a layer of soot may be disposed, which will often have the effect of 

 preventing the entrance of worms when the pots are placed out in the summer 

 season. When a newly rooted cutting or seedling are potted, a larger supply of 

 drainage is generally required than in the case of older plants, for the young plants 

 are unable to assimilate so much moisture as those in which the roots are more 

 numerous. 



In potting, the plant should be kept upright in the centre of the pot, the roots 



being spread out, and the soil should then be filled in around the plant, shaking it 



down at every addition, and taking especial care to keep the neck of the plant at 



the surface of the soil. It is a common, but very injurious practice, to bury an inch 



or two of the stem of the plant, which cannot be too much reprobated. In summer, 



a space of at least an inch or more should be left between the surface of the soil and 



the top of the pot, to allow of an efficient application of water ; but in winter a 



smaller space will suffice, and will indeed be preferable, for the plants will then be 



less liable to over-watering. In shifting a plant to a larger pot (one of the easiest 



operations connected with gardening) it should be turned downwards upon the 



right hand, with the neck of the stem between the fingers. The pot may then be 



readily removed with the left hand ; if it adheres to the soil, a tap on the edge will 



generally be sufficient to separate them ; if this fail, pressure may be applied to the 



crocks through the drain-hole. A plant should never be allowed to remain in a pot 



until the roots have become a compact mass; in such cases, it is often necessaiy to 



break the pot to insure removal without injury to the plant. "When the pot has 



been removed, the drainage fragments should be taken off the cone of soil, and the 



ball of earth may then be placed in the centre of a large pot, the fresh soil beiDg 



filled in around as previously directed for the cutting. Above the broken crocks 



employed in drainage, a few fragments of crushed bones and small lumps of charcoal 



