FLO 



230 



FLO 



prevent the plants suffering from want 

 of moisture ; and 

 Fig. 47. when empty, the 



roots will be pre- 

 served from being 

 killed by evapora- 

 tion. But surely 

 applying the water 

 to the sides will be 

 an extra induce- 

 ment for the roots 

 to gather there, an effect most de- 

 sirable to avoid, and wetting the outsides 

 of the pot is a very doubtful mode of 

 preventing the reduction of tempera- 

 ture. 



tor of the Plymouth Fig. 50. 



Nursery, proposed 

 to improve the drain- 

 age of pots, by ele- 

 vating and piercing 

 their bottoms. This, 

 and Mr. Brown's, 

 suggested to me that 

 of which Fig. 50 is 

 a section. 



It is merely two pots, one fitting 

 within another, having its bottom in- 

 dented and pierced as proposed by 

 Mr. Rendle, but not touching the outer 

 pot by half an inch all round. This 

 is a most effectual form to secure drain- 

 age, and to prevent the evaporation from 

 the sides of the inner pot, the interven- 

 ing stratum of confined air being a bad 

 conductor of heat. It has the merit 

 too of cheapness. — JohnsoWs Gardener''s 



FLOWER STAGES are made for the 

 exhibition of flowers at shows, in the 

 green-house, and elsewhere. The fol- 

 lowing are some very judicious obser- 

 vations on the subject: — "The first 

 object in the construction of stages 

 should be to have them so constructed 

 and situated as to afford facilities for 

 grouping plants ; the second should be 

 to give plants more the appearance of 

 growing in borders, than upon artificial 

 structures; and the third to keep the 

 pot out of sight. This is requisite for 

 two reasons; first, because they are no 

 ornament, and secondly, that it is always 

 desirable to protect the plant from being 

 scorched by exposure to the sun. It is 

 also desirable to adopt another mode of 

 construction, for the purpose of giving 

 plants that aspect which is most suited 

 to their habits; and therefore, instead of 

 placing the stages from the front to the 

 back of the house, as is generally the 

 case, I would place them in groups of 

 stages, thus producing an effect similar 

 to the borders in a well-arranged flower 

 garden. 



"The spectators in their progress 

 where it is most from group to group would be attracted 

 wanted, and to pro- by the separate display in each, instead 

 tect it at the same : of having their attention drawn away by 

 time from slugs and a whole blaze of beauty at once, 

 other creeping in-! "The accompanying drawings (Fig. 

 sects, which will not 51) represent the manner in which I 



Saul's Fountain 

 Fig. 48. Flower Pot (Fig. 



4S), seems open 

 to the same objec- 

 tions, with the ad- 

 ditional disadvan- 

 tages of not being 

 easily drained, and 

 being more ex- 

 pensive and cum- 

 bersome. The water also is forced in at 

 the bottom of the pot, contrary to the 

 course of nature in applying moisture to 

 plants. " An outer basin is made on the 

 bottom of the pot, to which the water 

 enters at a, and is carried round the pot in 

 the basin, there being two or three holes 

 through tlie pot's bottom bbb. By these 

 means the water is drawn up from the 

 basin by the roots of the plants (!) or, 

 if it should be desirable to prevent it 

 from being drawn up, the exterior ori- 

 fices of the holes, which open into the 

 basin or saucer, may be closed (!) The 

 fountain is supplied with water by taking 

 out the stopper c, the entrance into the 

 basin at a, being at that moment closed ; 

 and as soon as the water runs over at c, 

 the cork or stopper is put in, and the 

 stopper at a removed." — Card. Mag. 

 March, 1843, 136. 



Mr. Stephens' Flower Pot (Fig. 49) 



is intended to supply 



Fig. 49. water to the plant 



pass over the water 

 between the two 

 rims. — Ibid. 



Mr. Rendle, the intelligent proprie- 



propose that such stages as have been 

 described should be constructed and 

 placed in any floricultural building. The 

 ground plan represents part of the floor 



