HINTS TO AMATEURS. 377 



be forced, because the pot can be removed into a dung-bed, 

 or, for that matter, to a dung-heap : with glass covers, they 

 will do to strike cuttings in : and upon the whole, they are a 

 useful pot. Phillips has recently made us some pots for 

 growing verbenas : the body of the pot is like another, but 

 the upper part, occupying one-third of the whole height, they 

 turn outwards and form a broad dish, giving us a surface 

 twelve or fourteen inches in diameter, on which we can spread 

 and peg do-svn the plant to cover the whole. It has been 

 usual to grow them in large pots, and have a round wire 

 trellis, about two inches above the pot, and so tie the plant 

 down upon it to cover it. These pots will, doubtless, become 

 popular for that purpose ; they are light, compared with a 

 fourteen-inch pot, and yet possess all the advantages of one 

 that size ; and we must admit that the appearance is greatly 

 before a platform of wire- work. Many pots are made orna- 

 mental ; to describe these would be an endless task : they 

 should be used to set other pots in, that they may be 

 changed as often as the owner pleases ; not to grow them in 

 on any consideration. 



Seed-pans. — These, in the usual way, are only half or a 

 third the height of a pot; for, as they are only used for a 

 short time, half the depth of soil is sufficient ; but recently, 

 Mr. Ball, of the Pottery at Deptford, Sunderland, has intro- 

 duced square pans, so that there is not an inch of room wasted, 

 and this is of immense advantage. We have a few dozen in 

 use, and the saving of room is very great. A crate of these 

 is about eight dozen, and the carriage about ten shillings 

 within three or four miles of London. The pots from Dept- 

 ford are very superior, probably in consequence of the quality 

 of the clay. 



Ivy and other Underwood. — Ivy may be considered a 

 very curious kind of underwood, seeing that it is a most 

 vigorous climber, but it is also one of the best possible carpets 

 for the ground under large trees. We recommended it years 

 ago, but saw its failure more complete than any other failure 

 that we ever witnessed, and that entirely through the worst 

 mismanagement All gardeners should know, that close to 

 the stump of a tree there can be no nourishment for anything, 

 yet a score vigorous plants were placed as near the stem of a 

 large tree as depth of soil to hide the roots could be got, and 

 then were trailed along the ground, but in some years had 



