624 GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 



many of our heathn, azaleas, camellias, kc. &c. ; bat better far to keep them 

 entirely under glass than leave them out too late in the season. If plants 

 were only endowed with the gift of speech, what a hubbub there would be by 

 many a sheltered hedge, sequestered nook, and sunny wall, during this month, 

 — what outspoken criticisms and satirical onslaughts upon man's boasted 

 knowledge of plant-life would be heard. How intensely sceptical they would 

 one and all be concerning our affection and esteem for their fragrance and 

 beauty. ''Deeds, not words," we submit, is what they would exclaim in angry 

 chorus. " It must either be the perfection of ignorance or cruelty to leave us 

 starving here in the cold October blast, while our winter home is pale with 

 the excitement of new paint and whiting to bid us welcome in. 1 fad He who 

 made us and bade us enwrap the earth in a fragrant mantle of beauty foreseen 

 the perversity or stupidity of our mastei-s. He would have added to His other 

 great and good gifts the gift of locomotion, and made us alike independent 

 of your fussy indulgence and tardy help, where help is most needed." 



1962. Well, they are all safe at last, and a blush of beauty mantles over 

 every inch of flowers, and leaves an expression at once of remorse for unldnd 

 thoughts in the past, and of gratitude for present favoui's. 



1963. But are they safe ? " Why, yes ; I never saw them look better. Only 

 the pots seemed heavy — the surface-soil somewhat greasy — with an occasional 

 elevation here and there, as if a mimic Vesuvius had been upheaving its semi- 

 liquid strata, and some of the leaves had a bluish, slightly-shrivelled, highly- 

 polished appearance. But upon the whole, — I say upon the whole or part 

 either, — no symptoms could be worse. Unless the greatest vigilance and skill 

 are at once brought to bear upon the plants, patches of dead and dying 

 leaves, lingering disease, and sudden deaths, will De the winter enjoyment in 

 reserve for you. All healthy root-action has been paralyzed by the combined 

 influence of water and worms. By their disintegrating and disorganizing 

 forces, both the quality and texture of the soil have been changed. While in 

 the open ground, worms are efficient drainers enough ; one of the great results 

 of their presence in pots is to render all drainage impossible. They first grind 

 down the soil into small particles, ana then work tnis finely-comminuted 

 earth down among the drainage. This peculiar process blocks up the outlet 

 for the exit of water, and speedily converts the wet composts into sheer 

 mud. Not only the mechanical texture, but the chemical composition of soils 

 thus water-logged and worm-worked, become so changed as to totally unfit 

 them for the sustentation of plant-life. The roots are gorged with crude food, 

 and kept in a dirty bath of muddy water. No wonder, then, at yellow leaves, 

 drooping flower-buds, and sickly hues, ending in death. Keen winds, and 

 heavy, dashing, cold rains or hail, are almost equally injurious. Their 

 influence is less seen and more irremediable at the time ; but it is equally 

 potent afterwards. Those blotches, patches, and bruises, so common on 

 leaves and tender branches of plants in winter, mostly originate from keeping 

 them out too late in the autumn. Nothing can possibly be gained— much, 

 yes, everything, may be lost— by the practice. Every prudential, sanitary. 



