GROWING PLANTS IN POTS. 157 



when there is anything in their appearance that excites our 

 curiosity or demands a remedy. 



We might go on ad infinitum with the list of advantages 

 which pot-culture confers on the gardener, to say nothing of 

 the milHons that are grown for sale in their pots, and could 

 not be sold without them ; nor of the increased value of even 

 hardy plants that are kept in pots for the express purpose of 

 planting out at almost any age, without detriment to their 

 future progress. The proper study of plant-growing in pots 

 is therefore necessary to everybody who desires to be master 

 of his business or profession. The various departments for 

 plants in pots are, the cold-frame, the greenhouse, the forcing- 

 house, the stove, the conservatory ; and in all these there are 

 certain rules common to everything, as well as other rules 

 pecuhar to the department to which each may belong ; and 

 we shah devote our remarks first to those common to all. The 

 most important, then, is — 



Drainage. — This is the most important of all matters con- 

 nected with pot-culture. All pots have holes to let off the 

 superabundant moisture ; but if we contented ourselves with 

 filling a pot wdth soil, it would constantly wash through these 

 holes, and thus leave the roots hollow and unsupported; or if 

 it could not get away, by reason of the shelf or bottom on 

 which it was placed, it would stop the holes altogether, and 

 convert the wholesome soil into a hard impervious cake, or, 

 while wet, a muddy mass. Therefore there should be, first, 

 a piece of broken pot over the hole, not fitting close, and 

 above this a quantity of other broken pieces of pot, or char- 

 coal, or some other coarse rough stuff, filling one-fourth of the 

 pot in height, the top portion of these broken pots being 

 smaller than the others. The soil would then give out its 

 moisture all over alike, instead of being w^ashed to the single 

 outlet, and this moisture could run through the drainage, as 

 it is called, without taking any of the soil with it. Thus the 

 soil may be kept compact for a long period, and never be 

 soddened, as would be the case if the hole were stojDjDcd. 



Now those tens of thousands of pots in which ten-week 

 stocks, mignonette, and other plants, merely grown a few 

 months, to be marketed, are kept, do not require so much 

 precaution ; nor do any plants intended for bedding out before 

 they attain any age or size in their confinement. For instance, 

 all struck cuttings, merely potted for storing, only require a 



