160 PRACTICAL GARDENING. 



Heaths will thrive on this almost alone, and as a poor soil 

 which absorbs a great deal of moisture, it is adapted for every- 

 thing that does not want luxurious growth, but we only 

 mention it as an ingredient in almost all composts. 



iS^eat's dung, dried and rotted into mould, horse-dung, 

 poultry dung, deer, sheep, rabbits', and even pigs' dung, kept 

 free from extraneous matter and rubbish, are all valuable, and 

 should be saved distmct and separate from each other ; and 

 the rotting and preparation of all these will be promoted 

 greatly by frequent turning, so that a new siuface is exposed 

 to the weather each time. Sand also should be provided, — 

 clear river sand fi^ee from salts of any kind, or silver sand ; it 

 is useful to temper any kind of compost, and though not to be 

 used as a matter of course, will often be valuable. 



Broken pots are of great ser^dce in pot culture, and if every 

 soil we use had a fourth or a fifth portion of small lumps in it, 

 they would do no harm, but in many cases would be highly 

 beneficial ; therefore these should be broken into all sorts of 

 pieces with a hammer and sifted into their various sizes, the 

 smallest of all for mixing, the size of nuts for small draining, 

 and two other larger sizes for other larger pots. The potsherds 

 or crocks thus prepared take less room, look more tidy, and 

 are ready for immediate use when they are wanted. Charcoal 

 is also a most useful ingredient. It is one of those materials 

 which cannot do mischief even in excess. It is an excellent 

 thing for drainage, broken into various sizes ; and the small is 

 good in every kind of compost, though not absolutely neces- 

 sary. Brick rubbish is not -without its uses, especially for 

 some kinds of rock plants ; but we shall treat of the mixtures 

 more generally when we come to the management of different 

 kinds of plants. It may, however, be taken as a general 

 rule, that nothing flowers so well in a finely sifted soil as in 

 a moderately coarse one ; and that but for the inconvenience 

 of large lumps in small pots, sifting would be a superfluous 

 labour. 



Watering. — Plants in pots are in danger from the extremes 

 of a want of moisture and excess of it. The former starves 

 them ; the latter kills them as surely, but not so quickly. 

 Some persons assimilate the treatment of plants in pots as 

 nearly as they can to that of plants in the open ground ; but 

 this is wrong, inasmuch as the circumstances very materially 

 differ. In the first place, the spongioles, or the ends of the 



